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Brudnoy returns to airwaves tonight

Ending a 15-week absence from the airwaves, College of Communication professor David Brudnoy will be a guest on his own talk radio show tonight to tell his listeners about the cancer treatments that have silenced him for the longest period of time in the show’s 18 years.

Temporarily erased by six weeks of radiation, Brudnoy’s voice is gradually gaining strength and his body is still recovering from the efforts to kill a rare form of skin cancer doctors discovered in September.

“I’ve been through the most gruesome experience of my life,” he said.

At one point, Brudnoy couldn’t eat, swallow or talk, and the 63-year-old spent more than half of November and December in the hospital. He said the skin on his neck and chest “looked like lava flow combined with Godzilla,” and he has lost 50 pounds, one-third of his former weight.

Though other lecturers had to fill in for his “Media Criticism” and “Advertising and Society” classes at the end of last semester, Brudnoy hasn’t missed a day of class since mid-January.

He said doctors believe the melastatic Merkel cell carcinoma is gone following chemotherapy and radiation, and his current treatment only involves further tests and medications for pain and to soothe his throat.

At 7 tonight, Brudnoy will switch from the microphone he sometimes uses in class to the microphone of WBZ-AM’s (1030) “The David Brudnoy Show.” After fill-in host Paul Sullivan interviews him about his experiences fighting cancer for about an hour, Brudnoy said he will spend the second hour discussing current issues and “whatever people want to talk about.” Sullivan will then continue the last hour without Brudnoy.

“We felt two hours was enough to test how he sounds and give the audience a chance to hear him and be updated personally on how he’s doing,” said Peter Casey, WBZ’s director of news and programming.

Brudnoy hopes to return to hosting the three-hour show Monday through Friday – currently preempted by Boston Bruins games three days a week – perhaps as early as March 15, when he returns from a trip to Prague, Czech Republic.

“In terms of my voice, they just have to get used to the fact that it might not ever be very good,” he said. “But I’m more than just a voice.”

WBZ management will ultimately make the decision, and General Manager Ted Jordan said he’s not sure exactly when “one of the best talk show hosts in America” will return.

“We’re excited he’s feeling better and expect him to return to the air soon,” Jordan said. “His voice is coming back, but we’re not sure his voice is strong enough yet to maintain a daily show. We want him to be strong enough that when he comes back, he’ll be back for good.”

As about six guest hosts have filled in for Brudnoy, Casey said listenership has remained strong, with ratings staying about the same in November and December. Figures for the month of January are not yet available.

Brudnoy said many of his listeners have sent cards and other signs of support. One of about 200 submissions to a message board on the show’s website is titled “miss you dude” and says, “Listening to you each night was like listening to an awesome dad.” Another urges the “curmudgeon” to “quit being a jerk and get well.”

At Boston University, Brudnoy’s students have enjoyed seeing his health improve as he relies less and less on a microphone to teach his two small graduate-level communications courses.

By the end of March, the Minneapolis native expects to have about an inch of hair again so he can ditch the red and navy BU baseball cap he sported in class on Feb. 5 and follow the no-hats rule in his syllabus.

“I decided not to subject my classes to bald me and scrawny me and vocally deficient me all at the same time,” Brudnoy said.

As his “Media Criticism” class discussed Jim Goad’s “The Redneck Manifesto,” hitting on topics like discrimination, class divides and stereotypes, Brudnoy threw in references to “The O.C.,” Janet Jackson and Chris Rock. He also put each student on the spot at least once, with a quick “Dan, why don’t you amplify what Alexa said?” or “Gina, tell us a little bit about what you’ve gotten out of Goad so far.”

“It can be intimidating,” said Christine Long, a COM junior in the class. “You have to go prepared.”

But Long said she’s getting more comfortable participating in the discussions, using “um” less often and carefully choosing each word.

“He’s the best friend teacher, but he’s also really strict on you,” she said. “He’s one of the first teachers who have asked me to step up.”

Erik Milster, a second-semester COM graduate student who grew up listening to Brudnoy’s show, said he enjoys the diverse discussions in class and Brudnoy’s experience in journalism.

“He’s great as a professor because he’s proven himself in the field,” Milster said. “Each week he’s getting more and more powerful … There’s a noticeable difference in his energy and enthusiasm.”

Brudnoy has also been doing some other grading, as he continues to review movies for the Community Newspaper Company. Miracle got an A-, but Barbershop 2: Back in Business barely scraped by with a C-.

As Brudnoy eagerly awaits returning to radio and commentating on UPN 38’s “Nightcast at 10,” he said he also expects to gain perspective on this latest fight like he did following the 1994 near-death experience that led him to reveal he had tested positive for HIV in 1988.

“I haven’t yet had time to absorb and learn from it, as I have with what happened in ’94,” Brudnoy said. “I’m just continuing to fight the effects of the radiation and chemotherapy and doing as much as I can. I’m sure I’ll learn something from it though.”

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