Bruce Bond leaves no one indifferent. You either love him or hate him — or at least his “on-air” personality.

Bruce’s professional life is largely borne of others’ misfortunes. That’s why people hate him. Over a 15-year career in the region, he’s managed to insult listeners, co-workers, and advertisers. He’s even credited, or cursed, depending upon whom you ask, for overturning a local election. At one point, he was booted from the region over a perceived “racial incident,” although he tells the story in a carefully-worded rendition which back-peddles its way through a series of breathtaking coincidences just too good to be true.

Others think he’s great. Or do they? Recent Arbitron ratings — for the first time in a decade — put competing station WRVV ahead of WNNK and Bruce’s trademark “Late Afternoon Show.” When asked how being topped by WRVV made him feel, he said, “The way it makes me feel is this is what I do, and if it doesn’t work out I’ll just go somewhere else and do it.” What Bruce couldn’t understand is how The River’s playing of selections like “Paul McCartney’s ‘Band on the Run’ twenty times a week” garners such high ratings.

Is the region’s Bad Boy burnt out? Media demographics do eventually shift, and perhaps Bruce’s following is beginning to drift away. Maybe boomers who once listened to him have matured their tastes and satisfy nostalgic cravings by listening to WRVV. Generation X seems to prefer a combination of 105.7 The X and WMSP out of Philadelphia. The remaining “middle” listeners cannot hold Bruce’s 10-year leading edge in the ratings war.

Yet Bruce will discuss sexual topics on the air, telling us that “There’s kids listening and we talk a lot about sex and they probably should hear a lot of what we talk about. It’s very honest.” Let see if we can get this straight — honest sex talk from a guy who seems ill at ease with his own sexuality. We give that a trademark Bruce response: “Umm hmm.”

Besides giving others headaches, Bruce has had his own misfortunes, too. “I can remember sitting one Saturday in the studio crying because my car had been broken into for the 12th time. My car was stolen in New York City, then stolen in Harrisburg, and then every window was busted out. Then the radio was taken. I just had a heavy duty situation,” Bruce said. “So now I don’t own a car.”

“He sometimes says things that may be misconstrued and may be damaging to some people that don’t understand his hilarity,” said G-Man owner Don Carter. He was referring to the time Bruce relentlessly teased about poor service with some on-air pot-shots. As punishment for being a Bad Boy, Bruce completed a “course on service” and agreed to make amends by serving during a busy lunch hour at the Gingerbread Man’s Riverside restaurant in Wormleysburg. Used to better service than he could provide, however, one disgruntled customer walked out on Mr. Bond.

When co-worker Wendy Wicks didn’t “get it,” she took action by bringing a slander and defamation-of-character lawsuit against Bruce and the station. Occasionally, Bruce would make fun of Wicks on the air. At one point, she asked him to stop and said he just laughed at her. Then, one day, Wicks had had enough. Bruce went over the line. According to Wicks, he told listeners that she had stolen station headphones and compact discs. On-air Sidekick Bubbles burst forth with her claim that she had witnessed Wicks stealing muffins in the station’s kitchen, adding that anyone who steals like that has a “mental problem” and “we should pray for them.”

Wicks didn’t pray. She sued, calling the incident “a malicious attack” that could affect her career. She also claimed at the time that Bruce insinuated she was fired from the station for stealing when she actually resigned. She “had enough of their insanity. It’s a snake pit over there. I quietly did my last few shifts and left.”

Here’s how the whole imbroglio started and ended with protestors, placards, Letters to the Editor, and a full-page ad by WNNK in the local daily defending Bruce. By the end of the media circus, Bruce was working as a radio personality in New Orleans. Some say he was fired. He says he wasn’t. Everything just happened to work out — he seemed to burn bridges here, station owners here also owned a New Orleans station. Golly gee, it was a perfect match. I think I’ll go there, he explained. We should all be so lucky.

At any rate, Bruce blames then-City Council member Lenora M. Smith for his problems. And the story goes like this. In May of 1989, four incumbent Democrats on the Harrisburg City Council were running for re-election in that primary. Among them was Lenora M. Smith.

Smith would say Bruce was the reason for her defeat. He trashed her on his afternoon show. He even ran a “campaign” — billboards and all — against her “negativity” and “divisiveness” as he saw it. Is that the pot calling the kettle black?

Bruce was dogged in his opposition. He advised listeners to spit in the face of Smith when she knocked on voters’ doors. “I was very rude to her and I think she remembered a lot about that,” he said during his interviews, adding, “I don’t even know her.” We guess Smith just didn’t understand Bruce’s humor.

Blaming Bruce for her defeat, Smith waited for what goes around to come around. On February 23, 1990, Bruce gave her what she wanted. That was the day, during celebration of Black History Month, that an African-American fifth grader and a Caucasian fourth grader from Ben Franklin School had their poems read on the air during his show.

To summarize, during the airing of the “white” fifth-grader’s poem about prejudice, Bruce reportedly delivered his signature “umm-hmm” reaction. After hearing the poem, he sarcastically asked why Roseanne — the name of the “not black” invited girl —would care about Black History Month.

