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’ve been reading Dr. Pournelle’s work since “The Mote in God’s Eye” came out when I was fourteen. He was always a calm voice of reason and hope in an often turbulent world. He is already sorely missed. RIP.
Jerry,
Godspeed to you my friend.
When I saw that you passed I cried myself to sleep.
Oh, my. Such a sad time. My deepest condolences to Jerry’s [I read so much of his work he felt like a close friend] family.
I think I first read his work in the mid 1960s. I believe he earned every dime and dollar I spent to acquire his work.
I keep a long list of of usual quotes for my teaching. A great many of them are from his writings, especially fro the early Chaos Manor in computer mags.
A wonderful writer and possibly a more wonderful human being. I shall miss him.
I profited and loved reading Jerry’s column both in Byte and later on this web site. It saddened me when he became ill several years ago now. He will be missed.
I was shocked and saddened to hear the news of Jerry Pournells’s passing. My eldest son and I were avid readers of his fiction, and my son even kept up with him via social media. We were not surprised to hear his very wise and deep comments. His loss will so impact the lives of his fans that I can only imagine how immense the loss felt by family and friends must be. I can only hope that there is comfort to be had in knowing that he was admired and respected by so many people. We wish those of you knew him well much joy in the memories. S
I have had the enormous pleasure of reading Chaos Manor for many years. Dr Pournelle was always courteous and his arguments well reasoned. He took the time to reply to emails and published those he found interesting. His commentary on hearing aids proved to be of enormous practical use.
His work will cast a long shadow for many years to come. As we say in Ireland, ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis: May his faithful soul be at the right hand side of God.
My sincere condolences to Mr. Pournelle’s family. I had just rediscovered Chaos Manor a few months ago, and was so pleased I could read his commentary on current events.
I first discovered Jerry Pournelle’s books as a teen, and they had a big effect on me, leading me to a skeptics view of life and a need to see numbers on anything that might be costly. He pointed me toward an engineer’s outlook on life, and helped inform my thinking on SDI, climatology, and many other things.
I’m saddened by his passing, but still joyful at his legacy. RIP, sir. I wish I could have met you.
We never met, but I still feel as though I’ve lost a wise and courageous friend. Thanks to him and his family.
I still think Fallen Angels would make an excellent movie.
Farewell Jerry, you will be sorely missed, not only for the pleasure you gave to all who had any dealing with you, and for dreaming of great things, that you were so willing to share with the greater world.
I had read a bunch of his books (first was Lucifer’s Hammer when I was 12), but it wasn’t until just after 9/11 that my brother told me about Chaos Manor. His thoughts and writing were always interesting and informative.
Not the least of his information was recommending the webcomic Freefall.
I didn’t know him , but I was greatly saddened by his death.
I hope Chaos Manor stays up for a long, long time. It will be worth reading forever.
Dr. Pournelle’s books molded my thinking and way of life from an early age. I looked forward to any new novel, blog post, or post from Chaos Manor in great anticipation. He will be greatly missed by me and others like me. RIP, Jerry. One of the greats…
His works with Niven and his solo pieces remain some of the earliest sci-fi that I ever read. It helped launch me into the genre. Forever grateful to him and all the work he did behind the scenes as well.
A great friend for over a half century.
His influence will grow far past this chapter.
Meeting Dr. Pournelle was one of my fondest WorldCon memories. He will be missed, but remembered
RiP, Jerry Pournelle.
Number of us already miss you.
My greatest heartfelt condolences on the passing of your beloved husband and father. And my sincere condolences to the Pournelle friends and colleagues. It has been my pleasure to follow Dr. Pournelle’s work since the early 70’s, for me the early SF and BYTE years, when I was but a whelp, and so many of his wonderful essays and stories. This is an enormous loss to those of us who appreciated his thoughtful counsel on his blog as well. His ability to think critically, intuitively, clearly even after tremendous challenges, and express it all compassionately and simply was rare indeed, and will be sorely missed. Truly one of a kind and precious. My prayers for the family. Godspeed Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I hope to see you in the world to come…
This mans works litter my book-cases [ as it should be ], he lives on in his work and the hearts of those that knew him.
I have followed Jerry’s Chaos Manor columns since the early 1990’s when the web was just taking off and he was one of the few intelligent and interesting voices on there. This led me to his fiction and to “A Step Farther Out”, one of the most important and extraordinary books I have ever read. Jerry’s vision was (and remains) quite remarkable.
Although we only corresponded a few times, I feel like I have lost a close friend. To me he was a guiding voice, a beacon of reason in the Information Age. He was also a man of great moral integrity and personal courage who fought and came back from a brain tumour and then a stroke, either of which would probably have been too much for me.
Jerry, I will sorely miss you. My condolences to your family.
Dr. Pournelle was one of the greatest of the greats of Science Fiction – whether in his solo works, in his amazing collaborations with Niven and with others, or with his advocacy for human exploitation of space, his achievements will be hard to match.
My deepest condolences to his close friends and family members.