
Jerry Pournelle has died - davidw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle
======
ChuckMcM
I got to meet Jerry when I was going to USC, he had sent out a request for an
intern to "help him with all this junk" and for what ever reason he decided I
was the guy. I would go over to his house and help him sort through the piles
of stuff people would send in the hope that he would mention them in his
column in BYTE. I showed up in the column a couple of times, Jerry and I got
into a long and spirited discussion of 'terminals' versus TV Typewriters. He
had a big CP/M machine with a television screen that he used for writing (20
lines of 64 characters as I recall) and I set up and evaluated the Heathkit
Z29 (which was a slick detached keyboard terminal at the time). While there
were fewer characters on the screen on TV Typewriter, updates were very very
fast (since it was just memory mapped). I liked that there were more
characters on the terminal. But Jerry's main argument in favor was that he
kept most of his writing in his head, and the screen was just there to remind
him where he was, and in that mode speed won hands down. He signed my copy of
Footfall with "I have another pile of software for you."

Goodbye Jerry.

------
mmealling
I had lunch with Jerry at DragonCon this past weekend and he was enjoying
himself. He was using a walker but only when necessary. He told some of the
same stories I heard at Space Access but they were still enjoyable because
they were his. Because he was there. I'm going to cherish that memory forever.

Rest in peace, Dr. Pournelle. We will carry on with the fight.

~~~
eropple
I heard that that was pretty cool and was bummed I didn't get to track him
down this year. Now I won't--I'm sad about that, but hey, his work speaks for
itself.

------
abecedarius
In his 80s columns he wrote (roughly, by my memory) that by the turn of the
millennium you'd be able to go to your computer and ask any question with a
publically known answer, and get it back right away. I thought that was
ridiculous, and today you can quibble, but basically yes, you can, and he was
right on the money on the timing. That was an audacious prediction back then.

He influenced me the most by his columns on space development (A Step Farther
Out, and a couple of anthologies The Endless Frontier). I don't clearly
remember what was in them, but there was a kind of can-do attitude about
developing technological civilization in a strategic way that seems more in
tune with the 60s than anything happening now.

~~~
digi_owl
For anyone who's first computer interaction was a microcomp like the C64,
sure. But i suspect that for anyone that had spent time with
mainframe/minicomp terminals, particularly those attached to the Arpanet, it
may not have seemed as such a far fetched claim.

Never mind that France rolled out Minitel back then, and similar systems were
also deployed elsewhere in the world.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel#Minitel_in_other_count...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel#Minitel_in_other_countries)

~~~
abecedarius
I had a networked account in the later 80s. I also read Ted Nelson (Literary
Machines) and Eric Drexler
([http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_14.html](http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Chapter_14.html))
predicting something like the web but in important ways better -- there are
ideas there worth returning to for today's fights about "fake news" and open-
access science. Drexler was right about the timing, too.

Those guys were on the futuristic fringe, but their ideas looked good to me.
So why didn't I believe Pournelle? I was like, sure, someday, but his scenario
seemed practically AI-complete. I did not foresee it coming so soon out of a
little bit of the right sort of natural language processing plus some great
engineering.

I'm sure there were people with a better imagination! But hindsight really is
way too easy.

------
AndyMcConachie
In the late 90's he did a review of a video card for Linux that allowed dual
monitors. This was an article in Byte magazine and dual monitor setups for
Linux were hot shit back then.

I wrote him because I was having trouble getting it to work with XWindows and
he actually wrote me back with some tips to get it working. Don't remember the
name of the video card, but I'm sure I have that email around somewhere...

I really appreciated it and remember thinking how special it was to get a
personal response from a writer at Byte.

Good bye Jerry.

~~~
digi_owl
Would not surprise me if it was a Matrox card of some kind, i think they
offered multi-monitor cards for desktops quite early.

~~~
derekp7
And they were one of the few cards with excellent Linux drivers.

------
taylodl
I loved Chaos Manor as a teen. Having yet to even own a computer I was amazed
at everything Jerry was doing with his. I'd then dream of all the amazing
things I'd do with mine when I got my own computer. I really miss those early
days of personal computing.

------
leejoramo
Jerry __WAS __likely the first published professional writer to use a computer
to create book length works. I read his articles through the 1980 's. I still
remember seeing his S-100 writing system at the Smithsonian Museum

And while it would be too much of a stretch to say that his printed "Chaos
Manor" articles in Byte were the first Blog, there is no doubt that many of
the first bloggers where highly inspired by his style of journaling.

He deserves Hacker News' black banner

\- Real Soon Now

~~~
jacquesm
> Jerry WAS likely the first published professional writer to use a computer
> to create book length works.

