At the age of eleven, the last thing on Bruce Williams' mind was becoming the most listened to nighttime radio talkshow host in the nation. For an eleven year old, his sights were higher, cashing in on the toy shortage at the tail end of World War II. Melting down lead pipes in the coal furnace in the basement, he cast toy soldiers, painted them and started his first of many enterprises. Since those days of selling toys, Bruce Williams has been a businessman first and foremost, dabbling in just about anything imaginable. Currently, a few of his enterprises consist of retail flower shops, two and a half dozen floral concessions in hospitals, a barber shop, and three nightclubs.

Shortly after his graduation from high school, the Korean conflict began and he decided they couldn't have a party without inviting him. A portion of his Air Force career was served in Korea during the conflict. Upon his return, after several self-employment experiences plus a job or two, he determined that it was necessary to have some kind of a degree and returned to Newark State College in New Jersey (now Kean University). In 1961 he and his wife opened a private pre-school named after his children, Lane Robbins, in Somerset, New Jersey. He had a brief excursion into politics between 1967 and 1975, serving on the Franklin Township Council as Councilman, Deputy Mayor and Mayor. After being soundly trounced in an election effort for the General Assembly for the state of New Jersey, Bruce, at that time showing his remarkable sense of timing, ran as a Republican during the Watergate scandal. He says now that he is not even certain he voted for him! As a consequence, he decided to think about other endeavors including radio. In subsequent years he made regular contributions to the fellow who beat him, knowing that he did him the greatest favor in the world, since had he won the election, radio would not have been part of his life. His career began on WCTC in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and after a time, he moved on to WMCA in New York City.

In 1981, NBC entertained the idea of a national nightly package of advice-oriented talk shows, and after a long selection process, they settled on Bruce and Sally Jessie Raphael. Bruce handling the more financially oriented issues, and Sally the sex and wine.

About a year into his show, his career and life almost ended when he attempted to abort a landing only to find a few trees in the flight path. Four weeks after the crash, Bruce was again broadcasting, this time from a hospital bed. When asked about that day, Bruce will tell you it was clearly pilot error. Yes, the pilot survived and, after several months in and out of hospitals he made a full recovery. 25 plus years later, Bruce is still dispensing advice nightly on approximately 125 stations plus XM Radio in the U.S., Canada, Guam and the Caribbean.

Bruce now resides north of Tampa, Florida. With rearing five children under his belt, Matthew, Mark, Robbins, Kelly and Michael, Bruce can relax if he chooses to do so, but just like yesterday, today and tomorrow, he'll do what he does best---hustle. When he chooses to relax, it will be either in the Gulf of Mexico on his boat, or over the Gulf of Mexico in his plane.

In Memory of Mickie

(click on picture for a better view)

Bruce Williams Makes Radio History From Hospital Bed

On January 6,1982 at the Medical Center of Princeton in Princeton, N.J., a steady trickle of doctors and nurses could be seen tiptoeing down a corridor and peeking in a door at the end.

Inside was a man lying in a bed, surrounded by knobs and dials, yards of cable and telephone lines, and shadowy figures moving to and fro. A heart transplant? Some mysterious medical experiment? The sign hanging from the IV hook over the bed told the story: "TALKNET." Bruce Williams,

radio's most famous hospital patient, was back on the air. "It was a first for radio," says Talknet Executive Producer Maurice Tunick, who was in the room that night. "As far as I know, no other network show has ever originated live from a hospital bed."

A complete broadcast console, wheeled in on a hospital gurney, provided studio-quality sound. In the adjoining room, thousands of cards and telegrams from listeners filled the bathtub from floor to ceiling, all wishing Bruce well after the December 5 small-plane crash that landed him on the critical list with knee damage and internal injuries. After successful surgery and physical therapy, Bruce is well on his way to complete recovery.

Since his discharge from the hospital on January 8, Bruce has been broadcasting from his suburban home, where his wife keeps the crew supplied with ice cream and coffee during news breaks, and his dogs Darcy and Dakota provide on-air sound effects. "Think of what's possible with remotes," says Maurice Tunick.

"A man can talk from his living room in New Jersey to satellites in space, and from the satellites to living rooms all over the country."

That's an exciting thought, all right, but the happiest moment for us at NBC will be when Bruce Williams walks into our 5th floor studio and takes his familiar place at the Talknet microphone.

Engineers Gene Garnes (l) and Mark Kalman