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Jerry Pournelle

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Born: August 06 1933

Died: 0707 09 20172017

Website: Go to Website

Dr Jerry Eugene Pournelle was an American science fiction writer, engineer, essayist, and journalist, who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte, and from 1998 until his death maintained his own website and blog.

From the beginning, Pournelle's work centered around strong military themes. Several books describe the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. There are strong parallels between these stories and the Childe Cycle mercenary stories by Gordon R. Dickson, as well as Heinlein's Starship Troopers, although Pournelle's work takes far fewer technological leaps than either of these.

Pournelle spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. This side of his career also found him working on projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report in which he had a hand became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. A study he edited in 1964 involved projecting Air Force missile technology needs for 1975.

Dr. Pournelle would always tell would-be writers seeking advice that the key to becoming an author was to write — a lot.

“And finish what you write,” he added in a 2003 interview. “Don’t join a writers’ club and sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it.”

Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.

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Jerry Pournelle

Jerry Pournelle

Books from Jerry Pournelle

The Mote in God's Eye

Footfall

The Gripping Hand

Lucifer's Hammer

Falkenberg's Legion

Janissaries

Man-Kzin Wars 3 (Man-Kzin Wars, #3)

King David's Spaceship

Prince of Mercenaries

West Of Honor

Go Tell the Spartans

Prince of Sparta

The Burning City

The Mercenary

Starswarm

Take Back Your Government: A Practical Handbook for the Private Citizen Who Wants Democracy to Work

Higher Education

Mamelukes

Starborn and Godsons (Heorot #3)

Birth of Fire