難得在播CBS夜間新聞的時候在家，卻看到這個：

　"Last Lecture" Professor Pausch Dies

　也許有人不知道Randy Pausch是誰，可以看看這兩篇文章：

　朱學恒：說好了這一刻不掉眼淚──Randy Pausch的最後一堂課

　袁瓊瓊：Randy Pausch教授──人生的最後一堂課

　就如他說的，重要的不是你在這世上能活幾天，而是從出生到死亡來臨的那一刻，你做了什麼。　

　影片是他在2007年在卡內基美隆大學的最後一場演講：實現幼時的夢想，上面的兩篇文章都有中文翻譯。

Seattle Times

Saturday, July 26, 2008 - Page updated at 12:30 AM

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Randy Pausch, "last lecture" prof

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI

The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — Randy Pausch said obstacles serve a purpose: They "give us a chance to show how badly we want something." Confronted with incurable cancer, he devised a last lecture that became an Internet sensation, a best-selling book and a celebration of a life spent achieving his dreams.

Ten months after giving the lecture, Dr. Pausch died Friday at his home in Chesapeake, Va., said Jeffrey Zaslow, The Wall Street Journal writer who co-wrote Pausch's book "The Last Lecture." Dr. Pausch was 47.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2006. A year later, he gave the popular 76-minute speech, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams."

In it, Dr. Pausch celebrated the life he had always dreamed of instead of concentrating on impending death.

"The lecture was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful," he wrote on his Web site. "But rest assured; I'm hardly unique."

A Carnegie Mellon University professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design, Dr. Pausch was recognized as a pioneer of virtual-reality research and became known on campus for his flamboyance and showmanship as a teacher and mentor.

In April, the book "The Last Lecture" was published and leaped to the top of the nonfiction best-seller lists, where it remained this week. The book deal was reported to be worth more than $6 million.

Dr. Pausch dictated the book to Zaslow by cellphone, and Zaslow recalled Friday that he was "strong and funny" during their collaboration.

"It was the most fun 53 days of my life because it was like a performance," Zaslow said. "It was like getting 53 extra lectures."

The speech last fall was part of a series Carnegie Mellon previously called "The Last Lecture," where professors were asked to think about what matters to them most and give a hypothetical final talk.

Only in Dr. Pausch's case, the professor really was facing death — and he talked about what his childhood dreams had taught him about life.

"It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life," he told the audience. "If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you."

The lecture began with him standing before a screen showing CT images of the tumors in his liver under the title "The Elephant in the Room." He said he had recently been told he had no more than six months of good health left.

"I'm in really good shape. In fact, I am in better shape than most of you," he said, dropping to the floor to do push-ups.

His childhood dreams included writing an article in the World Book encyclopedia ("I guess you can tell the nerds early"), winning big stuffed animals at the amusement park, being Capt. Kirk of "Star Trek," and playing in the NFL.

He did write for World Book, on virtual reality; talked his way into a flight on the NASA "vomit comet" plane that simulates the effect of weightlessness; and amassed a herd of jumbo stuffed animals. He also met William Shatner, who played Kirk on "Star Trek."

He recalled applying to be a Disney Imagineer, and getting back "the damn nicest go-to-hell letters I've ever gotten." But the rejection didn't discourage him, and he wound up doing design work for Disney.

"The brick walls are not there to keep us out, the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something," he said. "Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the OTHER people."

As for the NFL, he didn't meet that goal — but he noted how high-school football taught him such valuable lessons as the need to learn the fundamentals. After his lecture, the Pittsburgh Steelers invited him to take part in a practice, which was "fantastic beyond my wildest dreams," he told The New York Times.

Dr. Pausch's message and story landed him on "Oprah" and other TV shows. He said he was embarrassed and flattered.

In what he called "a truly magical experience," he appeared as an extra in the upcoming "Star Trek" movie. He had one line of dialogue, got to keep his costume and donated his $217.06 paycheck to charity.

In May, he spoke at Carnegie Mellon's commencement and told graduates that what mattered was he could look back and say, "pretty much any time I got a chance to do something cool, I tried to grab for it, and that's where my solace comes from.

"We don't beat the reaper by living longer, we beat the reaper by living well and living fully," he said.

Dr. Pausch earned his bachelor's degree in computer science at Brown University and his doctorate from Carnegie Mellon. He taught at the University of Virginia from 1988 to 1997, when he went to Carnegie Mellon.

He cofounded Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, a master's program for bringing artists and engineers together.

Last fall, he moved his family to Virginia so that Jai, his wife of eight years, could be near relatives. He tried to "build memories" with his children and took his oldest, Dylan, to ride a dolphin and introduced his son Logan to Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

For his final Halloween, his family — including his youngest child, Chloe — went as the animated characters the Incredibles, personifying his end-of-life mantra: "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

Material from the Los Angeles Times is included in this report.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company