Carnegie-Mellon computer science professor Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," given last September to several hundred students and faculty members at the university, was posted to YouTube primarily for the students and teachers who could not attend. It immediately went viral and has been viewed over 6 million times.

::::::::

Carnegie-Mellon computer science professor Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” given last September to several hundred students and faculty members at the university, was posted to YouTube primarily for the students and teachers who could not attend. 

It immediately went viral and has been viewed over 6 million times. At the time, Pausch’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer a month earlier had offered him about 2-5 more months to live. Whether it was because of his remarkable attitude, or his medical care (which he characterized as “spectacular”), or both, he outlived his diagnosis by several months when he died on Friday, July 25.

On March 13, 2008, Pausch provided a poignant testimony to Congress in behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, saying that pancreatic cancer is the “4th leading killer amongst cancers,” and “it is one of the only cancers that you can point to and say—in the last 30 years we have made no progress.” He encouraged substantial government grants and funding for pancreatic cancer research saying “the smart people work on what there is money to work on. If the money’s there, I bet anything that by the time my kids are my age, we’ll have it licked.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaD1TsjGR0w

Pancreatic cancer has been linked to heredity.

Pausch was a devoted Star Trek fan, and has a cameo role in the upcoming Star Trek movie as a result of a personal invitation from the director, J.J. Abrams.

Pausch's book, “The Last Lecture,” was a runaway bestseller shortly after publication. Rob Kall reviewed it at http://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_rob_kall_080421_book_review_the_last.htm

Pausch posted an online diary in which he kept well-wishers up to date with his progress. His last entry was on June 26th. A friend posted for him on July 24, “because we know that many folks are watching this space for updates.” That post revealed that the professor was in hospice. He is survived by his wife, Jai, his three children, his mother and sister, and millions of people around the world who were inspired by his continuing attitude of finding the joy in each day.

During his remarkable journey he spoke several times of crafting a “safety net” for his family and he received many “fan” letters from people whose hearts had been touched (including mine, which is below).

April 13, 2008

Dear Jai and Randy,

I was one of the lucky ones to see Randy's "Last Lecture" video just days after it was posted, and I have been following your remarkable journey since. I thank you for sharing so much of your adventure with the world.

My husband died in a plane crash when our daughter was five. We had no financial safety net. In fact, I lost the house and five businesses. Nevertheless, I discovered that the most important safety net is the human spirit, and my daughter and I danced through our rock-strewn path to find our way, turning stumbling blocks into stepping-stones. She is now 30, she put herself through med school, survived the trauma of last year at Virginia Tech, and will be a doctor in a year.

I woke up this morning with a pressing desire to share a couple of thoughts with you, learned from my own journey. I have read your website, I know from my personal experience that you have plenty on your plates besides reading this, I don't expect nor want you to spend precious time crafting a response. Still, I felt compelled to share these thoughts.

I have heard Randy say on a couple of interviews that he believes that your daughter may be too young to remember much of her dad. Granted, my five-year old was much older when her dad died, but I want to share with you that not all the memories are the result of remembering actual events. Much more of the memories are from the re-telling of the stories, which become the family mythology. I made a little book of photos of my daughter and her dad, and often storytime was a rich recounting of fun times with her dad: the day they bundled up to play in the once-in-a-lifetime snowfall in Louisiana, the two of them on his motorbike, riding ponies, or singing at the organ together. She even knows every detail about her amazing birth—when I went into labor, and the trip to the hospital, and the magic of her delivery—because of the photos and the stories that I have told her through the years. She certainly wouldn't have remembered that, otherwise!

And we celebrate her dad's birthday every year - with a cake and a party when she was younger, and a lunch date when she got older. But always with the stories.

So your daughter's memories will not diminish, but grow, as time goes on, inspired by the photos and the stories of other family members. I believe that this is how the fabric of a rich family heritage is woven, whatever the length of the lifetimes of its members.

The one thing I would have liked to have, and which brings me to the reason I am writing, is a recording of my husband reading aloud one of my daughter's favorite books. I would have liked to sit with her on my lap at story time, turning the pages, as we both listened to her father speak the words. Even for grandkids, it would be lovely to have the voice of the grandfather they never knew, as part of their experience. And for the choice of a book, I would have picked something like "The Velveteen Rabbit." And if I could have chosen more, they would have included another favorite, "Goodnight, Moon," and all seven of C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia," a timeless read for any age.

