Bone, J F
Entry updated 13 January 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1916-2006) US veterinarian, in the US Veterinary Corps for many years until 1976; subsequently a professor of veterinary medicine and author who began publishing sf with "Survival Type" in Galaxy for March 1957. His first sf novel, The Lani People (1962), is his most memorable, perhaps especially for the guilty and/or atavistic pleasures afforded male readers through his depiction of the Alien Lani, human-like females only happy when naked and when pleasing males; in the end, his account of the costs to this folk of human exploitation is graphically related. Later works, including three contributions to Roger Elwood's Laser Books imprint, are more routine.
Much of Bone's short fiction – thirty-odd stories in all – remains uncollected, though several have been released as individual ebooks [see Checklist below]. His most-anthologized tale is "Triggerman" (December 1958 Analog), in which World War Three is narrowly averted after the destruction of Washington by, as it emerges, a meteor impact. The posthumous collection Jesse F. Bone Resurrected (omni 2011) assembles eight previously reissued in ebook form, not including "Triggerman"; the selection seems to have been determined by convenience – availability as Project Gutenberg ebooks – rather than merit. Further ebooks have followed. [JC/DRL]
Jesse Franklin Bone
born Tacoma, Washington: 15 June 1916
died Sierra Vista, Arizona: 6 January 2006
works
- The Lani People (New York: Bantam Books, 1962) [pb/Mitchell Hooks]
- Legacy (Toronto, Ontario: Laser Books, 1976) [pb/Kelly Freas]
- The Meddlers (Toronto, Ontario: Laser Books, 1976) [pb/Kelly Freas]
- Gift of the Manti (Toronto, Ontario: Laser Books, 1977) with Roy Myers (Roy L Meyers) [pb/Kelly Freas]
- Confederation Matador (Norfolk, Virginia: The Donning Company/Starblaze, 1978) [pb/Kelly Freas and Polly Freas]
- Special Effect (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2014) [dos: first appeared November 1951 Fantastic Stories: pb/Ed Emshwiller]
- Founding Father (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2015) [dos: first appeared April 1962 Galaxy: pb/Don Sibley]
collections and stories
- Pandemic (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2008) [story: ebook: first appeared February 1962 Analog: na/]
- A Prize for Edie (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2008) [story: ebook: first appeared December 1960 Amazing: na/]
- A Question of Courage (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2008) [story: ebook: first appeared February 1962 Analog: na/]
- The Issahar Artifacts (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2009) [story: ebook: first appeared April 1960 Amazing: na/]
- Noble Redman (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2010) [story: ebook: first appeared July 1960 Amazing: na/]
- To Choke an Ocean (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2010) [story: ebook: first appeared September 1960 If: na/]
- Assassin (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2010) [story: ebook: first appeared February 1958 If: na/]
- Insidekick (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2010) [story: ebook: first appeared February 1959 Galaxy: na/]
- Jesse F. Bone Resurrected (Madison, Wisconsin: Resurrected Press, 2011) as Jesse F Bone [omni of the above eight titles: pb/Alex Schomburg]
- Second Chance (Medford, Oregon: Armchair Fiction, 2011) [story: chap: first appeared February 1959 Satellite: pb/Ed Emshwiller as Emsh]
- Cultural Exchange (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2016) [story: ebook: first appeared January 1960 If: na/]
- Founding Father (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2016) [story: ebook: first appeared April 1962 Galaxy: na/]
- On the Fourth Planet (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2016) [story: ebook: first appeared April 1963 Galaxy: na/]
- Survival Type (place not given: Project Gutenberg, 2016) [story: ebook: first appeared March 1957 Galaxy: na/]
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