Posted on 04/13/2016 9:21:56 AM PDT by EveningStar
National Space Society members have voted the 2016 Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award to Dr. Jerry Pournelle...
(This award is distinguished from the Heinlein Award given by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society and co-funded by The Heinlein Society, and the Heinlein Prize for Accomplishments in Commercial Space Activities administered by The Heinlein Trust.)
(Excerpt) Read more at file770.com ...
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“Footfall” was a great book.
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Always wonder how much was Niven and how much was Pournelle. Same with Lucifer's Hammer.
Lucifer’s Hammer was good. I think the Mote books were good, too.
Same here. I liked them both, and while he deserves the award I will say “He’s no Robert Heinlien”.
Hmm. Memory does funny things. Wikipedia informs me that his Chaos Manor column ran in Byte. I remember reading the column regularly but don't remember reading Byte much. I could have sworn it was DDJ...
His regular column was Chaos Manor in Byte magazine. He has a web site now. http://jerrypournelle.com
My dad's family is from Heinlein's birthplace which is Butler, Mo. My cousin lived for a time in the house where he was born. It is now a landmark.
“an armed society is a polite society”
His book “Fallen Angels” on two pilots from a space station falling to an Earth ruled by eco-nuts is surprisingly prescient - including the takeover of society by liberals demanding fluff courses and privilege rankings.
There is a surprisingly prescient scene in Lucifer’s Hammer.
The astronauts are looking down on Earth, talking about how the national borders aren’t visible from space.
One says it is really dangerous because an ice age is approaching.
The other says it may have started except it is stalled by global warming - and we’re running out of oil.
40 years later, still liberals afraid of peak oil and debating climate change.
I met Jerry in 1984. At the time, he was drinking quite a bit. Having read his books, I was already a supporter when we found ourselves on the same panel discussion at a SF convention.
He shocked me by being loud and abrasive.
I guess he cleaned up his act.
He was a great author and another of Mr. Heinlein’s Children.
Jerry, may the Force be with you and thanks for all of your contributions to the sanity of humanity.
>>“Footfall” was a great book.<<
Yes — Pournelle is one of the few greats left with us.
Back in 1989 at Worldcon 47 (Noreascon 3) in Boston, I watched a panel about the book with Pournelle and his co-authors Larry Niven and Michael Flynn.
Copies were being sold after the panel concluded. I bought the book, read it and enjoyed it.
I loved Lucifer’s Hammer. I thought it was a good candidate for a miniseries.
I once heard Pournelle say, "Larry's the better writer. I'm the better plotter."
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