Call Me 'Bones'

I absolutely loved interviewing bonafide San Francisco character Ray Bandar for SF State Magazine. I'll never forget visiting his home — partly because of getting to ogle his extraordinary bone collection, which is periodically on view at the California Academy of Sciences, and partly because of the lingering smell of formaldehyde.

“Call me Bones.” Ray Bandar (A.B., ’55; Cred., ’58) invites the use of his nickname at first meetings, and it’s a convenient shortcut to the topic that has dominated his life. The San Francisco native’s extreme exploits in bone collecting have been documented in numerous media outlets including National Geographic and NPR, and last year he curated a 10-case display for “Skulls,” the major California Academy of Sciences exhibit, which featured more than 700 titular specimens from his collection. Read more.