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
A deep strategic thinker, a creative writer, a technology guru. Rest in peace Jerry.
Jerry’s generosity toward George Alec Effinger in his times of misfortune, with his health problems and burned down house, should always be remembered. I disagreed with Mr. Pournelle about many things but he could tell a rollicking story and he stepped up for Mr. Effinger when pretty much nobody else could be bothered.
Dr Pournelle had such a huge influence on so many of us in so many areas: science fiction, politics, space advocacy. He will be missed immensely. God watch over his soul and bring peace to his family. RIP.
Mr. Pournelle is one of the earliest scifi writers I remember reading… Even before I picked up Asimov or Heinlein, I was reading Pournelle. Footfall, Falkenberg’s Legion, Jannisaries… Hell, the CoDom actually made me start thinking about real world politics and how the world wasn’t really what I thought it was, even before I was out of high school.
I’m now 42, a senior IT guy and an aspiring author myself. When I grow up, I hope that I can be half the author that Mr. Pournelle is, was and always will be.
Ave! Ave! Ave Imperator Pournelle.
And Code Tiger to boot…
Dr. Pournelle’s profound intelligence, unparalleled depth of knowledge and experience, and wise counsel will be sorely missed in the trying times ahead.
Farewell Dr. Pournelle. I have often looked back on the emails we swapped 13 years ago with fondness. Even though I was a public official, you didn’t have to answer and I cherish the responses and the memories.
You are missed and the world a lesser place with your passing. My condolences to family and close friends for your loss.
God bless, Jerry.
Part of my required reading in teen years and on into in to Uni.
You lived in the best times to do what you did best.
May your spirit live on somewhere else out the gravity well that is our prison.
Jerry was certainly one of my heroes. He is a major reason I became and engineer. Sincere condolences to his family.
I am saddened to hear this. I have been a very long time fan, and to hear this new brings ever closer the fact of my own mortality.
Rest in peace.
My deepest condolences to Roberta, Alex, Frank, Richard, Phillip, Jennifer and all of the other members of Jerry’s extended family and friends. As so many have said, our world is so much less with Jerry not in it. His influence on so many of us continues to be profound. I feel blessed that I had an opportunity to work with him at BYTE and Popular Computing, to spend time at Chaos Manor, to explore Comdex, the West Coast Computer Faire and other trade shows with him, listening to his continual stream of no-holes-barred observations about people and technology. He once told me that I had an inability to ignore the obvious – and that has proven true throughout my life. And so now I can easily acknowledge his amazing and long-lasting impact on so many of us – godspeed, Jerry, you are missed.
A giant has passed leaving a void of incredible size. I have read his work since they started appearing in Analog. My condolences to his family.
The sun is a little bit dimmer today, the stars a little farther away.
The world is a lesser place.
I just wrote this for my Facebook page. Jerry was an important personality in my life, and a good friend.
I just found out Dr. Jerry Pournelle has died, and while I’m certain it’s affecting people more deeply than I – his close friends, family, that whole crowd – I still feel a profound sense of loss, as if a great star in the sky has dimmed.
I met Jerry when I first start hanging out at Harlan’s. Jerry was President of SFWA and he would come to Ellison Wonderland to plot strategy with Harlan. Even then Jerry required a certain amount of diplomacy. While Jerry was quick to feel slighted, and made no bones about it, from him I learned the lesson that sometimes the most difficult people are the most sensitive. Besides, Jerry was the personification of enlightened self-interest. He believed that by doing well, he would do well by others, and if he did well by others, he would do well for himself.
Perhaps the most memorable incident with Jerry at Ellison Wonderland occurred before my time, when Jim Sutherland was making his Certain Death Chili. Jerry was warned that it was extremely hot but insisted on partaking a great spoonful anyway. His face immediately turned beet red, and Jim swore that when he swallowed, you could see wisps of smoke coming from his ears. For the next several minutes Jerry was in great pain and in dire need of water and salt, but such was his pride that he refused to admit the chili was too hot for him.
My own relationship with Jerry had its ups and downs, but it was certainly at its lowest point when the two of us got into a brawl at a SWFA function. So much for dignity. We never actually formally made up, but at a LOSCON he overheard me tell this joke from Eastern Europe I read about in the LA Times.
“What is your opinion of the bread shortage?”
