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
So I start my day with such sad news. My condolences to Dr. Pournelle’s family and friends. The quieting of this voice will be missed deeply. His writings have made a great impact on my life, my thinking and my hope for the future. If a test of worth is the impact one has on another’s life, Jerry’s worth is massive.
On a lighter note, I listened to a two part interview he did with Leo Laporte at TWIT. I was amazed and in awe of his knowledge. The vignettes about making nitroglycerin when he was a kid with a recipe from the encyclopedia is priceless.
You will be missed and the world will be less without Dr. Jerry Pournelle.
Reading since the Byte days. He will be truly missed. My condolences to the Pournelle family.
Thank you Dr. Pournelle. Your work remains among the best speculative fiction I have ever read, particularly “Lucifer’s Hammer,” “The Mote in God’s Eye,” and “The Gripping Hand.” (With Larry Niven).
My last evening’s reading was finishing up “Go Tell the Spartans” (with S.M. Stirling), so your prose and imagination are vivid and fresh in my mind.
You will be missed. You left the world a better place than you left it and, through your writing and other activities you inspired thousands of others to thinks, question and dream of a better future. That, sir, is an excellent legacy.
Condolences to family and friends. Your loss is great.
I just learned that Dr. Pournelle died this morning. My condolences to his family. I have read his work since the late 1970’s when I was in college and have enjoyed them all, many over and over again. The world will be s much smaller place without him.
Fair winds and following seas to you, Dr. Pournelle and condolences to your family and many other friends. Rest in peace. You will be greatly missed, sir.
I was shocked to hear that Jerry Pournelle had passed away, though I am happy he didn’t have to suffer. I have been an avid fan of his writing since I discovered it in my early teens and eventually found my way here to his blog. Although I cannot say I always agreed with his political outlook, I was always gratified by the conscientious, systematic and intelligent manner he would state his thoughts and beliefs. He has been a true inspiration for me.
One of my best memories is seeing one of Dr. Pournelle’s computers, I think it was the one he first used for writing, displayed at the Smithsonian in a special exhibit of data/communications through history, in the early 1990s. No one was around and I sneaked around the ropes to touch the icon. Awesome.
Please accept my condolences for your loss. I pray that the
Lord comforts you and the Pournelle family.
I think I was 11 or 12 when I first picked up a copy of Byte magazine and eventually landed in the Chaos Manor section. From day day onwards I looked forward every month to read the trials, tribulations and triumphs or Jerry and his reluctant(?) helpers. I particularly remember his first attemp at installing an anti-burglar system (mid 80’s?) and also the automated lighthing system. It made for a very entertaining read! From there, finding his science fiction books was only a matter of time. I think I read them all.
I don’t know how much time I spent with Jerry through his books and columns but it was enough that after almost 40 years I am very very saddened at his passing. My deepest condolences to his family
It was with grief and shock that Larry (Dixon) and I learned of Jerry’s passing, as we had just been with him at Dragoncon. I shared one of the best panels (an Ask Us Anything) at the con with him. I was thrilled to see that he was as sharp and intelligent as ever, and didn’t allow the blows that fate had struck to his body to slow him down a bit.
I really don’t know what to think of a world without Jerry in it. It will be a far less interesting one for sure.
It was with grief and shock that Larry (Dixon) and I learned of Jerry’s passing, as we had just been with him at Dragoncon–I shared one of the best panels (an Ask Us Anything) at the con with him. I was thrilled to see that he was as sharp and intelligent as ever, and didn’t allow the blows that fate had struck to his body to slow him down a bit.
I really don’t know what to think of a world without Jerry in it. It will be a far less interesting one for sure.
Condolences to all who are close to Jerry. I’m now with those suddenly in the dark with his untimely absence.
I’ve followed his writings over the decades. His adventurous and yet grounded stories of humanity’s centrality and its prospects were hardly dismal, usually satisfying, always welcome.
It has long been my habit to check on what he had to say on major affairs. This will be one of the hardest to break, I feel.
May you be blessed with the best view of all things to come. Till then, Dr. Pournelle!