'Using personal or micro computers'. There are some examples that pre-date
your reference:

[http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=3701](http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=3701)

------
chadcmulligan
There's a great interview with him from Leo Laporte not to long ago (2013)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7j3IG4h42Y&list=UUWoyADQ1Ri...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7j3IG4h42Y&list=UUWoyADQ1Ri8BqqnKWOK4TIw)
Loved his writings when I was young (and still do), chaos manor along with
Steve Ciarcia were always the first sections I went to in Byte.

~~~
ngcc_hk
Same same. Other than copy some code mainly read that column later.

------
ericHosick
I grew up on his sci-fi books. The Mote in God's Eye, to me, is the best
science fiction I've ever read.

Lucifer's Hammer was way up there and hit close to home (being in California
and all).

~~~
BatFastard
His sci-fi and computer skill were renowned. The world will be a lesser place
with out him.

~~~
astrodust
More than his skill I'd argue his enthusiasm and apparently boundless passion
for these things was the brighest part of his persona. There might be better
programmers and better writers, but he's always been one of the best at making
what he loved seem fun, interesting, and worth taking up as a career.

Science fiction may have lost another great, but I'd bet he inspired many
writers in his time.

------
satori99
I still use the phrase "On The Gripping Hand..." for ternary expressions in
English.

Thanks Jerry.

~~~
macintux
Ditto, although usually I turn it around to argue for my first option. Such a
great phrase.

------
Stratoscope
RIP Jerry.

May you be able to lift _all_ the computers now.

(I should explain for those who are unfamiliar with the reference: one of
Pournelle's Laws was "Never trust a computer you can't lift.")

And now my personal JP story... The one time I met Jerry Pournelle was when we
peed together.

I was in the men's room at one of the West Coast Computer Faires when Jerry
walked in and used the urinal next to me. We had a nice little conversation
while we did our business.

And thankfully for me and the other men nearby, even though Jerry was quite
tipsy on that good convention beer, he never lost his aim!

~~~
digi_owl
Did that one come before or after Woz's "never trust a computer you can't
throw out a window"?

------
irremediable
What a shame...

I came to his computer work quite late (mid-2000s), learning of him via his
appearances in the This Week in Tech podcast. But then I realised he was the
author of Lucifer's Hammer and other classic sci-fi.

He was a great writer and seemed like a great person. Amazing anecdotes. I'm
completely opposed to him politically, but I still read his blog every day
even as it veered more and more towards politics. He helped me break out of my
filter bubble, and showed me the variety of conservative thought.

RIP Dr Pournelle.

------
mrbill
There were times when he could be a real jerk:

"How Jerry Pournelle got kicked off the ARPANET"
[http://www.stormtiger.org/bob/humor/pournell/story.html](http://www.stormtiger.org/bob/humor/pournell/story.html)

However, I enjoyed his writings, both SF and his column in BYTE. Rest in
peace, Mr. Pournelle.

