During his senior year in high school, Bunnell served as the sports editor of the newspaper.

While at the university, he was active in the anti-Vietnam war movement and was elected president of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

Jaqueline (Jackie) was a driving force behind his career in the publishing industry; the couple pioneered PC Magazine (with Jim Edlin and Cheryl Woodard[4]) in the bedroom of their rental house in San Francisco's Sunset Neighborhood.

He delivered food to the Native Americans who occupied Wounded Knee for 71 days beginning on February 27, 1973.

In 1991, Bunnell founded BioWorld, the online business newspaper and print magazine for the Biotechnology Industry, which he sold to Thompson Media Group in 1994.