Comments on: Randy Pausch dies at 47

Randy Pausch dies at 47

brassafrax — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:48:19 -0800

Randy Pausch, who became famous for his "last lecture" after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, has died at 47. (previously) The last lecture video went viral in late 2007. Pausch became a minor celebrity and made a commencement address at Carnegie Mellon which also gained media attention. Homepage (currently being overwhelmed) and Wikipedia.

By: fiercecupcake

fiercecupcake — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:50:54 -0800

By: cortex

cortex — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:51:03 -0800

[It seems pretty clear that folks want to see this on the front page, and it probably does make more sense here than on Metatalk, so I'm going to make a call here and close up that metatalk thread and let this stand. So please, hold off on any "double" and "meta" comments and we'll just let this thing proceed normally.]

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:54:27 -0800

By: effbot

effbot — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:56:58 -0800

By: yort

yort — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:57:00 -0800

Had I known such a career path -- the cool CS prof -- was available to me when I first started my undergrad degree in those pre-internet days, I think I would have liked to have striven toward that position. I had a handful -- well, ~~two~~ ~~three~~ four actually -- cool CS profs, not enough to overcome the overall craptitude of the department or reduce its apparent long-term negative attraction factor.

By: roomthreeseventeen

roomthreeseventeen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:57:07 -0800

By: parilous

parilous — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:57:39 -0800

By: bashos_frog

bashos_frog — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:00:57 -0800

. thanks for the inspiration, and the software...

By: self

self — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:01:38 -0800

By: cashman

cashman — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:04:53 -0800

By: paladin

paladin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:06:56 -0800

By: procrastination

procrastination — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:13:11 -0800

He was the best professor I ever had. He changed my life. .

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:18:34 -0800

By: humannaire

humannaire — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:19:06 -0800

Gawd, has this day come? When I saw this lecture on googlevideo for the first time I was glued to the screen. Here was a person who was actually talking to me/saying something to all of us. And I was listening. But I never thought it would come to this. I somehow believed this amazing and intelligent man would be spared, that somehow miraculously his condition would go away. Yes, that in his six months we would cure cancer. We would, wouldn't we? I mean, here was someone really worth saving: Here was someone who reminded us why we are here in the first place! But I guess that would have taken away from his message, huh?Well, that may be the way it is and all but I feel cheated! I want Randy Pausch to be around to see the fruits of his labors, I want him to see he (and all of us) can make a difference. I want to say to him personally, "Randy, you were right!" Dead? Randy Pausch is dead? Never. Never never never. Live forever, Mr. Pausch. Your words, your ideals, and your dreams will on the internet, that's for sure. And maybe one day that will count for something even greater than only a few of us dare imagine.Because if the internet ever has a soul, Randy Pausch's contribution will certainly have a place in it. For the time being, I guess a place in my own heart will have to do. Good bless you, Mr. Pausch.

By: bluesky43

bluesky43 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:19:59 -0800

By: humannaire

humannaire — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:19:59 -0800

/tears

By: TedW

TedW — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:24:50 -0800

I just finished his book and was amazed at how upbeat he was despite knowing what lay ahead. Really sorry to see this day even though I knew it was coming. .

By: AwkwardPause

AwkwardPause — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:25:08 -0800

Just put the video on my iPod so I can watch it on my trip to NYC later today. Thanks. Sounds like a great guy.

By: COD

COD — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:28:51 -0800

By: msali

msali — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:35:32 -0800

I have been following his health blog, but hadn't checked it in a few days. I knew he was growing weaker, but he was so upbeat, it was hard to imagine how close he was to dying. May I face my demise with as much grace. All my spare good vibes are beaming towards his family right now.

By: ruelle

ruelle — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:37:13 -0800

By: k8lin

k8lin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:38:00 -0800

By: DarlingBri

DarlingBri — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:44:35 -0800

The love that man evidenced for his wife is enough to bring me to tears every time. The eye contact at the Last Lecture seems to say a lot about how connected they were, and the end of the commencement address is a two hankie event in my house. I'm sorry to see him go and very sad for the kids, but mostly, I'm terribly sad for her. What a deep loss. .

By: _dario

_dario — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:48:40 -0800

"I had a deathbed conversion. I bought a Mac". .

