by Marina Shemesh

Created on: January 20, 2010   Last Updated: November 01, 2010

“The last lecture” by Randy Pausch is a wonderful book about the last thoughts a dying man shares with his family and the world. It was a tradition at Carnegie Mellon where Prof. Pausch taught, that professors are invited to give a last lecture. They are asked to consider their death and to give a final lecture about the experience and knowledge that they have gathered throughout their lives.

Randy Pausch was also invited to give his last lecture, but in his case it really did turn out to be his last lecture. Randy Pausch really had to consider his death and really did share his final thoughts with the world. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer and only had a few months left to live.

Understandably Randy chose to live the last months of his life by making arrangements to ease his wife’s and children’s lives. They moved to be closer to his wife’s family and were still unpacking their boxes when Randy Pausch was asked to deliver his “Last Lecture”.

He accepted because he felt the need to leave a legacy to his children. His three young children would hardly have any memory of him and it was important to him that his children would one day be able to see who he was and what he cared about.

In the book Randy Pausch describes how come he decided to give his last lecture, how he had to convince his wife that it is a good thing to do, the few days before the lecture and how people responded to his lecture. Mostly, however, the book is about his lecture itself.

So what does a man say to the world who has only a few months left to live? Randy wanted to turn an academic lecture in a talk that will speak to his children a decade or more into the future. And he chose to do so by talking about how to achieve your childhood dreams.

As he noted his own childhood dreams, such as experiencing zero gravity, playing in the NFL and write an entry for the World Book encyclopedia, Randy Pausch told us the story of his life. We get to hear about how he made his dreams come and what he learned from the dreams that he did not manage to realize in his life.

There are stories about his parents, his coach, his students and collogues. We hear how he met his wife and the weird hot-air balloon incident they experienced. There are thoughts about enabling the dreams of others and advice on how to live your life.

Randy Pausch died before he should have. He will never get to see his children grow up and make their own way in the world. However, with the book “The last lecture” Randy Pausch managed to share his great life with us. It may have ended too soon, but he lived his live fully and really did manage to fulfill his childhood dreams.

His life and his last lecture is an inspiration to all of us and a reminder to make the best of the time we have here on this earth. To quote Randy: “ We may not have as much time as we think”.  

I am a big fan of libraries and love the fact that one book can reach the lives of a lot of different people. “The last lecture” however, is one of those books that should be bought and reread every few months. Believe me, this book is worthy of your time and money.

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