Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture from a Disney Imagineer
There were a lot of things I wanted to talk about tonight, but none of that is as important as you finding 70 minutes of time to watch this video or $14 to buy this book and learn a few important lessons about life and what really matters.
Even before he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and given 6 months to live, Professor Randy Pausch had made a big impact on the world. He was a founder of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnagie Mellon University. He affected positive change on hundreds of lives through that program, not just the students, but also various non-profits (including Give Kids The World) that benefited from the student’s group projects. Pausch also fulfilled one of his dreams by becoming a Walt Disney Imagineer.
After the diagnosis Pausch took advantage of the traditional “last lecture” to pass on a few lessons about life. But also to leave a legacy for his young children. The lecture was filmed and it is perhaps the most important 70 minutes you’ll spend this year if you can find it online.
I written previously about CMU Professor and Disney Imagineer Randy Pausch. You can catch his lecture on video at www.cmu.edu/randyslecture or buy the book on Amazon. There is no ‘movie deal’ because it would take too much time from his family, but there is an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC tomorrow night.
(Via NY Times)
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I saw a portion of the program on Good Morning America and have purchased the book. As a former Cast Member and member of a team building company, I have encouraged our staff to read the book and watch the lecture on ABC.
We can all use some inspiration.
Thanks for posting this, John. Parade Magazine for Sunday, April 6 featured his story. Very inspiring. As a former Cast Member, I am glad to read about his Imagineering connection, which was not established well in the article.
How inspiring Randy Pausch is! If you liked “The Last Lecture”, another fantastic memoir I just read and highly recommend is “My Stroke of Insight” by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Her TEDTalk video (ted.com) has been seen as many times as The Last Lecture I think, and Oprah did 4 shows on her book, so there are a lot of similarities. In My Stroke of Insight, there’s a happy ending though. It’s an incredible story! I hear they’re making it into a movie.