The Last Lecture

It is a customary thing in academia, I understand now after reading this book, for a retiring professor to give a "last lecture," a summary of his scholarship, of his thoughts, of his contribution to his field and profession. So when Randy Pausch was asked to give a final lecture, that in and of itself was not unusual. The fact that he had recently been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer gave the finality of the lecture an almost other-worldly quality. He wrote the lecture not only for his students at Carnegie Mellon, but perhaps even more for his three children, all under the age of 10, who he expected he would soon be leaving behind.

The title of his lecture was "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," and it offers tidbits of advice on dozens of topics, many of them quite predictable and cliché. I don't say that to minimize the book in any way, but you should know that it is likely you have read these ideas and thoughts from many other sources in your life. That doesn't mean you shouldn't read them from this particular source, offered in this unique and touching way, but please don't expect to be enlightened from this read (which, by the way, doesn't mean you won't be inspired.) For instance, he talks about clichés, how he believes they are repeated so often because they're so often right. Yes. That is the kind of offering you'll find in the book.

It's hard not to picture his three precious children reading this book, in years to come, and sharing it with their children. It's hard not to be filled with the emotion of that thought, and I'm not sure you should try to keep it at bay. With the qualification for lack of original ideas, I recommend The Last Lecture by Rancy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow.