Randy Pausch And "The Last Lecture"

(CBS)
Tonight's Assignment America is so special, 've asked if I can tell the same story every month 'til further notice.
Seriously. I'm not sure it'll happen, but if it does, we're all in for some tremendously powerful television.
The story is about a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. His name is Randy Pausch and he's one of the foremost authorities on virtual reality. Not long ago he was asked to give a "last lecture." "Last lectures" have become popular on college campuses. It's where the professor speaks as if he's dying and has one last chance to convey all his most important wisdom to his students. It was a painfully simple assignment for Randy.
He IS dying.
Randy has pancreatic cancer which has now spread to his liver. I asked him if he would be around for Christmas. He said, "50/50". I asked, "Father's Day?". He said, "I wouldn't buy me anything.". It was a rare somber moment. Until you start talking about his three small children or his wife, Randy is able to stay remarkably upbeat. In his lecture at Carnegie Mellon he started by announcing that he'd experienced a death bed conversion - paused -smirked - and said, "I bought a Macintosh." The place errupted.
In my story tonight I'll have more of the speech along with an interview I did with Randy while his kids were napping earlier this week.
Understandably, Randy wants to spend as much quality time with his kids as possible. But he is also a teacher and he has so much wisdom to share. More now than ever. Facing imminent death seems to have crystalized that wisdom. His lecture has already been downloaded nearly a million times by people all over the world. And most everyone has found inspiration.
I can't possibly tell you everything I want to tell you about Randy in this short blog. Tonight's story will be equally lacking. Which is why I've asked Katie and our other executives here at CBS if I can visit with Randy every few weeks for as long as he has to live. They have agreed. Randy is thinking about it - although he cautioned me to be careful what I wish for. "Death can get ugly," he said.
Maybe, but I think he's got more than enough life to shine through.
My prayers are with you and your family. At 42 we don''t think about our lives ending and leaving our family at a time when we should be just starting to live it. Our lives are so fragile, but we do have a hope and that hope is in Christ Jesus. If you haven''t embraced him yet, I would pray now that you would. The promise he gives is for eternity, much longer than your 42 years. God Bless
May God bless and Keep you, and may your family be strong as you help each other through this all.
Laurie
May God bless and Keep you, and may your family be strong as you help each other through this all.
Laurie
May God bless and Keep you, and may your family be strong as you help each other through this all.
Laurie
May God bless and Keep you, and may your family be strong as you help each other through this all.
Laurie
May God bless and Keep you, and may your family be strong as you help each other through this all.
Laurie
Eric
I hope that you agree to allow us to a part of the life that you have left. Sure death can be ugly, but I have a feeling that for you it will not be that way. I hope that you can inspire more people to be more like you in their life. For all of us our lives are just too short and we never know if we have tomorrow and for many of us we never prepare for our ending and have the chance to say goodbye and leave this world touched by something special as you are.
You are in my thoughts and prayers!
Glenn T
And here''s hoping (and praying) that Randy Pausch pulls a "Stephen Hawking" on us, and hangs in there for many years to come ... for the good of us all.
I figure that Randy would not have gone public in the first place if he were that worried about the privacy issue, but I am sure that he will make that known to all if it is his will.
It breaks my heart, there are no words to describe it....it is so said that very little is being done to ''wage a war on cancer'', instead we have spent $600B on "other" things....if had spent $600B on cancer research....Randy would not be going at 46 leaving his young children behind...wake up people do something...do not watch another good soul leave us.....www.peaceisthecure.org
beena
I understand how you might be feeling. I recntly lost my 15 year old daughter to cancer in my arms. President Nixon had declared war on cancer long time ago. than other presidents forgot about it . They got involved with other wars. so now humanity is going to lose another great soul in untimely manner. Wake up people, get mad, demand more cancer researc so people like Randy can have a chance at life. My daughter did not live to be 16. Check out www.peaceisthcure.org
Raandy, saying that you are in my prayers seems hollow, if prayers worked, why would you be in this situation in the first place. why would i lose my daughter at 15. Sorry to all the prayer kind, but it does not work....
i am very sad ....
beena
I understand how you might be feeling. I recntly lost my 15 year old daughter to cancer in my arms. President Nixon had declared war on cancer long time ago. than other presidents forgot about it . They got involved with other wars. so now humanity is going to lose another great soul in untimely manner. Wake up people, get mad, demand more cancer researc so people like Randy can have a chance at life. My daughter did not live to be 16. Check out www.peaceisthcure.org
Raandy, saying that you are in my prayers seems hollow, if prayers worked, why would you be in this situation in the first place. why would i lose my daughter at 15. Sorry to all the prayer kind, but it does not work....
i am very sad ....
beena
lewiston14, I would love to get a copy of the dvd from you. please contact me. Thanks 7willows@centurytel.net
PS I founf I could turn the master DVD into a .iso file that I can fit on my site so anybody with a burner can make a copy. Ill do that tonight as it will take all night then ill see what I can do with the result DVD. The masterr files im using are very quality but I have to see how far I can compress them and still look good. I took my master / master .avi file of some 9 gigs and got it down to a 4 gig dvd file but I think I have the room to shrink it a bit move to fit on my site. Lew
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by lewiston14
October 1, 2007 7:36 AM PDT
- I think I might have solved your problem getting a download or DVD of the lecture. It''s on Rnanys web site. Read the page and choose you options. You can request a DVD and it''s free.
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