Duff Bruce is a Greenville native who attended Augusta Circle Elementary School, Christ Church Episcopal School, The Baylor School, and Davidson College. Upon graduation, he worked at Davidson College in a variety of staff positions. Returning to Greenville, he began working at the Open Book, a local bookstore, where he met his wife, Margaret, and served as bookseller, buyer, and eventually owner until 2011. He joined the Jolley Foundation board of trustees after the death of his uncle, Bob Jolley, in 2002.