Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow / Publisher: Hyperion (April 8, 2008) / 3 days
Backstory:
Randy is a 47-year-old computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who is certified to have pancretic cancer in mid 2007. Randy is a popular professor in CMU, and the father of 3 lovely children, Dylan at 6, Logan at 3 and Chole at 18 month. After returning from surgery, chemo and radiation, doctor say he has only a few months to live.
In Sept 07, Randy is invited by his Pittsburgh college to give the last lecture titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" in front of his wife Jai and full house of 400-seat auditorium, and it is not really about dying. The lecture is no self-pity, in contrast, Randy point out the importance of overcoming obstacles, enabling dreams of himself and others, and treasuring every moment with his beloved. It is about living.
The last lecture is so funny, moving and inspiring that WSJ called it "the lecture of a lifetime". In companion with the lecture, Randy published this book as a sequel to inspire millions of others who missed the show.
Key passages:
Make a decision: Tigger or Eeyore
"For my last Halloween, I had great fun. Jai and I dressed up as the Incredibles, and so did our three kids. I put a photo of us on my Web site letting everyone know what an "Incredible" family we were. The kids looked pretty super. I looked invincible with my fake cartoon muscles. I explained that chemo had not dramatically affected my super powers, and I got tons of smiling emails in response."
This is truly Randy!
Themes, Motifs & Symbols
The Last Lecture is full of Randy's funny and inspiring anecdotes, stressing the importance of childhood dreams, and the fortitude needed to overcome setbacks.
For kids, imagination is hard to contain. Randy solved it by splashing in his bedroom. Unlike usual response of rejecting, Randy's parent fully support and encourage it. Randy then put on a elevator up & down button and floor panel on top of bedroom door, hoping the elevator would take him to higher floors, where there has only 2. He then wrote a quadratic equation beside the door, and this explain why he became a CS professor. After decades since the finishing touch, the painting are still there, Randy thought this would be a gift every time he goes there.
Randy has a childhood dream of getting to zero gravity, writting column in World Book, meeting Captain Kirk & being a Disney Imagineer, the book tells how he achieved it. In the end of this book, Randy gives out his wise words about life: Dream big, Don't complain just work harder, Tell the truth and others.
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