The Last Lecture

Author - Jeffrey Zaslow ... [Goo?] [Posters]
Author - Randy Pausch ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Hyperion was reviewed on 10-Aug-2008.

Search ISBN:1401323251 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The Last Lecture Reference Book. Classifications : Biographies Business & Culture Computers & Internet Subjects Books Computers & Internet Humor Entertainment Subjects Books Self-Help & Psychology Humor Entertainment Subjects Books General Self-Help H . Click the following link to view the cover of The Last Lecture.

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1) Hardcover Book The Last Lecture by Hyperion. Putting down on paper all your hopes, dreams, regrets and life story is a challenge in itself. But to do it facing terminal illness is all the more amazing. This is a very special story -- it includes not just the "lecture" that Randy gave, but also back story about each section.

I´m surprised at some of the negative reviews, i.e. "I´d buy this book if it´s proceeds were given to a charity." That is shallow. Read this book if you dare -- it forces you to think about your own life, your own challenges, your dreams, your own "time" that we all take for granted. I commend not just Randy but his whole inner circle for writing & agreeing to this book; in particular, I honor Jai for her ability to open her door & heart as Randy´s death unfolded. Because of her public pain & suffering in the public eye, we are able to be touched in a way that rarely happens.

¤

2) Hardcover Book The Last Lecture by Hyperion. The LL changed the way I look at my life. Squawk!: How to Stop Making Noise and Start Getting Results is a book that did the same for me at work. Someone gave them both to me and suggested I read them together and I´m glad he did!¤

3) Hardcover Book The Last Lecture by Hyperion. How one dies can say a lot about how one lives.

Randy Pausch, Professor at Carnegie-Mellon and kid at heart at age 47 is asked to give a last lecture. This is a comparatively new tradition where distinguished academics give a lecture from the point of view that it will be their last. It is an opportunity for the scholar to pontificate on "what really matters". Pausch however was scheduled to deliver his after being told that his pancreatic cancer had metastasized and that he had three to six months of good health remaining.

He could have begged off. In some sense, which he recognized, giving the lecture would be a selfish act, taking precious time away from his wife and young children. But he does, focusing not on what it means to die, but what it means to live.

The result is a remarkable encounter with our shared humanity. In Randy Pausch´s world, childhood dreams that are never let go, often come true. These insights are the perfect gift for his children, as well as ours.¤

4) Hardcover Book The Last Lecture by Hyperion. This book makes one review their priorities in life. It is a book to keep on hand, to consult when things seem to be getting "out of hand" I procrastinated starting the book as I thought it would be morose, but on the contrary it was quite inspiring and often very amusing. I ordered an additional copy to pass around to my family and friends.¤

5) Hardcover Book The Last Lecture by Hyperion. Randy Pausch set to standard for living life to the fullest. When faced with his inevitable demise, he made the most of every moment, and became an eternal voice of encouragement. This book is a blessing.¤

6) Hardcover Book The Last Lecture by Hyperion. "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
--Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can´t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn´t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn´t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.¤

7) Hardcover Book The Last Lecture by Hyperion. "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
--Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can´t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn´t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn´t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

Questions for Randy Pausch

We were shy about barging in on Randy Pausch´s valuable time to ask him a few questions about his expansion of his famous Last Lecture into the book by the same name, but he was gracious enough to take a moment to answer. (See Randy to the right with his kids, Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.) As anyone who has watched the lecture or read the book will understand, the really crucial question is the last one, and we weren´t surprised to learn that the "secret" to winning giant stuffed animals on the midway, like most anything else, is sheer persistence.

Amazon.com: I apologize for asking a question you must get far more often than you´d like, but how are you feeling?

Pausch: The tumors are not yet large enough to affect my health, so all the problems are related to the chemotherapy. I have neuropathy (numbness in fingers and toes), and varying degrees of GI discomfort, mild nausea, and fatigue. Occasionally I have an unusually bad reaction to a chemo infusion (last week, I spiked a 103 fever), but all of this is a small price to pay for walkin´ around.

Amazon.com: Your lecture at Carnegie Mellon has reached millions of people, but even with the short time you apparently have, you wanted to write a book. What did you want to say in a book that you weren´t able to say in the lecture?

Pausch: Well, the lecture was written quickly--in under a week. And it was time-limited. I had a great six-hour lecture I could give, but I suspect it would have been less popular at that length ;-).

A book allows me to cover many, many more stories from my life and the attendant lessons I hope my kids can take from them. Also, much of my lecture at Carnegie Mellon focused on the professional side of my life--my students, colleagues and career. The book is a far more personal look at my childhood dreams and all the lessons I´ve learned. Putting words on paper, I´ve found, was a better way for me to share all the yearnings I have regarding my wife, children and other loved ones. I knew I couldn´t have gone into those subjects on stage without getting emotional.

Amazon.com: You talk about the importance--and the possibility!--of following your childhood dreams, and of keeping that childlike sense of wonder. But are there things you didn´t learn until you were a grownup that helped you do that?

Pausch: That´s a great question. I think the most important thing I learned as I grew older was that you can´t get anywhere without help. That means people have to want to help you, and that begs the question: What kind of person do other people seem to want to help? That strikes me as a pretty good operational answer to the existential question: "What kind of person should you try to be?"

Amazon.com: One of the things that struck me most about your talk was how many other people you talked about. You made me want to meet them and work with them--and believe me, I wouldn´t make much of a computer scientist. Do you think the people you´ve brought together will be your legacy as well?

Pausch: Like any teacher, my students are my biggest professional legacy. I´d like to think that the people I´ve crossed paths with have learned something from me, and I know I learned a great deal from them, for which I am very grateful. Certainly, I´ve dedicated a lot of my teaching to helping young folks realize how they need to be able to work with other people--especially other people who are very different from themselves.

Amazon.com: And last, the most important question: What´s the secret for knocking down those milk bottles on the midway?

Pausch: Two-part answer:
     1) long arms
     2) discretionary income / persistence

Actually, I was never good at the milk bottles. I´m more of a ring toss and softball-in-milk-can guy, myself. More seriously, though, most people try these games once, don´t win immediately, and then give up. I´ve won *lots* of midway stuffed animals, but I don´t ever recall winning one on the very first try. Nor did I expect to. That´s why I think midway games are a great metaphor for life.

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 7-Sep-2008, 14013232519781401323257, 500-731-221-891-511-961-8

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