In September, Randy Pausch, a 47-year-old computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, returned to the school's Pittsburgh campus to present the end-of-the-year speech, traditionally known as "the Last Lecture." For Pausch, the title wasn't merely symbolic – he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and had just learned that the disease was incurable. He had only months to live.

But in Pausch's standing-room-only lecture, he didn't dwell on the sad ending. Instead, he rejoiced in the life that he had been given, reflecting on his love for his work and family, and all the dreams he had fulfilled.

Pausch's speech, in fact, was so uplifting that it became a worldwide sensation: In the days and weeks after the lecture, Pausch was featured in The Wall Street Journal and thousands of other publications (including this one), and even made a guest appearance on Oprah.

And it seems like the world still hasn't gotten enough of Pausch's inspiring spirit and optimism: Jeff Zaslow, the author of the original Wall Street Journal article about Pausch's speech, has just signed a deal with Hyperion books for a record-breaking $6.7 million to share more of Randy Pausch's story, using the lecture speech that Zaslow called "a rollicking and riveting journey through the lessons of [Pausch's] life" as a foundation for the text. Zaslow will share the advance and all royalty proceeds from the book with Pausch's family.

Whether or not Pausch lives long enough to see the book in print, his words are certain to inspire and comfort millions of others.

Watch the full video of Pausch's amazing speech.


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