Inspired by his days as editor of The Student Life at Pomona, Lew Phelps ’65 went on to a long career in journalism and public relations, first as a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal and later as a strategic public relations consultant for several organizations, including the Los Angeles-based crisis consulting firm Sitrick and Company.
Since retiring he and his wife Cathy have traveled extensively, occasionally with unintended consequences. On their second ocean cruise, their ship (the MV Viking Sky) suffered a catastrophic loss of all engine power during a violent storm off the coast of Norway. The ship began rolling very heavily, and Lew was thrown across his cabin space and headfirst into a wall, suffering a compound fracture of the first two vertebrae in his neck. After three weeks at an intensive care unit in Bergen, Norway. Lew was flown home to the Los Angeles area, where his neck was fused by a renowned spinal surgeon at USC Medical Center.
Lew has since made a full recovery and resumed his travels with Cathy, with three additional cruises on Viking, including to Antarctica in January and February of 2024. In mid-June they set out on a seven-week, 10,000-mile automotive journey across the U.S., from their home in Pasadena to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and then to Custer State Park and Badlands National Park in South Dakota and nearby Mount Rushmore. The trip continued with a family reunion in Chicago, and then toward Squam Lake in New Hampshire, where Lew and his twin brother Chuck (also ’65) and Dale (’66) have enjoyed annual family reunions for several decades.
En route, Lew and Cathy stayed overnight with Cheryl (’65) and Ward Heneveld (’64), who live on a farm property in northern Vermont. (Lew says that Cheryl and Ward hope to see other Sagehen visitors at their home—“they are great hosts and excellent cooks.”)
At Squam Lake, Lew and Chuck were joined by Grant Phelps Thompson (’63) and Sharon Reimers Thompson (’63). Grant is a second cousin of Lew and Chuck, and they have remained in close contact for most of the time since their graduations.
Up next? Undecided, although Scotland is on the agenda, as well as Alaska, the only U.S. state in which Lew has still never set foot.
For the last few years Lew has served on the Alumni Association Board. He also hosts a monthly virtual class reunion on Zoom. Anyone from the Class of ’65 who wishes to join can obtain the monthly zoom link by joining the Thor class listserv on the Pomona alumni page, or emailing Lew.
With just a handful of months left in my term as Alumni Association Board president, I’ve been reflecting on my time as a board member these past several years. One of the best things about my involvement has been the opportunity to connect with so many of you. I continue to be awestruck that Pomona grads really do blanket our globe. And whether it’s been chatting with alumni at College events, catching up with classmates at informal gatherings, or a random meeting with a fellow Sagehen after spotting a Pomona T-shirt, it reminds me every time of the broad and unique community we have. We often talk about the Pomona experience referring to our time as students, but it only begins there. Meeting up with each other through events, work or chance encounters reminds us that the Pomona experience extends beyond the Gates and throughout our lives.
Written predominantly during the pandemic, this second edition of Reflections by Marjorie Harth, emerita professor and director of the former Pomona College Museum of Art, updates and expands the scope of the first, published in 2007. Like the first edition, this 292-page book documents and reflects upon the campus of Pomona College as an architectural entity and visual expression of the history and identity of a great academic institution. Many of the original entries and essays have been edited and updated, as have the photographs. Among new entries is Scott Smith’s essay on landscape architect Ralph Cornell.
Pomona College Welcomes Sagehen Families at Family Weekend
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