Jerry Pournelle

Jerry Pournelle was an American author, engineer, essayist, and journalist, best known for his military science fiction novels and non-fiction books. He was a New York Times bestselling author, with his novels featuring the infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion, which are similar to the works of Gordon R. Dickson and Robert Heinlein. Pournelle wrote a column for Byte Magazine from 1980 to 2008 and was a regular contributor to various computer magazines in the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s.

Dr. Pournelle had a distinguished career in the aerospace industry, working at Boeing on projects related to heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. He also contributed to projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report he worked on became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. Pournelle was also a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.

Pournelle was a tireless ambassador for the future, with his predictions and persuasive essays potentially changing the course of American history. He was known for his paleo-conservative political views, which were sometimes expressed in his fiction. Pournelle was one of the founders of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy, which developed some of the Reagan Administration's space initiatives.

As an author, Pournelle wrote for over 50 years, with his work including the NY Times bestsellers Lucifer’s Hammer, Oath of Fealty and Footfall (with Larry Niven). He worked well with co-authors Larry Niven and Steve Barnes, combining mystery, science, well-paced drama, and outlandish predictions of the future. Pournelle's writing is known for its strong military themes, fast-paced and rollicking stories, and often features funny and scary aliens as antagonists and protagonists.

Pournelle was a full-time writer of technology, science fact, and fiction, with his essays on future prediction and adventurous tales of fiction appearing in various magazines. He was also active in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Pournelle's column in BYTE was the longest-running column in the computer industry, beginning in 1980 and continuing past the turn of the Century on one of the world’s first blogs, ChaosManor™.

Pournelle's work often centered around strong military themes, with several books describing the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. He was also a prolific writer of non-fiction, with his work including studies on military tactics and probabilities, as well as essays on future prediction. Pournelle was always generous with his advice to would-be writers, telling them that the key to becoming an author was to write - a lot, and to finish what they write.