“I made a reference to Roseanne, meaning Roseanne Barr, but I didn’t clarify it,” he said during the interview. Umm hmm, okay. Listeners who knew that the girl’s name was Roseanne should also have known that Bruce meant Roseanne Barr. Now listeners have to be clairvoyant. Another classic Bondism — offended listeners misinterpreted. Not his fault. Although he didn’t explain what he meant, since it offended someone, his intentions had to have been misunderstood. That’s not even clever sophistry.

Segments of the public roared. “Disc Jockey Accused of Racial Comments” read the headline. A group of third, fourth, and fifth graders from the Franklin school planned a protest at the station.

Trying to ward off the approaching protest, Bruce “apologized” in simple, clear terms to the students. His apology had little effect. “Pupils Unimpressed by DJ’s Apology” read the next day’s headline.

“The kids weren’t really satisfied. I think he snowed ’em,” said Terry Slade, parent-teacher association president at the time. Even kids can tell. Another group added momentum, Pennsylvanians Against Racism (PAR) organized by regional resident LeRoy Addullah Malik, by joining the protest and calling for Bruce’s firing.

Eventually, the sore came to a head when nearly 300 protestors assembled to protest.

The day before the protest, station management had purchased a full-page ad in the local press stressing that Bruce was sincere in his apology to the children. His award-winning afternoon show was cancelled for that day.

During the controversy, three complaints to the Federal Communications Commission were made by local groups against Bruce — two for racism, one for decadent moral attitude.

By April of 1990, Bruce “relocated” to New Orleans working as a radio personality. “There’s no question he’s insensitive,” said Michael Bowles, then head of the Harrisburg Human Relations, adding, “I’m not saying he’s racist. He’s insulting across the board.”

After an ample cool-down period, Bruce returned to the region from New Orleans in mid-1992 and cranked up his radio show once again. “I assume clients wanted me to come back.” In response to rumors that Bruce might return to this market, he said at the time a return would be a step down in his career. “Well, it was!” he exclaimed at the interview table. He meant market share, he said, another nuance not explained in the few paragraphs which ran in the local press.

Hailing from Kempton, PA (near Kutztown), he knew early in life what he wanted to be, and it didn’t include formal education. “High school. That’s it. That’s all I wanted. I didn’t want any more than that,” he says confidently. “I knew what I wanted to do in the second grade. I’ve known only one other person like that,” Bruce said.

At the time of this interview, Bruce thought his last hour was the best hour ever. When asked to pinpoint his best show, Bruce smugly replies, “Yesterday’s show.” The room erupts with laughter. “I don’t know. There’s just too much. I don’t think there’s a special moment that was the best. We’re having fun now. I guess Marilyn Chambers taking her clothes off,” he concludes.

In his own words, his worst day was the 1990 station protest for his remarks perceived as “racial.” “Actually, it wasn’t that bad. It was kind of fun, considering my ego,” Bruce explains, adding, “the lead story on all the local television channels was me, Bruce Bond.” Funny way to get attention.

“I love the city. I’m definitely attracted to cities. New York is the best one.” As much as he loves the city life, though, Bruce is honest enough to say that he enjoys being “a big fish in a little pond.” “I have a big ego!” he shouts. An ego that might keep him from ultimately being happy in a big city — that is, being a small fish in a big pond.

Would he ever move to one of his two favorite places, New York City or Los Angeles?

“I say yes now, but I can’t really give you a direct answer to that. It would be a new experience and I imagine that not being a big fish would probably get to me after a while. But that would motivation me to make it work wherever I’d go. Because I need that attention. I know that about myself. A lot of people don’t know that about themselves. I do. That’s not a bad thing.”

He sees a potential problem with the trees because he thinks both sides of such a move aren’t often considered. “I do see the pros, but no one sees the cons … I wonder if Harrisburg Young Professionals will take care of it.” He adds that no one asked the people who live on those “improved” streets for their opinion.

MODE asked Bruce if he would ever consider lending his name (and celebrity status) to a project aimed to draw new residents into the city? “If I didn’t have to do much. Depending on what the details were. Yeah, sure, umm-hum. That wouldn’t be bad.” Bravo Bruce! Your turn, Mayor Reed.

And what does a City-dwelling celebrity do for fun? Go to the movies incessantly. “I’m addicted to movies. That’s been a two-year thing now. A friend actually got me into it. It’s just there wasn’t anything to do. And he was younger than, uh, he couldn’t get into the bars and stuff like that so that was what we got into as, being friends.” A movie junkie, Bruce has been seen repeatedly leaving area cinemas at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning after “employee” late-night, pre-opening screenings.

But Bruce is a fair and benevolent talk-show host. What would his show be without the “Phone Friendly Free-For-All”? It’s that segment of the show where his loyal listeners can call in and agree adamantly with Bruce and the controversial topic of the moment. Ahh, but what about those callers with a less then desirable message to convey? Well, that’s what the “Late Afternoon Show’s” (remarkably expensive) three-second delay system is for. Nonconformists and their aberrant commentary can be whisked away with no trace as Bruce’s hand lands squarely on the glowing, red, disconnect button.

But the writing is on the wall, the Arbitron wall. And if WINK 104’s ratings continue to decline, it may be the beginning of the end for syndication discussions. There may not be a “year or two” before the beginning of the end for Bruce and the “Late Afternoon Show.” As Bruce himself says, “The way it makes me feel is this is what I do, and if it doesn’t work out I’ll just go somewhere else and do it. This is all I know how to do.”

Bruce Bond’s current contract expires this fall.