I wouldn't have thought of this idea except that as my daughter got older, and I hired a babysitter when I had classes or meetings in the evenings, she wouldn't go to sleep until I came home to read her a story. So, as a problem-solving measure, I recorded her favorite stories. Then the babysitter played the recording and turned the pages of the book, as my daughter drifted off to sleep, hearing my voice. (As a busy single mom, in order to save time, I made the recordings as I was actually reading the stories to her. The unexpected bonus was that her comments and our interactions are also on the tape.)

On a similar note, when her grandmother died, I made my daughter a simple quilt from mom's clothing. It was healing for me to make it and healing for my daughter to have it. (They don't call quilts "comforters" for nothing!)

You two are shining examples of how we are not our circumstances and that we always have the choice of the attitude that we hold in any situation, perfectly illuminating my motto, which is a quote from Martha Washington:

"I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances."

Thanks for the legacy that you have given to your children and to the world—the importance of focusing on the fun in every moment. I believe your remarkable examples of how you both choose to face the "hand you have been dealt," is serving to raise the consciousness of society, away from the perception of victimhood, and toward self-empowerment and joy. And the richness of that legacy cannot but have an extraordinary and beneficial effect on your children.

Thank you.

Meryl Ann Butler

Authors Website: http://www.OceanViewArts.com

Authors Bio:

Meryl Ann Butler is an artist, author, educator and OpedNews Managing Editor who has been actively engaged in utilizing the arts as stepping-stones toward joy-filled wellbeing since she was a hippie. She began writing for OpEdNews in Feb, 2004. She became a Senior Editor in August 2012 and Managing Editor in January, 2013. In June, 2015, the combined views on her articles, diaries and quick link contributions topped one million. She was particularly happy that her article about Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag was the one that put her past the million mark.

Her art in a wide variety of media can be seen on her YouTube video, "Visionary Artist Meryl Ann Butler on Creativity and Joy" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcGs2r_66QE

A NYC native, her response to 9-11 was to pen an invitation to healing through creativity, entitled, "90-Minute Quilts: 15+ Projects You Can Stitch in an Afternoon" (Krause 2006), which is a bestseller in the craft field. The sequel, MORE 90-Minute Quilts: 20+ Quick and Easy Projects With Triangles and Squares was released in April, 2011. Her popular video, How to Stitch a Quilt in 90 Minutes with Meryl Ann Butler can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrShGOQaJQ8

She has been active in a number of international, arts-related projects as a citizen diplomat, and was arts advisor to Baltimore's CIUSSR (Center for Improving US-Soviet Relations), 1987-89. She made two trips to the former USSR in 1987 and 1988 to speak to artists, craftpeople and fashion designers on the topic of utilizing the arts as a tool for global wellbeing. She created the historical "First US-Soviet Children's Peace Quilt Exchange Project" in 1987-88, which was the first time a reciprocal quilt was given to the US from the former USSR.

Her artwork is in collections across the globe.

Meryl Ann is a founding member of The Labyrinth Society and has been building labyrinths since 1992. She publishes an annual article about the topic on OpEdNews on World Labyrinth Day, the first Saturday in May.

OpEdNews Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in "Beyond Surviving: How to Thrive in Challenging Times" at https://www.opednews.com/articles/Beyond-Surviving--How-to-by-Joan-Brunwasser-Anxiety_Appreciation_Coronavirus_Creativity-200318-988.html

Find out more about Meryl Ann's artistic life in "OEN Managing Ed, Meryl Ann Butler, Featured on the Other Side of the Byline" at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/OEN-Managing-Ed-Meryl-Ann-in-Life_Arts-Artistic_Artists_Quilt-170917-615.html

On Feb 11, 2017, Senior Editor Joan Brunwasser interviewed Meryl Ann in Pink Power: Sister March, Norfolk, VA at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pink-Power-Sister-March--by-Joan-Brunwasser-Pussy-Hats-170212-681.html

"Creativity and Healing: The Work of Meryl Ann Butler" by Burl Hall is at
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Creativity-and-Healing--T-by-Burl-Hall-130414-18.html

Burl and Merry Hall interviewed Meryl Ann on their BlogTalk radio show, "Envision This," at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/envision-this/2013/04/11/meryl-ann-butler-art-as-a-medicine-for-the-soul

Archived articles www.opednews.com/author/author1820.html
Older archived articles, from before May 2005 are here.