Randy Pausch Has Gone Above and Beyond

Scoring Update! The points change, death remains the same...

Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor whose final lecture inspired millions, has died of pancreatic cancer. According to Mr. Pausch's Web site, a biopsy last week revealed that the cancer had progressed further than expected, based on recent PETscans.

"Since last week, Randy has also taken a step down and is much sicker than he had been," the Web site said. "He's now enrolled in hospice. He's no longer able to post here so I'm a friend posting on his behalf because we know that many folks are watching this space for updates."

Congratulations and 7.2 points awarded to BestDeathPoolRosterEver.BlogSpot.Com, Famous Last Words, Live Like You Were Dying, Last Call, and Kraut's Picks. The Rosters and Standings have been updated.

[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Randy Pausch Spices Up His Life

More successful, albeit mentally disturbed looking women than I once remarked:

Smiling, dancing, everything is free
All you need is positivity

And positivity is something Randy Pausch is sure of. If you remember, we are now 7 months removed from Randy Pausch’s virtual death sentence from his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. And Pausch is still smiling. Since that time Pausch has given a “last lecture” viewed by more than 10 million people, has wrote a book that is coincidentally titled “The Last Lecture,” testified before congress about the dearth of funding for pancreatic cancer research, and he will be the subject of a one hour ABC special hosted by Diane Sawyer, tonight.

Whatever. We’ve been blogging, and thanks to the New York Times, we know that’s just as dangerous as cancer.

But, apparently, there are other blogs on the internet, and some bloggers have been writing on them. And, in further development, a certain newspaper has been reporting on those blogs:

Because Pausch has outlived his initial prognosis, a few bloggers have begun to speculate that he is not really dying. Doctors at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the University of Pittsburgh have confirmed Pausch's diagnosis and treatment.
"There's nothing to be cynical about in how he's choosing to approach these last months of his life," said Robbee Kosak, vice president for university advancement at Carnegie Mellon. "He's always been very passionate. He's always very pragmatic. He knows exactly what his priorities are. People like Randy are so rare. We should all be really happy that so many of us have had a chance now to see that it's possible to live your life with passion and energy and candor."

We are not a cynical bunch, so we are with Randy on this one. That said, if he is using this just to kiss some popular female singer…I think we can get to the bottom of it.

Here’s to Pausch. Keep inspiring, Randy. We’ll do your laundry for you for a week.

[International Herald Tribune]

Randy Pausch Turns His Doctors Into Liars

But in a good way. His doctors told him six months ago that he had three months of "good health" left, due to pancreatic cancer.

But this past weekend, Mr. Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and co-founder of its Entertainment Technology Center, sent an e-mail message to friends and family members saying that he is beating the odds and remains in relatively good health.

If you're wondering why that name sounds vaguely familiar...

Mr. Pausch became an unexpected celebrity after he gave an inspirational “last lecture” at the university that hundreds of thousands of people have watched online.

[Chronicle of Higher Education]