This is the WWW home page of David Bruce, an English instructor at Ohio University and a columnist at The Athens NEWS.
Index
It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly a cry rang out, and on a hot summer night in 1954, Josephine, wife of Carl Bruce, gave birth to a boy -- me. Unfortunately, this young married couple allowed Reuben Saturday, Josephine's brother, to name their first-born. Reuben, aka "The Joker," decided that Bruce was a nice name, so he decided to name me Bruce Bruce. I have gone by my middle name -- David -- ever since.
Being named Bruce David Bruce hasn't been all bad. Bank tellers remember me very quickly, so I don't often have to show an ID. It can be fun in charades, also. When I was a counselor as a teenager at Camp Echoing Hills in Warsaw, Ohio, a fellow counselor gave the signs for "sounds like" and "two words," then pointed to a bruise on her leg twice. Bruise Bruise? Oh yeah, Bruce Bruce is the answer!
Uncle Reuben, by the way, is the guy who gave me a haircut when I was in kindergarten. He cut my hair short and shaved a small bald spot on the back of my head. My mother wouldn't let me go back to school until the bald spot grew out again.
Of all my family, my mother and I are the only transplants to Athens, Ohio. I was born in Newark, Ohio and have lived all around Southeastern Ohio. However, I moved to Athens to go to Ohio University and have never left. Later, my mother moved into an apartment in Athens.
At Ohio U, I never could make my mind to major in English or Philosophy, so I got a Bachelor's with a double major in both areas in 1980, then added a Master's in English in 1984 and a Master's in Philosophy in 1985. Currently, and for a long time to come (God willing), I publish a weekly humorous column titled "Wise Up!" for The Athens NEWS and I am an English -- and sometimes Philosophy -- instructor at Ohio U.
You may write me at The Athens NEWS, 14 N. Court St., Athens, OH 45701.
You may e-mail me here.
Note: If you have an anecdote you would like me to use in "Wise Up!" in The Athens NEWS, please feel free to send it to me.
Page created February 21, 1998.
Page last updated March 1, 1998.
All rights reserved by the writers.