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Bone, J F

(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]

see also: Arts; Spindizzy.

Jesse Franklin Bone

born Tacoma, Washington: 15 June 1916

died Sierra Vista, Arizona: 6 January 2006

works

collections and stories

links

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 17:27 pm on 11 May 2026.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/bone_j_f>