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
Jerry –
How wonderful to see you posting new material yourself! Best wishes to you and to everyone helping you learn new things.
David
Jerry, It is great to see you are posting again — Get well soon!
Jerry:
It’s really great to see that you are recovering so much so quickly. I pray God grants you a quick and total recovery and many many more years of healthy life. Likewise for your wonderful wife.
Dr. Pournelle,
Glad that you’re getting better in every way and hope that you will soon be back to managing the chaos on the site.
Jerry,
Best wishes for your speedy recovery. I’m so glad you are back in the saddle giving comments again.
I have enjoyed so many of your books and book collaborations – I couldn’t put down the Mote books, Footfall and Legacy of Heorot. Not to mention the Jannisaries series too.
You have had such a big impact on me.
Thank-you!
Jerry,
I wish you well in recovery. Your writings have brought me into the computer age and I love ALL your books. Be well and finish Mamalukes!
David Boone
Best wishes for a quick recovery !
Jerry !
I am writing from Italy. I started reading your 1980’s Byte columns when I was… 8. At the time me and my father had a RadioShack Tandy TRS80 computer and he used to read your column loud (and translating) to me. Sometime he had less time, and I could not wait, so I started to read it by myself, with a dictionary. At 12 I rarely used the dictionary and I was able to use “alas” in a sentence…
As Leo Laporte always says, I think that I decided to join the technology/computer world (now I’m 40 and I’m an engineer) because of your columns … My sincere and best wishes for a fast recovery !
Enrico
Rome, Italy
Dear Jerry,
I entered college to study my dream career: computer science. At that time I had to learn a lot from books and magazines because the PC world was too fast for teachers to learn and share.
So I learned a lot from your articles in Byte, you taught me about computers, about making things easier for users, about the people who built this industry and about learning something new every day. And also you taught me to never stop being amazed at what science and technology can do to improve people’s lives.
I take this opportunity to thank you and to tell you that I hope someday I will be as useful and helpful to my community as you have been to your readers.
Please recover soon, we need you.
Carlos Perez
Mexico City
Going home is such a relief!
It’s not that hospitals aren’t just fun-fun-fun, it’s how they wake you up every hour or so for varied silliness … “Please sign here for this HIPAA form”, at 4 AM, or the blasted IV machine beeping again and again and Again.
The food is also … remarkable.
We wish you and yours the very best Jerry, Roberta, Alex, and the whole gang!
— take care,
David Small
(that Mac emulator guy…)
You’re doing a hell of a job keeping this site up to date. =) I look forward to your return.
Bob Holmes’ suggestion on voice may be a good one. I find that I can use dragon voice or google voice and get a message out much faster than typing or swyping (something like the T9 dictionary system but faster). I do, however, have to slow my speech down at times — especially when using complex words. But, I think you’ll find that it’s easier to communicate with voice recognition.
I look forward to future discussions and I’m glad you’ll be home soon. =)
Dear Jerry
Like many others I’m a long time reader since Byte print version circa 1989 and wish you all the very best for a speedy recovery. I know it will be a struggle involving a lot of effort on your part but seeing already that you are coming up with significant ouput is a heartening sign that you can bounce back again as you have done before. Looking forward to much more insightful commentary.
Best wishes to you Roberta and all your family as you go through this trial
You Dr. Pournelle invented the rapid composition of prose using a personal computer. Me and many others owe our professional careers in so many disciplines in the arts and sciences to the enhancement of written expression that you had popularized through your Byte columns.
This is the fourth mode of language since the Dawn of Man — first spoken words, then the written word, after that the typewriter, and now the keyboard-input word processor.
Looking forward to you pioneering the fifth mode of language, whatever form that takes.
While your readers, myself included, probably selfishly wish you would spend your entire day working on your site and your books, that is probably not what’s best for you. So take your time and get back up to speed. We can wait.
The few messages you have posted (or had posted on your behalf) that chronicle your start at recovery are truly inspirational – I laughed so hard at “finger 1.1” that I blew coffee out my nose! Thanks for that … and all that you have done and will continue to do to humanize computing.
I was trying to remember when I first read something of yours and it must be at least 40 years. You have been a part of my life for a long time even though we have never met. I pray that you will continue to be a part of my and your other fans lives for many years to come.
I’m an original Subscriber from when Byte folded and followed your writing well before that. I’m being selfish a bit when I say , Sir! Please stay with us and God speed you to good health. We need you sir.
Very best regards
Douglas M. Colbary
To the Pournelle Family: so sorry to hear about the stroke. Praying for your recovery and hoping for the best! The use of technology to take away barriers to those facing challenges is the unsung song of triumph for engineers and designers everywhere. Keep at it!
Dr. Pournelle, Thank you for the updates on your recovery. It’s heartening to see the progress you’re making. Keep up the good fight. All the best to you and Mrs. Pournelle.
Dr. Pournelle,
I have been a big fan since the Byte days. It was wonderful to recently re-view your interviews with Leo on TWIT. Keep the same twinkle in your eye as you recover. If you ever need a smile, think of the nitro glycerin story 🙂