~~~
jacquesm
I don't think he's the one that comes off as a jerk in that thread. Of course
that's with decades of hindsight but here we are on 'ARPANET' and we can talk
about it freely. Think of him as slightly ahead of his time.

~~~
DonHopkins
He was so far ahead of his time, he would be working for the Trump
administration if he were younger. They would have loved his enthusiasm for
social darwinism. "Think of it as evolution in action." -POURNE

[http://www.independent.com/news/2017/mar/23/trump-making-
soc...](http://www.independent.com/news/2017/mar/23/trump-making-social-
darwinism-sexy-again/)

"By cannibalizing expanded Medicaid coverage to the tune of $880 billion,
Trump and the Republicans can justify massive tax cuts for a group who needs
them the least, the very wealthy and reasonably healthy. [...] Trump and the
Republicans have seized upon a much bolder solution: Cut costs by making
health care accessible to those who need it least ​— ​the young, healthy, and
rich."

[https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/trump-is-the-
candi...](https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/trump-is-the-candidate-2/)

"So what do I do? I agree with nearly everything he is for, but I’m better
qualified to make it happen. I avoid some issues, but I go for his most
popular ones and say, yeah! Want that! And I can make it happen better than he
can. I’ve got the experience of working in government, but I’m not the
establishment any more than Mr. Trump is. Heck, I’ll offer him a cabinet post.
I could use his energy in my administration." -POURNE

[http://voxday.blogspot.nl/2016/04/jerry-pournelle-on-
donald-...](http://voxday.blogspot.nl/2016/04/jerry-pournelle-on-donald-
trump.html)

"But he has never wavered on his desire to fill the Supreme Court with
Justices as near in scholarship and view to Scalia as possible; that alone
would be enough to get me to the polls for Trump if he’s nominated." -POURNE

"One thing that is known about ARPA: you can be heaved off it for supporting
the policies of the Department of Defense. Of course that was intended to
anger me. If you have an ARPA account, please tell CSTACY that he was
successful; now let us see if my Pentagon friends can upset him. Or perhaps
some reporter friends. Or both., Or even the House Armed Services Committee."
-POURNE

"The man has learned nothing from his presence on MC and sets a bad example of
what people might potentially accomplish there. I'd rather recycle his account
for some bright 12-yr-old...)" -KMP

~~~
superkuh
> Pournelle claims that he heard at a science fiction convention that you
> (chris) had said that the real reason his account was flushed was that ``he
> (pournelle) is a fascist.'' Given the current political climate, this could
> raise some sort of ruckus, so it would probably be good to nip this in the
> bud.

Nice to know the internet hasn't changed that much.

~~~
Zuider
I wonder if this is the first instance of politically motivated mobbing
behavior to take place over a digital communications medium? In which case, it
is an important historical document in its own right. It has the same
structure as modern digital witch-hunts:

1) A group of individuals apparently incensed at some minor infarction by
their target.

2) It is not entirely clear why the behavior of their target is wrong, or why
it should merit excommunication.

3) The group displays incongruous rage at their target given the apparent
wrongdoing, using terms that focus on the target's character rather than the
nature of his putative wrongdoing.

4) Certain members of the group are unable to contain themselves and let slip
references to the real source of their rage.

5) The expulsion is done by a minor player who does not necessarily take part
in the discussion.

6) The summary reason given for the expulsion is different from, and even
contradicts the original issue.

R.I.P Jerry Pournelle. Fearless, and always first into the fray.

~~~
gumby
> I wonder if this is the first instance of politically motivated mobbing
> behavior to take place over a digital communications medium?

It was not politically motivated (I am in that thread from 1985). Pournelle
was a pain in the neck when drunk. And a blowhard (which is hardly a crime,
but doesn't make people sympathetic when you call them assholes and then tell
them to do things for you).

As for the proxmiring: he was one of the common offenders; he loved to talk
archly about how _he_ was part of the insider elite, while claiming that that
was proof of his democratic ideals.

FWIW I did read some of his novels.

~~~
DonHopkins
The real reason POURNE was so unpopular with the people running the MIT-AI Lab
during the 1980's had to do with the fact that he was a belligerent alcoholic
who acted entitled to the free computer services and expert advice that he was
taking for granted and criticizing, rather than his politics.

In spite of the fact that many of those people who he accused of being
"communists" went far out of their way to spend their precious time patiently
answering his questions, tutoring and helping him (RMS even personally wrote
some free software for him at his request -- how communist is that??!):

[https://www.jerrypournelle.com/reviews/bookmonth.html](https://www.jerrypournelle.com/reviews/bookmonth.html)

>"I first met Richard Stallman (he called himself RMS in those days) when he
was a graduate student at MIT and I was just learning about the ARPANET. He
was immensely helpful to me in those days, patiently showing me things about
emacs — his full-screen editor that he wrote in TECO, and the less said about
TECO the better — as well as adding some special code to take care of things I
wanted to accomplish. I learned then that RMS and I have a common failing: We
don't suffer fools gladly or indeed at all, and we are sometimes wrong about
who is a fool. But that's another story for another time."

But POURNE certainly threatened to use his political connections as a weapon
against them. POURNE is the one who made his own politics an issue, who told
John McCarthy (the computer scientist, not Joseph the commie witch hunter)
that he thought MIT was run by a bunch of communists, and who posted ranting
threats on BIX.

Re-read the sputtering mis-punctuated threatening screed he posted to BIX, and
decide for yourself if you think he was drunk, or if he just acted that way
all the time purely because of his political beliefs:

    
    
        One thing that is known about ARPA: you can be heaved off it
        for supporting the policies of the Department of Defense.
        Of course that was intended to anger me.  If you have an
        ARPA account, please tell CSTACY that he was successful;
        now let us see if my Pentagon friends can upset him. Or
        perhaps some reporter friends.  Or both.,  Or even 
        the House Armed Services Committee.
    

It was widely known in the SF fandom community that Jerry Pournelle was an
alcoholic during the 1980's, because he was always drunk, loud and and
obnoxious at science fiction conventions, which a lot of MIT-AI lab members
and turists attended and witnessed first-hand.

[http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.arts.sf.writ...](http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.arts.sf.written/2008-01/msg06577.html)

