the Way of the Turtle

Randy Pausch & "The Last Lecture"
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

In Memorium (CMU)
An Enduring Legacy (CMU)

I've wanted to write something about Randy Pausch and his "Last Lecture" since March, when I first encountered him through a forwarded link to a Youtube video. As many people know by now, Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was asked to give a talk as part of a "last lecture" series (basic idea - what would you say if you had only one last lecture you'd ever be able to give.) In Professor Pausch's case, that concept was all too real, as he'd been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and been told he most likely had only a few months to live. He gave his talk, the video was posted online, and it became an incredible phenomenon, with tens of millions of people viewing it (and a myriad of related videos, including appearances on Oprah and Good Morning America) and commenting on how his words and his courage had changed their lives for the better. He went on to co-author a book, The Last Lecture, which discussed many of the thoughts and ideas he presented in his talk in greater detail, and to nobody's surprise it became a bestseller.

Professor Pausch lost his hard-fought battle with cancer last Friday morning. So I guess it's time I stop wondering what I can say that would ever do his story justice and actually do it.

more to come...

JMH