RIP Jerry Pournelle

[IBMJunkman]

Passed today.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/09/science-fiction-author-jerry-pournelle-has-died.html


https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/author/jerrypournelle/

 

[Crono]

Sad

Never read his books, but knew of him from his guest appearances on TWiT. He was usually spot-on with his observations and predictions as futurist, which I'm sure stemmed from (or helped with, depending on how you look at it) his sci-fi novels.

 

[Paratus]

That's sad to hear. I used to read a lot of his books

My favorite as a kid was probably the hard scifi novel Footfall.

Baby elephant aliens show up from Alpha Centauri and drop a bunch of asteroids on us.

After getting our ass kicked we respond with this thing:

It was propelled by nuclear bombs detonated under that hemispherical plate.

The aliens evolved from herd animals and when losing a fight for dominance it was expected the losing herd would surrender and join the winner as the lowest members.

When that thing launched the leader asked some captured humans if it was to increase our standing in the herd when we surrendered. The humans said, no it was likely coming to wipe all of the aliens out.

The leader thought that was insane they hadn't tried to wipe all of the humans out. The humans replied that they should have figured out what humans were before attacking us.

 

[SKORPI0]

Oh no, I usually visit his Chaos Manor site and read his articles in BYTE magazine.
https://www.jerrypournelle.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_(magazine)

 

[GagHalfrunt]

That's sad to hear. I used to read a lot of his books

My favorite as a kid was probably the hard scifi novel Footfall.

Baby elephant aliens show up from Alpha Centauri and drop a bunch of asteroids on us.

After getting our ass kicked we respond with this thing:

It was propelled by nuclear bombs detonated under that hemispherical plate.

The aliens evolved from herd animals and when losing a fight for dominance it was expected the losing herd would surrender and join the winner as the lowest members.

When that thing launched the leader asked some captured humans if it was to increase our standing in the herd when we surrendered. The humans said, no it was likely coming to wipe all of the aliens out.

The leader thought that was insane they hadn't tried to wipe all of the humans out. The humans replied that they should have figured out what humans were before attacking us.

I really enjoyed Footfall, The Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer. Niven and Pournelle were the first hard sci-fi I read way back when.

 

[DooKey]

RIP Jerry. You are one of my favorite authors of all time.

 

[Ajay]

Wow, blast from the past. Reminds me of a different time in computing. RIP JP.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

RIP. Was an avid reader of BYTE waaaay back in the day
Still have stacks of them back at my folks'.

 

[ultimatebob]

Wasn't he the guy from the "Lab Of Doom and Pepsi Cola"? I used to love those articles in Computer Shopper when I was a kid.

 

[brianmanahan]

Wasn't he the guy from the "Lab Of Doom and Pepsi Cola"? I used to love those articles in Computer Shopper when I was a kid.

dang, it's been a long time since i read a computer shopper

those things were massive

 

[Paratus]

I really enjoyed Footfall, The Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer. Niven and Pournelle were the first hard sci-fi I read way back when.

Mote in Gods Eye was really good too.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Wasn't he the guy from the "Lab Of Doom and Pepsi Cola"? I used to love those articles in Computer Shopper when I was a kid.

LoDaPC was two people named Alice and Bill. The good old days when Computer Shopper was the size of a NYC phone book.

 

[Malogeek]

That sucks. Loved Mote in God's Eye and Lucifer's Hammer. Have to read them again now, been a long time since.

 

[SKORPI0]

dang, it's been a long time since i read a computer shopper

those things were massive

LoDaPC was two people named Alice and Bill. The good old days when Computer Shopper was the size of a NYC phone book.

Current digital versions of Computer Shopper are about 140 pages vs. 300+ pages for the print versions which ceased mid 2009. Yes those were the days, and they were free too.

Archives - July 1991 to April 2009.
https://www.highbeam.com/publications/computer-shopper-p408135

Jan 2001 - https://ia601700.us.archive.org/18/items/computer_shopper_2001-01/ComputerShopper_January_2001.pdf
Aug 2017 - https://psv4.userapi.com/c812221/u4.../Computer_Shopper__Issue_354__August_2017.pdf

 

[pcgeek11]

One of my absolute favorite authors.

RIP Jerry.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Current digital versions of Computer Shopper are about 140 pages vs. 300+ pages for the print versions which ceased mid 2009. Yes those were the days, and they were free too.

That 300 page edition was the 2nd generation after the magazine had been pared way down. That happened in the late 90's or early 00s as so many people were online and already buying their PC parts that way. The REAL Computer Shopper from the early to mid 1990s was 800 pages minimum for a small issue and regularly topped out over 1000.

 

[SKORPI0]

That 300 page edition was the 2nd generation after the magazine had been pared way down. That happened in the late 90's or early 00s as so many people were online and already buying their PC parts that way. The REAL Computer Shopper from the early to mid 1990s was 800 pages minimum for a small issue and regularly topped out over 1000.

Your right, they were >800 pages. Wish I kept at least a copy of those early editions.

 

[Pick2]

The Mote in God's Eye was one of My favorites ... Think I read most of his books
RIP jerry

 

[Apathetic]

RIP, Sir.

I loved his articles in BYTE as well as his sci-fi - especailly Falkenberg's Legion.

Dave