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Show T HAS BEEN 20 YEARS since a handy young fellow with a gift ofgab anda fascination with architecture did a homerestoration in NewtonCenter, outside Boston. It caughtthe eye of someoneat Better Homes and Gardens, and The Boston Globe picked up the story. When the local public-TV station (WGBH) followed, a career waslaunched. Since then, except for one somewhat traumatic setback, the BobVilastory has beena string ofhits:best-selling books, awardwinning TV shows, evena hit This Old House, 1979-89; Bob sitcom (Tim Allen’s Home Im® provement) clearly inspired by to the US. in "44 for political My father was a lieutenant, and an attempt had been made on his lite. He'd worked closely ith US, agents. the man and his work. When Vila Bob is busy with several Projects of his own. | asked if tools better more efficient than they were 0. called me from his summer place on Martha's Vineyard,I asked if Materials, 1987; Bob Vila’s Guide to Building Your Dream House, 1990; Bob Vila’s Toolbox, 1993; Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of New England, 1993;; Bob Vila’s Guide to Historic Homes of the Si 1993; Bob Vila’s Guide to Historic Homes of the MidAtlantic, 1994; ic hefelt ripped off by the sitcom. Bob wasn’t resentfulatall. “After shootingthe pilot, they showed it to me,”he said. “Tim and the writers do A+ work, and I’ve appeared three times as a gueststar. It had an interesting impact on mycareer. Suddenly, tons of kids knew whoI was.” A Miami native,Vila enrolled at the U. of Florida in 1965 as an architecture major but graduated with a degree in communicationsand theidea of being a reporter. What steered him from architecture? “Advanced math,” he said, “and guidance counseling was not whatit could be.” After graduation came two years in the Peace Corps (“I was a young Jack Kennedy Democrat”), then two years in Germany, where he earned a few marks as ajournalist before becoming a stagehand for the Stuttgart Ballet. Next stop, Boston. “T had pals there,” he said, “and I knew Boston had a co-op Historic Homes architecture school.” (He later ofthe Midwest enrolled.) It wasalso there that Great Plains, 1994; he methis future wife, Diana, now on the Harvard Graduate Business Schoolfaculty. Bob Vila’'s Workshop, 1994, said Bob. “There havebeen a lot of innovations, and tools are lighter-weight.” And building When WGBHproposed a 13part TV series on step-by-step homerenovation, Bob signed on. This Old House made its debut in 1979,was an instant smash in Boston and got picked up nationally by PBS.Ten years later, there wasa falling-out over his decision to do product endorsements—something public broadcasting frowns upon. Bobwasforced to leave and form his own production company. How tough was that? Ttwas a “wrenching moment,” he said,“but I long agoputthat behind me.” And how!His outfit now has a contract with Sears to produce Bob Vila's Home Again, syndicated by CBS Eyemark to 175 stations and seenin reruns on cable TV. And after three years with NBC’s Today show, he moved to CBSlast year. Finally, the question I had to ask: Is he handy around the house? Said Bob, deadpan: “I haven't hurt myself in days.”12 PAGE 24 - SEPTEMBER 13, 1998 - ecology, butit doesn’t look or feel as good. A detinitive book on hoi improvement that cameout today would be obsolete in four years.” A New York Times story called Bob “a marginally more relaxed Martha Stewart with a beard.” Did he like the story? “My friends said they made me ‘sound like an idle rich man,” said Bob, Well, I noted, that’s better than being an idle Poor man, |
