Dr. Randy Paush & The Last Lecture - Book Report/Review Example

In 1997, Pausch began teaching at CMU where he cofounded its Entertainment Technology Center. He also developed and began teaching a Building Virtual Worlds course at CMU until 2007. Pausch has consulted for Google on user interface design, consulted with PARC, Imagineering as well as Media Metrix. Pausch is also the founder of the Alice software project. (“Randy Pausch”) He received numerous awards for excellence in his profession and has written several journal articles. In 2006 Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

He underwent a Whipple procedure in an attempt to stop the cancer from spreading. By the following year Pausch was informed that he only had three to six months to live. Soon after he and his wife Jai moved their three small children to Virginia, in order to be closer to Jai’s family. A month prior to his terminal diagnosis he and several other top professors at Carnegie Mellon University were asked to give a lecture where they are asked to think about their deaths and discuss the things that mean the most to them and what their legacy to their loved ones and the rest of the world would be after their deaths.

On September 18, 2007 Pausch delivered his speech entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams “at Carnegie Mellon University. . Pausch appeared on Oprah on October 22, 2007, where he discussed his situation and gave a condensed version of his speech. The Last Lecture builds on his speech, discussing his life as well as what he wanted his children to know after he died. The book became a New York Times bestseller for three years. It has sold over five million copies in the United States and was translated into 50 languages.

(“The Last Lecture”) Pausch died from his illness on July 25, 2008 at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia at age 47. (“Randy Pausch”) At the beginning of The Last Lecture Paunch discusses his preparation for his “last lecture.” He was one of several professors at CMU who was asked to give one. During these lectures professors would make speeches where they would discuss their lives, reflect on their values and things they have learned throughout their lives and think about what their legacies would be upon their deaths.

One month prior he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and given up to six months to live. Paunch’s supervisors gave him the option of not giving a lecture once they knew of his condition. Pausch’s wife Jai felt that he should not give the lecture because of his diagnosis and because they had just moved into a new home in Virginia. She felt that the little time he had left should be spent with her and their three small children Dylan age 5, Logan age 3 and Chloe age 1 in their new home.

Also the lecture was scheduled for September 18th, the day after Jai’s 41st birthday. He would have to spend a great deal of time preparing for the lecture at the university on that day and Jai felt he should spend what would very likely be her last birthday with him by her side. While Pausch understood he felt that he