Very Sad! RIP: Randy Pausch

[DateDoc]

Such an inspirational person living life even though facing terminal cancer! I hope his family can find some peace in knowing he fought a tough battle and left them loved, adored and to be remembered and inspired by all that were touched by him.

PITTSBURGH - Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose "last lecture" about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday. He was 47.

Pausch died at his home in Chesapeake, Va., said Jeffrey Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer who co-wrote Pausch's book. Pausch and his family had moved there last fall to be closer to his wife's relatives.

Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006. His popular last lecture at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007 garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on the Internet.

In it, Pausch celebrated living the life he had always dreamed of instead of concentrating on impending death.

"The lecture was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful," Pausch wrote on his Web site. "But rest assured; I'm hardly unique."

The book "The Last Lecture" leaped to the top of the nonfiction best-seller lists after its publication in April and remains there this week. The book deal was reported to be worth more than $6 million.

more - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080725/...ot/obit_pausch

[DateDoc]

Long (over an hour) but well worth watching - The Last Lecture

[LBBV]

Kathi got me his book on CD about 2 months ago for my birthday. I listened to it every day on my office commute and found it extremely inspiring. Randy certainly made the VERY best of the short time he had left, that is for sure. I'm not sure I would have that same attitude if I was told I had less than 6 months to live.

Sad day....

[jhauser]

"...when you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering you to tell you anymore, that's a very bad place to be. Your critics are the ones telling you they still love you and care." — from The Last Lecture

What an amazing person.

[Mutt]

oh christ what a sad story - never heard of him before but seeing the photo of him and his young family - heartbreaking

don't think i have the heart to watch the video - i won't find it inspiring at all

[starpimps]

i herd on the news today.. really sad

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

"It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's all about leading your life. If you lead your life in a right way, karma will take care of itself. And dreams will come to you." ? from The Last Lecture

RIP Randy Pausch...

ADG

[munki]

Watching the lecture again now, pretty amazing guy...

[DateDoc]

I have an engineering problem.

While for the most part I'm in terrific physical shape, I have ten tumors in my liver and have only a few months left to live.

I am a father of three young children, and married to the woman of my dreams. While I could easily feel sorry for myself, that wouldn't do them, or me, any good.

So, how to spend my very limited time?

The obvious part is being with, and taking care of, my family. While I still can, I embrace every moment with them, and do the logistical things necessary to ease their path into a life without me.

The less obvious part is how to teach my children what I would have taught them over the next twenty years. They are too young now to have those conversations. All parents want to teach their children right from wrong, what we think is important, and how to deal with the challenges life will bring. We also want them to know some stories from our own lives, often as a way to teach them how to lead theirs. My desire to do that led me to give a "last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University.

These lectures are routinely videotaped. I knew what I was doing that day. Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children. If I were a painter, I would have painted for them. If I were a musician, I would have composed music. But I am a lecturer. So I lectured.

I lectured about the joy of life, about how much I appreciated life, even with so little of my own left. I talked about honesty, integrity, gratitude, and other things I hold dear. And I tried very hard not to be boring.

This book is a way for me to continue what I began on stage. Because time is precious, and I want to spend all that I can with my kids, I asked Jeffrey Zaslow for help. Each day, I ride my bike around my neighborhood, getting exercise crucial for my health. On fifty-three long bike rides, I spoke to Jeff on my cell-phone headset. He then spent countless hours helping to turn my stories?I suppose we could call them fifty-three "lectures"?into the book that follows.

We knew right from the start: None of this is a replacement for a living parent. But engineering isn't about perfect solutions; it's about doing the best you can with limited resources. Both the lecture and this book are my attempts to do exactly that.

[Evil E]

RIP, watched his lecture when it came out and it is really inspiring.

[selena]

Did you figure out the head fake? It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way ... the dreams will come to you. Did you figure out the second head fake? The talk's not for you. It's for my kids. - The Last Lecture

[RevengeBucks_Monica]

What I found really inspiring is that he not only lived his last year with his family, loving and enjoying their time together, but he also worked hard to leave something behind for them, something to help them growing up and along the way. I think a lot of people aren't even able to think of that type of thing when faced with such an awful diagnoses.

[Kudles]

How sad!!!

[DateDoc]

ABC is airing an updated 1 hour special tonight at 10PM on PrimeTime.

[jhauser]

DateDoc thanks for the 411. I want to catch that.

[OG LennyT]

A good friend gave me his last lecture on DVD and asked me to watch it because she thought of me when she watched it. I can't lie, I shed a few tears at the conclusion.

One of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received and RIP to an amazing person.