Jerry Pournelle passed away on September 8th in his sleep. He will be missed. I enjoyed his work, of particular note was his monthly Chaos Manor column in BYTE. I was first introduced to it long ago and always flipped to his column first when I received a new issue.
He had many firsts, including the first to publish a novel that was written on a word processor. He also was blogging on computer networks (such as GEnie) long before the term "blog" or the World Wide Web" was in use. I for one remember some of his work back on GEnie, I was as active as I could be (it was a long distance call and expensive at the time) until GEnie was sold to another company and ruined. Still, I have pleasant memories of going though the various menus and looking at what he posted. I never read it when I was online of course, paying by the minute. I buffered everything and read it offline. Ah those were the days (horribly expensive days, but liberating nonetheless), and we take so much for granted now.
While looking though his site I came across an article he did in 1996 for BYTE. I know I must have read it back then, but I forgot about it until now. It is titled How To Get My Job, or how to be a professional writer. I love how he talks about the difference between an Author and a Writer. Being an author is easy. That is what you do on the podium, or at book signings. But to be a writer, that is hard work. And he is right, it is. Many think it is easy, but it is one of those professions where the talented make it look easy. But there is a difference between writing a letter to a friend, and writing a novel that has many characters, places, plot and descriptions that don't bore the reader. Then tie it all together with good grammar that don't make their eyes bleed is difficult to say the least. His work is extensive in both fiction and non-fiction. He was a true master of the craft.
Rest in peace Jerry, and we thank you for all you did.
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