My condoleances
Chaos Manor has always been a joy to read, his books stood out for me.
I have read Dr. Pournelles works since the seventies and have never been disappointed. His story telling was magnificent and his insights very thoughtful. I’m sorry for his families loss as well as ours his readers. Rest in peace in Gods arms and thanks for so many hours of fun reading!!
There have been so many stories, so many laughs, so many yarns. There are so many more, that will never be shared now.
Jerry, you inspired generations. You taught us to think. You taught us to look up, not down. You told us, repeatedly, “Lead, follow, or GET OUT OF THE WAY!”, and you lived it.
I learned from you. We all learned from you.
You will be missed.
This is a loss for family, for friends, for the nation, for the world.
There is a phrase. I find, more and more, that I hate to type it, because it means a friend is gone and we are diminished by the loss.
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Resquiescat in pace. Amen.
My condolences to his family and friends.
Jerry Pournelle was one of the first Science Fiction authors I read and I was amazed that this was the same guy who wrote about military tactics in “The General” magazine and about computers and tech in Byte magazine.
I avidly followed his writing my entire adult life and will miss him.
His Chaos Manor blog was a delight to read and he always gave me something to ponder.
To Dr. P., Roberta, Alex, Rich and the rest of the family,
My sincerest condolences to you all. The loss is beyond words and his accomplishments will carry forward for millenia to come.
I am honored to have known and worked with Jerry, whom I always refer to as “Dr. P”.
Dr. P. has inspired and will inspire many many individuals. I am grateful for his friendship. Working on Bix, Minds in Space, the Council and DC-X taught me things that are “uniquely different”. Thank you!
All best wishes,
David “42” Mitchell
Dr Pournelle,
We have never met but I want to take the time to thank you, your books over the years have had a great impact on my life and have fuelled a love of sci-fi that persists to this day.
The world is lesser due to your passing…
I shall raise a glass to your memory. Godspeed.
Having spent time in Dr. Pournelle’s “sphere” (LOSCONs and a soiree at Niven’s a long time ago) it was good to link up the author with his writings. His dynamicism will be missed, his mark left on our tiny planet, always available far into the futures he suggested. RIP JP. And thanks-
I was saddened to hear of the passing of my friend Dr. Jerry Pournelle, Master of Science Fiction and Chaos Manor. I met Jerry through his writing partner Larry Niven in the 1990s and I collaborated with them both quite a bit around that time. I just loved the imaginative technological concepts they described in their science fiction stories and I worked with them to visually bring these ideas to life. I spent many wonderful hours talking to Jerry and working the design details for two of my favorite fictional spacecraft, His Majesty’s Imperial Space Navy Battlecruiser MacArthur and Orion Nuclear Pulse Propulsion Battleship Michael. Jerry just loved talking about rockets!
One of my fondest memories is the time Jerry and Larry invited me to join them on a hike. Larry lived close to a wilderness area northwest of Los Angeles and as we walked, we quickly found ourselves far away from most visual reminders of civilization. It was surreal! . . . given the surroundings, I could easily imagine that we were alone on a remote planet, and here I was in the company of these two collaborating master world builders! I mostly and wisely just shut up and listened to them talk. It struck me that this was the way they worked. They obviously enjoyed being by themselves in remote environments, where they could collaborate without interruption and bounce ideas off of each other. They would occasionally invite people to join them on such hikes, especially those who could contribute to helping them resolve story problems. The conversation was wide ranging and we worked out some of the details related to the aerospace engineering described in their novels The Mote in God’s Eye, Footfall, etc. As I recall, they were also developing a concept for a new story that involved a rotating bowl-shaped sports arena located on the Moon that would combine spin-induced centrifugal force with the Moon’s 1/6 G. They picked my brain regarding how such a thing could be designed and configured. I was honored that they considered me an expert on matters related to aerospace engineering. I will always cherish the wonderful memory of my hike with Jerry and Larry.
I offer my heartfelt condolences to Roberta, Alexander, and the rest of Jerry’s family. Fly high, my friend.