Bob Wells, former chair of Cal State Long Beach’s journalism department and former columnist for the Press-Telegram, died February 26 of congestive heart failure. He was 89.
Lee Brown, a former colleague of Wells and a CSULB journalism professor, said he was remembered as being smart, laid-back, and easy-going during the brief time he worked with him at the Press Telegram.
“He was a fearless columnist and he supported liberal causes in a place that was relatively conservative,” Brown said. “Long Beach in those days was little Iowa by the sea and to be a liberal in those days was not common.”
Others, such as retired CSULB journalism professor Dan Garvey, worked with Wells and said he remembers him as someone people liked to be around.
“He was a heck of a nice guy,” Garvey said. “I liked him very much. He had a great sense of humor and knew everything going on in the university and politics.”
Wells also served as a political advisor to former Gov. Pat Brown, Democratic political boss Jesse Unruh, and for John F. Kennedy’s press secretary Pierre Salinger, according to the Press-Telegram.
In September 1962, Wells was hired as an instructor at CSULB, but a year later, he took on the job as full-time director of information at the university, while continuing to write a daily newspaper column, according to the Press-Telegram.
Wells took several leaves of absence during his tenure at CSULB in order to pursue a career in politics. He worked on Unruh’s campaign for governor and served as press secretary for Salinger’s Senate bid, according to the Press-Telegram.
Wells eventually returned to the journalism department in 1972 after resigning as CSULB’s public relations director. Wells was also elected department chairman and was an adviser to the Daily 49er.