~~~
gumby
I love that excerpt since it was classic Pournelle: included a nice extra bit
of detail that showed he was "in the know" yet was not actually true (RMS was
never a grad student). He used to boast he was part of Reagan's "Kitchen
Cabinet" of space advisors, and talked about their EOB meetings -- but i knew
folks on the NSC technical advisory committee and it was nothing like he
described.

I never let on that the person he "knew" online and the person he knew offline
were the same me.

------
rbanffy
I never read any of his books, but I read, avidly, his Chaos Manor column on
BYTE every month and back in time at the library.

On every frontier we need writers that can translate the wonder to others who
don't experience it first hand. IT is no different: he went to live into the
near future and always came back with great stories.

~~~
woodandsteel
I loved his BYTE column. It was usually just a story of dealing with some
problem, either something that stopped working right, or trying to install a
new machine or software program. He would take you through what happened,
step-by-step, including all the confusions and mistakes, and it was
fascinating reading. He used to say, if I remember correctly, "I do it the
dumb way so you don't have to."

I was really shocked when BYTE stopped publishing. I couldn't believe that
such a superb publication that was so valued by its readers could go out of
business. From what I recall, what happened is first it was bought up by a
publisher who wanted to turn it into a magazine for average computer users,
not techies, and then when that failed to get a market, just shut it down. So
much for the idea that the free enterprise system always makes things better.

------
greedo
JP had a helluva career. Advised mayors, presidents, influenced space policy,
inspired a ton via Byte Magazine, in addition to a catalog of books that were
usually well grounded in science.

------
protomyth
His Iron Law of Bureaucracy is one of life’s truths. Loved his writing and his
presentation. Chaos Manor was always the first column I read in Byte.

------
criddell
What I know about Pournelle I mostly picked up from listening to him the few
times he was on the TWiT podcast. He was always an interesting guest.

One thing he mentioned there that stuck with me was that he logs his daily
activities in a journal. What he eats, the weather, phone calls, meetings,
etc... I tried to start the habit, but it never stuck.

I wonder if his personal papers will end up in some university's collection?

~~~
coleca
Those TWiT episodes with Jerry and John C Dvorak were pure gold. He was a
giant in the industry. R.I.P.

------
davidw
I didn't much care for his politics, but he wrote some good stories.

~~~
ci5er
What were his politics beyond cynicism regarding the incentive structures
often embedded within our most common governing systems?

~~~
asveikau
Wikipedia says he was involved in missile defense under Reagan which suggests
to me he may have been one of the "opposed to big government except when it's
people I like" variety.

But though I will also classify myself less than appealed by descriptions of
his politics and I voted up davidw above I want to be clear I think it would
be uncool to bash him for it at the time of his death.

~~~
davidw
I wasn't bashing him: I wouldn't have submitted this if I didn't like his
work.

