UTICA-ROME -- Bruce Manning, a former Utica radio anchor and PR director for the Mohawk Valley Comets hockey team, has died following a heart attack at the age of 55.
Manning was CEO of The Manning Group, a public relations firm based in southern California. According to his bio on the company's website:
A graduate of Utica College in upstate New York, Bruce has bachelor degrees in both Public Relations and Journalism. While in college, Bruce was also a radio news anchor/reporter at a local station in town. He spent his first few years after college in sports PR, working in professional hockey.
According to the Utica Observer-Dispatch, Manning graduated from UC in 1976. Five years earlier, he graduated from Utica Free Academy. Between leaving Utica and starting his own PR firm, Manning's bio mentions a few stints in broadcasting, at stations like KFI radio and KABC-TV in Los Angeles.
After researching extensively online, we were unable to determine exactly where Manning worked at while in Utica. We asked for your help in identifying the station(s), and WSEN sales representative Paul deLaubell, a classmate of Manning's in college, came through with the following:
Bruce and I were involved with the Utica College radio station (WEDJ, formerly WRNS..now WPNR-FM) during the Spring '73 semester. We both applied for a board op position at WTLB to run American Top-40. WTLB PD Art Levy hired Bruce, who also had the responsibility of preparing local newscasts during the Sunday morning shift. Bruce also filled in doing news and reporter duties during the vacations of other news staffers (ND Brian Whittemore, Steve Hunter...others)
I'm sad to hear of Bruce's passing. He was a good friend.
Thank you again, to Paul, for that information, and please accept our condolences. If you'd like to share your own thoughts and memories of Bruce Manning, feel free to scroll down and post a comment.
Bruce worked for WTLB and WOUR in Utica. He also spent time as an on-aire reporter for OCN - Orange County cable news.