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
I have been reading Jerry since the Byte days. He was an amazing person who could make the most mundane topic interesting. He also had an incredible breadth of matters to share with his readers, to provide insights, and to provoke critical thought….It has been a privilege to be able to step inside a brain like his.
My condolences to those who knew him. RIP
I have been a fan of his work since I started reading. He will be missed
What a loss!
I used to read Dr. Pournelle’s articles in The General for Avalon Hill, although I did not know who he was. I read his Chaos Manor series for years, and I think I’ve read all his published fiction.
Although I never had the privilege of meeting him, he has had significant impact on my life through his writings.
The man falls; the Legion goes on.
I cannot overestimate what reading A Step Farther Out meant to me and my world view. I greatly appreciated the way Jerry Pournelle could take the most complicated things, either scientific or political, and break them down and present them in a very logical and clear way.
It was this clarity of thought that made realize the world is not lost, and the future can be bright.
And he made it clear I should not despair.
Thank you, Dr. Pournelle. Bye for now.
My condolences to Dr. Pournelle’s family and friends – a rare brilliant & independent mind too soon gone.
To the man who led me to believe that life was much more than computers as enablers. They were just an assist for our growth as humans. A wonderful tool, but not a substitute for serious thought. Wisdom was his essence, technology only the delivery path. I will miss you my compadre, and mentor. May your friends and family be comforted by the joy and wisdom he has left us all.
I have never met Dr Pournelle but have been a fan of his science fiction writing for a long time. I have been a quiet reader of the View for a few years now and I looked forward to reading all the latest words of wisdom. I shall miss him. My deepest condolences to his family at this sad time. Rest in Peace.
Steve
The world has lost a splendid writer and an astute observer. His was a life well lived, and one cannot ask for more than that.
Every best wish for his family and friends.
Ave atque vale, Dr. Pournelle. Godspeed. Of all the old friends I never met, I may miss you the most. I first heard you on the radio 40 years ago, when I was in the 7th grade. You were reading about tsunami surfer in downtown Los Angeles. From that night until today, I’ve always looked forward to hearing what you’d have to say next. Thank you.
Fair winds and following seas, Dr. P.
I’ve been a fan of Dr. Pournelle’s for many years, and run a website dedicated to his CoDominium / Second Empire future history. I’ve also been a regular reader of his blog, and was honored to have met him on various occasionas. I am stunned and greatly saddened to learn of his death.
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei.
My condolences to the family, Starspeed Dr. Pournelle!
Just damn. I haven’t felt so sad since Heinlein passed.
Dr. Pournelle will be missed. He was a man of honesty and original ideas.
My sincere condolences to Dr. Pournelle’s family and friends. It was indeed a shock to learn of his death this evening. I’ve been a fan of his novels, later BYTE articles and then blog for many decades. His Chaos Manor with the annual orchid and onions was the first article I read with each new issue until the demise of Byte. His subsequent move online was a great relief to me. I learned much, even when I didn’t agree, and wish I had had the opportunity to thank him.
Goodby, sir. Rest easy. You have earned it.
Godspeed, Dr. Jerry Pournelle.
Thank you, Dr Pournelle, for many great hours.
My sympathies for his family and friends, I read and enjoyed his works over many years he will be sadly missed by many.
To Jerry’s family, thank you for sharing him with us for so many years. I feel for you, and my heartfelt prayers are with you. Jerry was a good friend, a dear man, a cool teacher, and I will miss him terribly.
Jerry is why I’m a member of SIGMA; a mutual friend introduced us when he thought a science question Jerry had for something in his blog was right up my alley, and it was. So I got involved in a big email conversation. It was tremendous fun, and it ended up in his blog. Then he asked me if I’d be interested in SIGMA, and told me all about it. I said I would, so he nominated me, and Larry Niven seconded the nomination. Next thing I know, I’m in.
We talked a lot, mostly via email, but often at various and sundry conventions we found ourselves attending. And always there was the blog. I was so honored that he thought highly enough of my knowledge base to use my comments.
A couple years back (before his stroke), SIGMA sent me, Jerry, Ed Lerner, and Arlan Andrews to a nanotech conference as consultants. Jerry was evidently already there when I arrived at the hotel, and when I went to the desk to check in, there was Jerry, talking to the concierge about something. He came over and gave me a hug, then said, “Stand right there.” He yanked out his cell phone, snapped a photo of me, and sent it off somewhere into the ether.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Oh, that was for Roberta,” he told me. “She sees your emails all the time, with your sig file, and wanted to know what an Interstellar Woman of Mystery looked like.”
We had a really good laugh.
Stories, stories.
Jerry, I miss you already, hon.