~~~
altstar
So what was his politics?

~~~
DonHopkins
[https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/trump-is-the-
candi...](https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/trump-is-the-candidate-2/)

"So what do I do? I agree with nearly everything he is for, but I’m better
qualified to make it happen. I avoid some issues, but I go for his most
popular ones and say, yeah! Want that! And I can make it happen better than he
can. I’ve got the experience of working in government, but I’m not the
establishment any more than Mr. Trump is. Heck, I’ll offer him a cabinet post.
I could use his energy in my administration." -POURNE

[http://voxday.blogspot.nl/2016/04/jerry-pournelle-on-
donald-...](http://voxday.blogspot.nl/2016/04/jerry-pournelle-on-donald-
trump.html)

"But he has never wavered on his desire to fill the Supreme Court with
Justices as near in scholarship and view to Scalia as possible; that alone
would be enough to get me to the polls for Trump if he’s nominated." -POURNE

[https://newrepublic.com/article/139817/donald-trump-wants-
ig...](https://newrepublic.com/article/139817/donald-trump-wants-ignore-
russia-worry-china)

Both here and elsewhere, Lukacs argued that as white nations, America and
Russia might profitably work together to prop each other up against a planet
where they were a racial minority. The right-wing science-fiction writers
Jerry Pournelle (an admirer of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini) and
Larry Niven pursued a similar argument in their CoDominium novels, a long-
running series of novels that started in 1973 and imagines a world where the
U.S. and the Soviet Union work together to govern an unruly planet.

[http://crookedtimber.org/2011/12/12/the-attractions-of-
fasci...](http://crookedtimber.org/2011/12/12/the-attractions-of-fascism/)

At one point, Gingrich was supposed to be writing a novel with his friend,
noted authority on the political attractions of Fascism, Jerry Pournelle. I
don’t know what happened to it, but I imagine it would have made quite
interesting reading (Inferno, Pournelle’s ‘Benito Mussolini redeems himself in
an updated version of Dante’s hell’ schlock-epic with Larry Niven, is
certainly entertaining if your tastes run to certain varieties of kitsch).

~~~
jacquesm
Don,

You're quite aggressive in this thread about someone who just died in a
multitude of comments, and it's not like JP will rise up to defend himself. I
don't like his politics either and I'm sure that some of what you wrote has
merit but please have some respect. This simply isn't the time.

~~~
DonHopkins
Please read my words correcting the crass misrepresentations and
misunderstandings in the post from the guy who attacked the MIT AI Lab with
the quite aggressive words "Fuck them", as well as the MIT AI Lab Tourist
Policy which POURNE violated, and of course POURNE's own words describing how
much effort the MIT AI Lab staff and even RMS himself put into personally
helping him and even writing him free software to his specifications, and also
the words of an anonymous staff member on the topic, POURNE's enduring legacy,
asymmetric audience, and his failure to live up to the responsibility of his
celebrity. Specifically:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15221830](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15221830)

And finally, read the words [3] of an anonymous MIT-AI Lab member who spent
much of their own time helping POURNE and I as well as many other tourists.
Even though POURNE isn't around to defend himself, I feel obligated to post
this in response to the crass misunderstandings and misstatements of the facts
in your attempt to smear the MIT AI Lab and its members (your own words: "Fuck
them."), and because I agree with the point that "If he didn't want to have
this as his enduring legacy, he had plenty of opportunity to make amends. And
the offensive acts were not private ones.", and also with the points about
asymmetric audience and the responsibility to do well by one's celebrity:

~~~
jacquesm
I never used the words 'fuck them' in any other HN post than this one, I think
you have your parties muddled up.

~~~
DonHopkins
I didn't say you did. By 'the guy who attacked the MIT AI Lab with the quite
aggressive words "Fuck them"' I meant coldtea. If I meant 'you' I would have
said 'you' instead of 'the guy'.

But you both implied the MIT-AI Lab staff came off as jerks, and it was
coldtea who said "Fuck them", but I was responding to both of your
misimpressions that POURNE doesn't deserve his well earned reputation as a
drunken abusive jerk.

But I still ask both of you to please re-read the words I cited. Do you care
to address those?

Do you agree that he violated the terms of the MIT AI Lab Tourist Policy, or
not?

Do his own sputtering mis-punctuated threats of having his Pentagon friends,
reporter friends, and even the House Armed Services Committee upset CSTACY
sound like he was drunk to you, or do you believe he behaved that way all the
time, his behavior was justified, CSTACY flushing his account was not
justified, and do you continue to carry his water (or booze) by denying he was
acting like a jerk?

Again, as the MIT-AI Lab staff member I quoted said, "If he didn't want to
have this as his enduring legacy, he had plenty of opportunity to make
amends."

~~~
jacquesm
You are entirely missing my point, but fine.

