At 12:51 pm, October 23, 2007, I sent an email to Randy Pausch (S'88), the Carnegie Mellon professor who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and who had become an overnight Internet sensation after giving "The Last Lecture" on campus the previous month:
Dear Professor Pausch,
I, like the rest of the Carnegie Mellon community, am very proud of you. The way you continue to live your life is inspiring and humbling. Perhaps what I find most admirable—as a parent of a college freshman and an eighth-grader—is your wish to leave a legacy for your children that includes giving them a glimpse of who you are as a person, not just what you accomplished.
With that in mind, I wish for you to be the subject of a feature story in Carnegie Mellon Today. I have no doubt our readers will be captivated by your story—from the Entertainment Technology Center, to the Alice project, to your courage to keep living when no one would blame you if you simply gave up. My writer, Sally Ann Flecker, is willing to spend some time with you in Virginia as soon as you give us the go-ahead. ...
At 5:01 pm came his response:
Happy to help. I'm a little time starved, so it might be best if Sally & I worked by phone if she can do that.
Best, Randy
The wit, honesty, and courage of Randy Pausch seemed to be intertwined in that succinct message. Obviously, I acquiesced regarding my face-to-face interview request, and—based on a series of phone interviews—Sally wrote the feature for the April 2008 issue. [During that time, Randy also squeezed in phone interviews with Jeff Zaslow (HS'78), who coauthored with him The Last Lecture, which has become an international best seller.]
I received just one more email from Randy, who died in July. It came after he read Sally's article, which happened to be months after his doctors originally thought he'd be dead:
This is very beautifully written. The title is especially nice. Thanks so much!
Randy
The title of the feature: "It's a Wonderful Life."
As the university community moves forward with its historic Inspire Innovation capital campaign (see NewsFlash: Inspire Innovation), I think we would all be well served to continue remembering the wonderful, inspiring, innovative life of Randy Pausch.
—Robert Mendelson
Executive Editor
