Jerry Pournelle, Science Fiction Novelist and Computer Guide, Dies at 84
Source: New York Times
By NEIL GENZLINGER SEPT. 15, 2017
Jerry Pournelle, a prolific writer of science fiction novels and witty advice columns for computer users, died on Sept. 8 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 84.
The cause was heart failure, his son Phillip said. Dr. Pournelle had just returned from Dragon Con, the annual convention in Atlanta for fans of science fiction, fantasy and other genres. In his final blog post, written the day before his death, he mentioned having contracted a cold and flu on the trip.
Dr. Pournelle, whose several degrees included a Ph.D. in political science, worked in the aerospace industry for years and advised the federal government on military matters and space exploration. But science fiction fans knew him as the author of novels like “Janissaries” (1979), about soldiers abducted by space aliens, and “Starswarm” (1998), about a boy being raised on a remote planet by an uncle and a computer program named Gwen, which his dead mother had left behind.
Dr. Pournelle also wrote numerous books with other authors. Larry Niven was a favorite collaborator. Their works included “The Mote in God’s Eye” (1975), an outer-space saga; “Lucifer’s Hammer” (1977), about humanity’s attempt to regroup after a cataclysm; “Inferno” (1976) and “Escape From Hell” (2009), related stories inspired by the hell envisioned by Dante; and “Footfall,” which made it to the top of The New York Times’s paperback best-seller list in May 1986.
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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/15/obituaries/jerry-pournelle-science-fiction-novelist-and-computer-guide-dies-at-84.html
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Mote and Lucifers Hammer. Excellent. Footfall I never finished. The elephant aliens...woo hoo.
(and "Lucifer's Hammer" seems to support that) and had become something of a persona non grata in the science fiction community in recent decades.
I was at the World Con in Kansas City in 2016. One day, while walking through the vastness of Bartle Hall, I heard someone call out, "Jerry!" I turned to see who was being called, and recognized Jerry Pournelle. It didn't seem as if he had much of a following. 
I might be completely wrong here.
I read "Lucifer's Hammer" when it came out and quite liked it. Some years later I reread it for my science fiction book club, and was appalled at the racism in it. Vicious racism.
I did like "Inferno", "Escape From Hell", "Footfall", "The Mote in God's Eye" and several others.
and NOT Persona non Grata because of it.
Any shunning that might have occurred would solely have been because he was prone to be first a drunk, later a dry drunk (He used to abstain from alcohol during the month of February to "prove" he wasn't an alcoholic), and an overbearing a-hole (He once called me a "son of a bitch" when I responded with his pushing me out-of-the-way and off-balance in order to get to the snacks on a low table at a Con party by saying "You know, an 'Excuse me' would have worked just as well."
He was also beloved by many of my LA friends despite these views and traits.
There will be a public memorial for him at LASFS's annual LACon, this Thanksgiving weekend.