------
chiph
Oh man. I read his column in Byte religiously. And read all his novels,
especially his collaborations with Larry Niven.

~~~
bigtunacan
Agreed. His collaborations with Niven were great. Both were great authors
alone, but as a team they were really something special. Footfall, A Mote in
God's Eye, and Lucifer's Hammer are a few of my favorite sci-fi reads to this
day.

~~~
Pxtl
I always think they each took something from Heinlein - Pournelle got his
politics, his passion, and worldbuilding, while Niven got his brainstorming
and whimsy. Put them together and you get a whole Heinlein.

------
geuis
Some of my favorite episodes of This Week in Tech was when Jerry was a guest
host. I loved all of his sci-fi books over the years. Going to miss this guy a
lot.

------
ngcc_hk
Ooh.

Read his byte article a lot. S-100 based system is a bridge too far from my
1980s me. But enjoy his writing very much his writing.

Rip.

------
dredmorbius
TIA alternate:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20170909012110/https://www.jerry...](https://web.archive.org/web/20170909012110/https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/passings/)

------
vhodges
I just checked his site today like I do every few days. He just got back from
DragonCon, complaining of a flu bug he caught sometime during his trip. He
signed off his last post, "Bye for now". I will miss him and his writing.

------
andrewstuart
I was only a kid when I read his columns in Byte where he gave a narrative of
his experiences using products - a really unique style for the time and
thoroughly enjoyable - I always read the JP columns.

------
javajosh
My first off-campus email was to Jerry Pournelle, regarding one of his F&SF
stories. To my astonishment, he answered! I thought that was really cool of
him. RIP.

------
505
Sad day. I enjoyed the fiction and the Byte column, despite him being a jerk
sometimes.

Anyone interested in science fiction should read at least _The Mote in God 's
Eye_.

------
epalmer
I read his column first when I received my copy of Byte Magazine. Chaos Manor
helped me decide to become an IT professional. He will be missed. Sad day.

------
PaulRobinson
Jerry's columns are what made me want to write about tech. I don't do it
professionally but I do enjoy blogging about tech when I get the chance.

RIP.

------
Crontab
I used to love reading Byte magazine and I always enjoyed his column in the
magazine. I am sorry to hear he has passed away.

------
stretchwithme
I remember his articles in BYTE magazine. Always interesting. Sad to see you
go, Jerry.

~~~
microtherion
You might enjoy this parody:
[http://www.panix.com/~clp/humor/computers/general/Jerry-
Pour...](http://www.panix.com/~clp/humor/computers/general/Jerry-Pournelle-
parody.html)

~~~
Turing_Machine
Back in the day, I used to joke that my goal in life was to become Jerry
Pournelle's garbage man.

------
WheelsAtLarge
Rest in peace Jerry. Godspeed!

------
aquamo
RIP Jerry - my first exposure to Jerry was his BYTE magazine articles.

------
Ice_cream_suit
His far right politics was a bit of a turnoff for me. YMMV

------
mindcrime
R.I.P. Mr. Pournelle.

This is a sad day. Besides his novels, I seem to recall Jerry Pournelle doing
a lot of writing for ( Byte | Computer Shopper | PC Magazine). back in the
day. I really enjoyed his articles back in the 90's when I was first getting
started in computing.

Mods, can we get a black bar to commemorate Mr. Pournelle?

~~~
tjr
I've actually never read any of his novels, but thoroughly enjoyed his column
in Byte.

What might be a good starting place with his books?

~~~
zem
"a mote in god's eye", one of his many collaborations with larry niven, is
excellent.

"oath of fealty" is another good one that should appeal to the hackernews
crowd.

~~~
gypsydave5
After 20 years all I remember about `Mote` is the incessant conversations
about tea and coffee...

------
SlipperySlope
Chaos Manor. S100 Bus. Wordstar. Parallel port. Reviews of stuff he used every
day when writing sci-fi. (The Mote in God's Eye).

------
angersock
One of my favorite military-SF anthologies was _There Will Be War_ , which
iirc Pournelle edited. His CoDominium and Janissaries works were also good
reads, and he had some wonderful collaborations with Larry Niven.

Rest well, sir.

------
floatingatoll
Wikipedia is an unusual source to reference here. Could you provide a more
concrete link?

~~~
davidw
I didn't have one earlier, but here's this:

[https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/passings/](https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/passings/)

If dang or one of the moderators would like to change it, that works for me.

