A tribute to Huell Howser who showed me the "hidden" gold of California. For me as a native German is was always interesting to see his trips through and view of California. He is one of the reasons I am now living in California. This is a music video clip with Huell Howser. I will miss him and his TV show dearly.

Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 -- January 7, 2013) was an American television personality best known for California's Gold, his travel show based in Los Angeles at KCET for California PBS stations. The archive of his extensive video chronicles represents a singular contribution to the understanding and celebration of the history, culture, and people of California.

California's Gold highlights small towns, landmarks, events, or places of interest throughout California which are not well known to the general public, with Howser conducting informal interviews with the locals. He also produced the shows California's Communities, California's Golden Fairs, Downtown, California's Water, California's Green, California's Golden Coast, California's Golden Parks, Road Trip, Visiting... with Huell Howser, California Missions, Palm Springs, Our Neighborhoods, The Bench, and various specials.

On November 27, 2012, the Sacramento Bee reported that Howser was retiring from making new shows, amid speculation in the television community that he was seriously ill. Howser died at the age of 67 at his Palm Springs home on January 7, 2013. He had been battling cancer for several years, and his death certificate listed metastatic prostate cancer as the cause of death. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea off the coast of Los Angeles County.

Howser donated his videotaped collection of California's Gold episodes, as well as those of his other series, to the Chapman University in 2011. He also donated his personal papers, and a large collection of books on California history to the university. The school established the Huell Howser Archive, which, when completed, will offer the public free access to the entire digitized collection of his life's work. The archive can be accessed at Chapman University as well as on the internet. He also gave his extensive art collection, which consists mostly of 'found-object' art collected during his travels, to the university, and endowed the California's Gold Scholarship Fund. Upon his death he bequeathed his remaining two homes to the university, the proceeds from the sale of which will be added to the scholarship fund.