Book Talk Tuesday: The Last Lecture

In 2007, Carnegie Mellon University Professor Randy Pausch began giving his final speech "Really Living Your Childhood Dreams." If his lecture was a tale meant to inspire, teach and give courage to his students, then his book "The Last Lecture" is a humerus heart-wrenching love letter to his relatives, wife and children. In his book, co-written by Jeffrey Zaslow, Randy Pausch takes time from living life while dying of terminal cancer to share insight on how he got to where he is, all of the dreams for where his children might one day go and heart-warming advice and antidotes to help them achieve their dreams long after he's gone.

It should come as no surprise to you that I cried. Of course I cried. Written in his own voice it was not hard to see why Randy Pausch was so loved in life. Knowing though, that in 2008 Mr. Pausch was too pass away, well that was just too much to take at times. Especially when I thought of all those loved ones he would be leaving behind.

What should come as a surprise to you is how often I laughed. Pausch is incredibly clever. I couldn't help but sincerely listen to his advice as he gave it a very frank non-sentimental manner. He wasn't trying to make me cry, gosh darn it he was trying to make his readers laugh, reflect and most of all live.

If you haven't read it already, I highly recommend you check out Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow's "The Last Lecture."No matter what your age, religious beliefs and personal aspirations are, this will surely give you something to think about.

See the below video for the original lecture that inspired the book: