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
Bon Voyage Dr. Pournelle. Thank you for all the stories. Hopefully in a few years, I will greet you, again, at that time! RRM
My sincere condolences to the family and Roberta.
I must have read most, if not all, of Jerry’s sf over the last 40+ years and own a lot of the books.
Jerry was a voice of sanity and reason in this crazy world. Some leave the world a better place for having lived in it. Jerry was one of those.
Thanks, Jerry. RIP
Since I was a kid fascinated with computers, I’ve been following Mr. Pournelle. Such a brilliant and prolific mind will sorely be missed. And more so his thoughts and reflections.
My deep condolences to his family and close friends.
Nothing to add that hasn’t already been said except, may Dr Pournelle’s afterlife be more pleasant than what he and Larry Niven imagined.
I am greatly saddened by this news, my condolences to the family. The world is a lesser place tonight, one less light among us, another in the stars.
I loved listening to Jerry on Leo Laporte’s TWIT programs. A level-headed, experienced, creative voice.
Jerry’s handwriting lives on in Microsoft’s software that transcribes handwriting into computer text. I hope many of you remember Jerry’s story of how that came to be.
Chaos Manor was what I flipped to first in Byte as I always knew that it would be informative and interesting every time. Now I have to go and reread a few of them. I’ll do that Real Soon Now.
I’m terribly sorry for your loss. He was a remarkable man in so many ways, and affected the world for the better more than most. I never met or wrote to him but I’m very glad he was here.
God Bless.
I will miss Jerry terribly. I will think of things I want to tell him, and he won’t be there.
My deepest condolences to his family.
I’ve been and reader and fan for over forty years. I had the honor to meet Dr. Pournelle at the Hostigos Con held at State College, Pa in the mid 1980s. Many years later I was to be on a panel at a science fiction con and contacted him personally to ask him for his memories on the writing of Inferno. Even though I was really just a stranger he responded promptly and gave me great insight into his partnership with Larry Niven on that work. I will truly miss his presence in the world, both as a person and for his enormous contributions across a range of fields.
I’d like to think right now he’s catching up with H. Beam Piper with a good smoke in hand. Two friends long separated, but together again.
I began to write about what Dr. Pournelle meant to me – and ended up with far too much for a simple comment. Far too much even to fit into three hours of writing, but I had to get it out there anyway.
Gist of it is that a giant has passed, but his booming voice will echo forever. May you, his family, and his friends, have many happy remembrances in the next few days, more than the tears.
(For anyone interested, what I wrote is on my blog – writingobserver at WordPress. Not shilling for traffic; I am the worst in the world at keeping it up, but I HAD to write today.)
My condolences to his family and friends. Loved his Byte articles and blog. “A Step Farther Out” and “Lucifer’s Hammer” are amongst my favourite books.
I grew up reading Chaos Manor in Byte – feeling somewhat jealous that Dr Pournelle had such interesting stuff with which to play. It is part of the reason for me selecting Software Engineering as a career – one I have so far greatly relished.
In later years I have enjoyed (if not always agreed with) the social and political commentary from Dr Pournelle and his contributors. Unlike other blogs Dr Pournelle and his contributors had reasoned arguments based on facts.
My deepest condolences to Roberta Pournelle and the family.
To add (as my previous post appears to have been erroneously uploaded before I was finished): Mrs. Pournelle, I am terribly sorry for your loss. For you, and all of yours, and everyone who had the honor of knowing him, I shall remember you in my prayers.
I never met Dr. Pournelle. But, I grew up with him. My mother bought me a subscription to Galaxy when I was thirteen. If his “A Step Farther Out” wasn’t always the first thing I turned to in each issue, it was at least the second or third. With that column, he taught me that there is nothing we cannot do if we have the tools, the knowledge, the skill, and the will. Somewhere, I still have the tattered copy of West of Honor I bought with chore money. Although it would be years before I enlisted, with that novel, even though he dedicated it to junior officers, he taught me what was expected of a soldier and an NCO. With Exiles to Glory and High Justice, he taught me that liberty is to be free to do what must be done as you see it, and that the most rapacious tyrant is as nothing to a mindless bureaucracy that believes it is acting for Your Own Good. With Lucifer’s Hammer, he taught me that you must never fail to fight for the future, even in the face of catastrophe. I discovered The Mote in God’s Eye, Oath of Fealty, King David’s Spaceship, and Jannissaries as I grew older, and those not only reinforced these lessons, but taught me more about loyalty, integrity, and hope, as well. Throughout the Eighties and Nineties, he used There Will Be War, Footfall, New Destinies, and Imperial Stars to remind me of these things. Then, under the “Jupiter Book” imprint, with his collaboration in Higher Education, and his solo work in Starswarm, he reminded me of why I began reading science fiction in the first place. His journal entries ( here, I honor his opinion of the inelegance of the word “blog”) served as a breath of sanity in a Republic seemingly gone mad.
I could not have had a better mentor, even as impersonally and as distant as the relationship may have been.
I shall miss him terribly.
But, I will not despair. As he reminded us, time and again, “Despair is a sin.” Instead, I will try to apply the lessons he taught to improve the world around me. I owe Dr. Pournelle much. I cannot pay it back, so I will take Mr. Heinlein’s suggestion and pay it forward as best I can.
Been a reader and a fan since the 80’s
Will miss you Dr. Pournelle…
Condolences to the family.
I loved Dr. Pournelle’s books and blog. He also gave me my first job as a typist/proofreader, which led to many years working for Baen Books. Wish I’d met him in person when visiting Studio City, and will remember him fondly and hold his family in my prayers.
Condolences to all. He will be sorely missed. His Strategy of Technology will remain in its pride of place in my library. Sad to lose Dr. Pournelle’s voice of reason so much needed in these times.
I met Jerry a few years ago at a LASFS meeting. He was a gentleman and I thoroughly enjoyed reading his blog and his books. He seems to have had a wonderful life and was involved with the sciences all his life. He will truly be missed. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.
My heartfelt condolences to Jerry’s family.
God Bless you Jerry.