This page is for site visitors to post remembrances and thoughts at the time of Dr. Pournelle’s passing (8 Sep 2017). Your thoughts can be added using the form at the bottom of this page. Comments that are not related to words of encouragement or condolences will be removed.
Dr. Pournelle’s family appreciates those that have taken the time to send condolences and well wishes.
For those that are interested in Dr. Pournelle’s books, please see the e-books page or the Amazon page . Here’s a list of all of Jerry’s books: All The Books.
Jerry’s last post is here. The text of the eulogy given at the memorial is here. Site news is here. – Editor
My deepest sympathies. Having been a fan of Dr. Pournelle , I feel fortunate to have known him through his writing and novels. May God give his family the strength to bear his passing on.
Dear Fans of Chaos Manor and Dr. P:
Thank you folks for your kind words and many years of support.
Its been a pleasure to randomly meet you personally in a Dallas business center, at a steakhouse outside Comdex, in the bowels of city government and even at Kaiser after my brother broke my leg.
My family and even Dad himself owe you tremendous gratitude. You deserve huge recognition.
He said “when people dont expect recognition- you can get a lot done”
And you did a lot Supporters. Donators. Volunteers. Arguers. Organizors. Readers. Followers.
You put me thru private school supporting Dads work. You funded lawyers he hired secretly to get your son out of jail. You bought peace and security for an intellectual in times that didnt always value political incorrectness. You appeared out of thin air to literally move buildings in our backyard just ’cause he asked. You drove us to hospitals. You sewed shut my brothers. You sent Dad work during tight times.
It wasnt that you just bought the books. You supported him like your own personal PBS with $5 bills and money orders decades after his column cancelled.
When I went to Dad for money to repair his house, he often went to a cabinet above his desk. Like some modern Adams Family vault, he’d peel off cash from the stack to buy paint or concrete.
God he loved you to the very day he died. Thank you for giving him, my Mom and my four siblings so very much love and support.
Dear Fans of Chaos Manor and Dr. P:
Thank you folks for your kind words and many years of support.
Its been a pleasure to randomly meet you personally in a Dallas business center, at a steakhouse outside Comdex, in the bowels of city government and even at Kaiser after my brother broke my leg.
My family and even Dad himself owe you tremendous gratitude. You deserve huge recognition.
He said “when people dont expect recognition- you can get a lot done”
And you did a lot Supporters. Donators. Volunteers. Arguers. Organizors. Readers. Followers.
You put me thru private school supporting Dads work. You funded lawyers he hired secretly to get your son out of jail. You bought peace and security for an intellectual in times that didnt always value political incorrectness. You appeared out of thin air to literally move buildings in our backyard just ’cause he asked. You drove us to hospitals. You sewed shut my brothers. You sent Dad work during tight times.
It wasnt that you just bought the books. You supported him like your own personal PBS with $5 bills and money orders decades after his column cancelled.
When I went to Dad for money to repair his house, he often went to a cabinet above his desk. Like some modern Adams Family vault, he’d peel off cash from the stack to buy paint or concrete.
God he loved you to the very day he died. Thank you for giving him, my Mom and my four siblings so very much live and support.
Damn…
Requiescat in Pace, Dr. Pournelle… May St. Gorgonius, whose feastday is today, escort you into Paradise…
Damn…
Requiescat in Pace, Dr. Pounelle… May St. Gorgonius, whose feastday is today, escort you into Paradise…
Jerry Pournelle was a gateway to amazing landscapes of the future, and an anchor that linked us to much that was great and good about America. Now his treasure is passed to us. We will do our best to earn it.
Thank you for all you have done, Jerry. Godspeed, bound for glory:
Tell your story
Roll the truth around your head
Bound for glory
I ain’t getting out of this bed
The sun comes struggling on
Yesterday’s dead and gone
Tell your story
Put the night back in your veins
Bound for glory
I ain’t coming to again
The sun comes struggling on
Yesterday’s dead and gone
And I feel I’m bound for glory
Dreaming in a cowboy song
I feel I’m bound for glory
Can you feel it?
Bound for glory!
Can you feel it?
Glory bound!
At an early point of my SF&F reading carreer, Jerry was a majority shareholder of my book shelf. In the times before Amazon and eBay, it proved quite difficult to complete the Janissaries series while living in a non-english speaking country. I still pull out The Prince omnibus from time to time. I will miss him and am thankful for his books.
Martin
My deepest sympathy. I have been a fan of Dr. Pournelle for years, both for the novels and the thoughtful and optimistic nonfiction. God bless his family and I pray for their peace and strength after this loss.
My thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Pournelle’s family at this sad time. I feel fortunate to have met and spoken with him at Balticon 41 in 2007 even though all we had time to discuss were our differing views on climate change. I trust that he now rests in a better and more peaceful place with a perpetually blue sky and a gentle breeze. Zabeth Gallagher
Deep condolences to Jerry’s family and friends. I read his Byte column first back in the 1980s and then found his science fiction, The Mote In God’s Eye being voted the best science fiction movie never (yet) made at one point a few years ago. I’ve been visiting Chaos Manor several times a week for intelligent commentary on many things scientific and technical. I always particularly enjoyed the ‘I do these silly things so you don’t have to’ which were always informative and entertaining, and the annual onions and orchids; but those became rare of late as Jerry’s health suffered. I’m so sorry he’s gone, his writing was one of life’s pleasures.
My condolences to the family. Been reading his SF pretty much forever and his BYTE columns & Chaos Manor for yesrs. He was a great and engaging writer, he’ll be missed.
My condolences to Mrs Pournelle and the Pournelle family. Thank you for letting us all share in your life at Chaos Manor. We have lost a system engineering visionary, one who had a lot to do with the existence of the tablet computer, the Strategic Defense Initiative that helped bring down the iron curtain, and some of the momentum behind the reusable launch vehicles developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin. I’m not sure that he wrote novels so much as thought experiments worked out in narrative form. Reading his day book, the view was like dropping by an old friend’s house for a cup of coffee and a stimulating and wide ranging conversation on technology, society, how we as Americans could govern ourselves for the good of all, and why despair was a sin. He will be missed.
My heartfelt condolences to all the Pournelles. I knew Jerry for over 45 years, and though we often didn’t see eye-to-eye, neither of us let that stop us being friends. He always supported my projects and joined in with gusto when he could. I’ll miss him greatly, and I know my feelings are shared with the entire SF and scientific communities.
My condolences to the family. Jerry was a giant, a massive influence on us all, and we were lucky to have him among us.
He was also, of course, a husband and father.
And a mentor to many.
Greatly saddened to hear of Dr. Pournelle’s passing…have been a fan and follower from both his SF writing and Byte articles dating back to the 80’s, an entertaining, thoughtful, intelligent and thought provoking author. Godspeed Jerry!
I mourn the passing of a great and inspiring man and offer my sincere condolences to those who knew and loved him.
Condolences to JEP’s family and colleagues.
For me, Jerry was a Mentor in thinking, an inspiration professionally and a source of many happy hours of recreation.
I shall miss him and try to keep him with me.
Heartfelt wishes of support and condolence to Dr Jerry’s family at this difficult time. The world has lost a significant member of the human race today…our club and the greater science fiction community will never quite be the same without him.
May he rest in peace.
Deepest condolonces.
He was as we say in Ireland à scholar and a gentleman.
Jim Braiden
Very sorry the hear of Dr. Pournelle’s passing. He was a fine gentleman and a clear and deep thinker. I never met him I person, but he will be sorely missed.