My Next Book to Read

"In the end, people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting. It will come out." ~from "The Lessons I'm Leaving Behind" by Randy Pausch


Did anyone see the featured author/book in the Sunday Parade issue yesterday? The main article was on Randy Pausch, a computer science professor who's 47 and dying of pancreatic cancer. He gave his final, farewell lecture at Carnegie Mellon a few months ago and has turned it into a book: The Last Lecture.

Among other comments quoted in the article:

"At the end of [one] semester, I presented a stuffed penguin to the team that took the biggest gamble while not meeting its goals. The award came from the idea that when penguins jump in water that might have predators, well, one of them's got to be the first penguin...Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted. And it can be the most valuable thing you have to offer..."

"As a professor, I've seen how disruptive it can be for parents to have specific dreams for their children. My job is to help my kids foster a joy for life and develop the tools to fulfill their own wishes. My wishes for them are very exact and, given that I won't be there, I want to be clear: Kids, don't try to figure out what I wanted you to become. I want you to become what you want to become. And I want you to feel as if I am there with you, whatever path you choose..."

You can read the whole article, or watch his last lecture, here.

I've definitely put his book on my To Be Read List. Kind of reminds you what's important in life, doesn't it?