Clint Eastwood said not long ago, “don’t let the old man in.” Those words became the title song of his latest movie, The Mule. They are also the watchwords of author Bruno Huber. After having spent 25 years in the film industry, drawing inspiration from the 90-year-old Eastwood is not surprising.
A resident of Gibsons for seven months of the year, Bruno still does what he sets out to do each morning: “make every day count.” Originally from Switzerland (which he visits annually), Bruno has worn (and continues to wear) several hats.
As a licensed electrician, he first worked on big industrial sites, coal mines, and pulp mills in the BC interior. In the early ’90s, Bruno decided to join the budding film industry in Vancouver (‘Hollywood North’) as a generator operator in charge of power distribution for set lighting and all the support vehicles.
“Most people don’t realize the long hours working in the film industry requires,” says Bruno. “As the chief electrician, I was the first on the set and the last to leave. Eighty-hour weeks were the norm, but at least they always fed us well and that overtime pay was pretty sweet, even if it didn’t leave any room for a social life.”
Bruno also owned a bookstore in Gibsons for five years, and then a French restaurant in Vancouver’s West End for two years. “That adventure resulted in my book Folly Bistro, which I have adapted into a screenplay.”
Bruno and his wife, Elizabeth, a retired nurse, usually spend November and December each year in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico, a colonial town amidst volcanos and lakes at an altitude of 2,500 metres. There, they rent a small apartment in the centre of town. Before January rolls around, they journey to Grenada, where they stay until March.
“You don’t have to be rich to have the life we have,” says Bruno. “It is all about the choices we make, our attitude and how grateful we are for what we have and can do. Since we rent small apartments in Grenada and Mexico, it’s actually cheaper for us to spend our winters away: no cars, no winter hydro bills and since we shop and cook just like at home, it’s no more expensive.”
Bruno adds, “retirement to me is doing what I like to do without having to worry too much about money. We use our resources wisely. We own a small home in Gibsons that we rent out furnished when we are away and we try to live off our pension incomes, which, in my case, is only CPP and OAS and some RRSPs since the film industry did not provide a pension.”
Folly Bistro (published by Granville Island Publishing) is based on Bruno’s days as a restauranteur. “It is a tale of caution that should be required reading for anyone thinking of going into the restaurant business.”
For everyone else, Folly Bistro is a humorous read. Bruno recently wrote the novel Mariposa Intersections, which he describes as a “David and Goliath” novel “loosely based on real-life events; a love story between two young lovers from different social classes, who are forced apart and then find themselves on opposite sides when a group of ordinary people come together to stop a nuclear power plant from being built on Lago Pátzcuaro, a culturally and environmentally sensitive place.”
Bruno also has other writings in the works, including stories about the movie industry, condo-living in Vancouver and a collection of Island stories.
“Writing is the easy part;” he says, “getting it published is the hard part.” Not shy about sharing his views, he also posts regularly to his blog (brunospointofview.com), which, he says, “is mostly about current topics I’m interested in, as well as some travel accounts and short stories.”
Not surprisingly, Bruno loves good food. “I love to cook, and we eat in a lot, wherever we are.”
At 69, Bruno keeps himself fit. He walks every day, and swims daily in the warm Caribbean waters as well as in the somewhat cooler waters of Howe Sound during his summers in Gibsons. He also still plays “drop-in” soccer once a week during the summer months.
Most of all, Bruno loves people. He and Elizabeth have an active social life, getting together almost every day with friends, both new and old.
“A major reason why I like being in a warm place in the winter is that to me life happens outside: in the squares, on the beach, in the streets and markets. Many times, I just sit in a café and watch people.”
It may be a cliché, but generally the person people find interesting is the person who is interested – in others, in events or just exploring the world. Bruno’s affection for life is palpable.
“Life just continues to be so full for me; I make it so. Boredom is the enemy of aging, and I will not go near it. There is always something to do.”
Folly Bistro being shortlisted for the Whistler Independent Book Awards in the non-fiction category.
https://www.independentbookawards.ca/wiba-2020-shortlist-announced
Folly Bistro and Mariposa Intersections can be purchased at Chapters and Indigo in Vancouver, Talewind Books in Sechelt, by request at your local bookstore or online at www.amazon.ca
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A great article about a great guy. And inspiration for the rest of us aging boomers to invest in the good life and appreciate our good fortune.