“By bread I know what you mean. By shortage I know what you mean. But what is this thing called an opinion?”
Jerry, who politically was very conservative, walked up to Lydia and told her she was married to a fine young man, which I almost was in those days. That’s how I knew we were on speaking terms again.
Jerry appeared at autograph parties at the shop many times. Once we had an erudite conversation about how non-alcoholic beer can have a placebo effect. His solo novels, the ones he wrote with Larry Niven, and the ones he wrote with Larry Niven and Steven Barnes have given millions of hours of reading pleasures to millions of readers. Sure, his prose doesn’t sound too great when you read it aloud after having inhaled helium, but neither does anybody else’s.
James Tiptree, Jr. once drove him practically out of his mind. Back in the old days, James Tiptree Jr. was regarded as one of the most interesting and powerful of the latest wave of sf writers. He was quite the letter writer, but no one had met him in person and that was how he liked it. But he did reveal to Jerry they’d met in the flesh, years before, at a function that had nothing to do with science fiction. Jerry racked his brains, thinking of every man he’d ever met at NASA or wherever who might be the mysterious, fascinating Tiptree. He had no idea – only a select few did – that Tiptree was a woman who’d worked in the highest levels of national security.
There are other stories about Jerry. Once the IRS came to his house to audit his taxes. This was back before the institution was forced to be more polite, and their agents had a lot of power over the fate of anyone in their crosshairs. Anyway, the guy had questions. Questions for which Jerry invariably had a receipt or a line in the tax code. The agent probed and probed, and every time he got nowhere. Finally, in frustration, he asked about the three grand deduction for the trip to the Caribbean. Jerry pulled out a magazine with his article listed as the cover story. The agent stamped on Jerry’s file DO NOT AUDIT.
I didn’t see Jerry much after the shop closed. But when I did, he was genuinely interested in how Lydia and I were doing. And for decades I adored his wife Roberta; they don’t call wives the better half for nothing. Jerry was one of those people who made life interesting just by showing up, and while he might have been a pain occasionally, he was deep down a total mensch and a capital fellow. Maybe we’ll meet again someday, on that other shore.
PS When Craig Strete learned Tiptree was a woman, he said, “That’s too bad. I always wanted to have a drink with him.”
I said, “Well, you still can.”
I have been a fan of Dr. Pournelle’s for years and a subscriber to Chaos Manor for at least a half-dozen. I am deeply saddened by his passing, and I offer my heartfelt condolences to his family and all others who were close to him. He’ll be greatly missed.
I first Discovered Jerry Pournelle in high school when I read “The Mote in God’s Eye”. I rediscovered him in college when I read “The Legacy of Heorot”. I have since read a considerable fraction of his work. I never met Jerry in person, but it feels like I’ve lost an old friend. Time to go back and read some of those books again, and identify and pursue any that I have missed.
Thanks for all the books, Byte columns, and ChaosManor MAIL section intelligent discussions.
You will be remembered.
One the great authors of our time, truly a great man. He will be missed by his friends, family, and the millions of fans of his works.
Praying for the family.
Dr. Pournelle:
Thanks for making me believe that such things as Dyson Spheres are possible and might even exist. On your next journey, remember TANJ, and be wary.
Love
Shit. The definition of “larger than life”.
I got to meet Pournelle at Spring COMDEX in Atlanta. He was at the Microsoft Press booth, harassing them about not having his books on display. Me being me, I jumped in and agreed. “Which one shoukd they have?” ” ‘The MoteIn God’s Eye.'” I think that you probably could have heard his laugh across as the Omni…
Jerry was always so generous to my husband Chris Morris and myself, Janet Morris. He included our work in one of his anthologies, gave us enthusiastic recommendations on books he liked, and praised us highly when there was no reason for him to do so. He took time to read and give us a glowing recommendation for our Hittite book, I the Sun. Along the way, we sat on panel discussions together. He was always thoughtful and perceptive, and we had substantive discussions, always, ranging from governments through military and political affairs, from ancient history to science fiction and speculative literature. We hope he will continue to be widely read and appreciated for the the quality of his thought and the generosity of his spirit. Thank you, Jerry, for all you did for us and for so many others through the quality of your thoughts and deeds. A true polymath, the world is smaller without you in it.