By: JHarris

JHarris — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:52:50 -0800

By: omarr

omarr — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:14:17 -0800

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:18:54 -0800

By: bkeaggy

bkeaggy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:19:21 -0800

By: fletchmuy

fletchmuy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:22:43 -0800

By: authenticgeek

authenticgeek — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:26:51 -0800

By: peacheater

peacheater — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:38:13 -0800

By: Crabby Appleton

Crabby Appleton — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:44:01 -0800

By: inigo2

inigo2 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:46:19 -0800

By: saraswati

saraswati — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:09:46 -0800

By: pxe2000

pxe2000 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:10:46 -0800

By: invitapriore

invitapriore — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:12:32 -0800

My sentiments are very similar to DarlingBri's. He mentioned during that lecture that he could tell the good projects by the body language of the students. You can tell a good marriage the same way: just watch the end of the talk. I hope his positivity helped to ease her pain.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:20:17 -0800

By: Senator

Senator — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:21:01 -0800

I just hope those kids will always know how much he loved them.

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:21:14 -0800

By: bitdamaged

bitdamaged — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:38:05 -0800

By: carsonb

carsonb — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:39:21 -0800

By: LoriFLA

LoriFLA — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:46:25 -0800

By: badmoonrising

badmoonrising — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:52:03 -0800

Aww, that's such a shame. Like humannaire, I was hoping he'd somehow survive past his time limit. My heart goes out to his wife and children. From what I've seen and read of him, he seemed like a decent, intelligent man and the world became a little poorer today.

By: mogget

mogget — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:03:19 -0800

Goddamn pancreatic cancer to hell. I lost my best friend last year to this disease, and now Dr. Pausch is gone as well. I too had hoped he could somehow beat the disease, but I'm glad he was able to both inspire people with his lecture and work and to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer. My condolences to his family.

By: Kinbote

Kinbote — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:07:24 -0800

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:20:27 -0800

By: AuntLisa

AuntLisa — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:22:41 -0800

If there are any kids, anywhere, who get to be absolutely sure their Dad loved them, even though he isn't around anymore to say it - its these kids: Chloe, Logan and Dylan.

By: meinvt

meinvt — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:53:58 -0800

By: conradjones

conradjones — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:10:07 -0800

By: Hamusutaa

Hamusutaa — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:18:55 -0800

By: arcticwoman

arcticwoman — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:33:31 -0800

By: Samuel Farrow

Samuel Farrow — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:41:01 -0800

By: CitizenD

CitizenD — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:14:46 -0800

By: freshwater_pr0n

freshwater_pr0n — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:54:22 -0800

By: localroger

localroger — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:11:13 -0800

Holy crap, I had somehow missed that. What a guy. .

By: semblance

semblance — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:19:47 -0800

By: CrazyLemonade

CrazyLemonade — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:29:10 -0800

By: Anderson_Localized

Anderson_Localized — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:01:21 -0800

Well, trite as this may sound, although he was by all accounts a great teacher, he had the personality, the intelligence, and most of all, the courage to look beyond his disease and inspire so many more people than he would otherwise have done, and in death, he left behind a legacy that is probably much more than what most people could hope for. Godspeed, Dr. Pausch. .

By: Alison

Alison — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:33:49 -0800

It was a fluke that I ended up at the Last Lecture, but I feel so privileged to have been there. Damn. I thought he was going to live forever.

By: subbes

subbes — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:33:52 -0800

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:49:29 -0800

By: heeeraldo

heeeraldo — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:32:03 -0800

By: bibliowench

bibliowench — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:15:11 -0800

By: pmalek

pmalek — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:37:39 -0800

By: Octoparrot

Octoparrot — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:56:35 -0800

I had never heard of this man until earlier today. I started the video thinking "75 minutes, screw that". Luckily, I gave it a chance and ended up watching the entire thing. I am very happy I did. It saddens me that the world has lost such a great person but the response and recognition has given me great hope for humanity.

By: Happy Dave

Happy Dave — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:44:48 -0800

By: Bonzai

Bonzai — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:40:59 -0800

I didn't even know he was sick.

By: honest knave

honest knave — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:35:14 -0800

By: Quidam

Quidam — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:41:25 -0800

By: dbiedny

dbiedny — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:40:15 -0800

By: djeo

djeo — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:33:34 -0800

I missed the Last Lecture when it made the rounds before so I just watched it now. Now I'm just shy of bawling. It was head fake #2 that put me over the edge. Thanks cortex for leaving this up. .

By: Lucie

Lucie — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:57:24 -0800

By: god hates math

god hates math — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:24:22 -0800

. I am so fucking sick of cancer.

By: dog food sugar

dog food sugar — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 06:06:06 -0800

By: paulsc

paulsc — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:29:11 -0800

From its ubiquitous home page, Google has linked Last Lecture. "In Memoriam: Randy Pausch (1960-2008)"