SPEAKER SERIES | Luis Fuerte | Remembrances of Huell Howser
Wednesday June 7th | 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Benson Auditorium at Pitzer College
Claremont Heritage Presents - Remembrances of Huell Howser
Luis Fuerte, award-winning cameraman for the late Huell Howser, of the California Gold television show, recounts his travels and fond memories of his employer and friend at Pitzer College Benson Auditorium on Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at 7:00 pm.
Fuerte was the editor, lighting director, sound engineer, on air operations person, and cameraman for the late Huell Howser, who hosted KCET's California Gold.
Fuerte will speak of his travels and times filming with the ever-curious, effervescent, and spontaneous Huell Howser.
Fuerte recounts how the idea for the show came about during a four-day shoot at a train festival in Sacramento. "One day, Huell said, 'Luis (pronounced Louie), I have an idea for a show called California Gold,'" Fuerte said. "That is the first actual California Gold as we see it today."
Having the privilege to work with a dynamic personality, Fuerte said, "I could tell when he (Howser) needed a break or when things weren't working out. I could read Huell real well. We worked well as a team. I learned to read him so well, with the tone of his voice".
Someone asked if the shows were scripted. Fuerte said, "He (Howser) always wanted to be surprised, you remember his famous, 'Golleeey' or 'Reeeeally!' He knew about the story, but not a lot. He would stop at flowers in a field, and do a story. He was easy going. He could get people to talk to him. He could do a story on a door knob (implying that Howser was that interested in what he saw). He loved working."
In 2001, after many instances of telling Howser that he wanted to retire from the show, Fuerte gave his last notice to leave California Gold and started his own business.
Howser's entire collection of his California Gold series was given to Chapman University. The university constructed a replica of his office and has every episode cataloged in a newly constructed building in Howser's honor. There are pictures of Fuerte, with Howser, in the exhibit that is free to the public.