Jerry Pournelle, Science Fiction Novelist and Computer Guide, Dies at 84

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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