Randy Pausch died this past week from Pancreatic Cancer. He was a young 47 years old.
Did I know him? No. Did I wish that I knew him? Definitely.
Randy was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, a University that I have never attended or visited. His area of study was Virtual Reality in the Computer Science arena, but was an expert in life. To my misfortune, I have only been made aware of him in his passing.
If you have not had the chance to see what is known as "The Last Lecture", I strongly encourage you to do so. Do not let the length of it distract you from doing so for I guarantee you that it will be the best hour and 15 minutes that you spend in front of a computer (or television) this year. He provides some of the best life lessons that you will ever hear.
This is a link to the lecture on youtube;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
...and a story on him on the Carnegie Mellon site;
http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/beyond/2008/summer/an-enduring-legacy.shtml
Rest in peace Randy... you will be remembered.
