Randy Pausch delivering his "Last Lecture." (Photo: Carnegie Mellon University)

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Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch seemed to walk on air. He had his dream job. A wonderful family. And when he learned that he had cancer and only months to live, he barely broke his stride.

He prepared to give his “last lecture,” titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” He talked about how brick walls were built for the “other people,” about mentors and loyalty and finding the good in others.

He became a media sensation, and the YouTube video reached millions. A bestselling book followed.

Pausch died last month. This hour, On Point: Randy Pausch and living your dreams.

You can join the conversation. Did you watch Randy Pausch’s last lecture? What did you take away from it? Share your thoughts.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

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Guests:

Joining us from Detroit, Michigan, is Jeffrey Zaslow, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He wrote about Randy Pausch’s last lecture for the Journal and brought world-wide attention to the story. He’s the co-author, with Randy Pausch, of the new bestselling book, “The Last Lecture.”

Joining us from Pittsburgh is Dennis Cosgrove. A former student of Randy Pausch, he’s now carrying on Pausch’s legacy at Carnegie Mellon by heading up the design and implementation of Alice, educational software that teaches students programming in a 3D environment.

And with us from Pasadena, California, is Jon Snoddy. He’s an entertainment technology executive who founded the Disney Virtual Reality Studio to invent new forms of storytelling. He invited Randy Pausch into his group. Jon Snoddy’s current company, Bigstage, creates photo-realitistic avatars from digital photos.

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Links & multimedia:

The Online Legacy of Professor Pausch
The New York Times’ Tara Parker-Pope has compiled an excellent collection of links on Randy Pausch.

Watch the YouTube video of Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture”:

Also from YouTube, you can watch a video of Pausch’s Congressional testimony last March on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: