Comments on: On The Last Lecture

By: Tomas

Tomas — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:33:39 +0000

How inspiring Randy Pausch is! If you liked “The Last Lecture”, another fantastic memoir I just read and highly recommend is “My Stroke of Insight” by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Her TEDTalk video (ted.com) has been seen as many times as The Last Lecture I think, and Oprah did 4 shows on her book, so there are a lot of similarities. In My Stroke of Insight, there’s a happy ending though. It’s an incredible story! I hear they’re making it into a movie.

By: kahfei

kahfei — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:18:10 +0000

I read about Randy sometimes ago, and watch his video too.
I must admit that I am touched, but still, that is still to me, some incidents that happen to another person.

Until my father was diagnosed to have cancer, yesterday.

By: Ann M - Seattle

Ann M - Seattle — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:33:17 +0000

Hi Antonio,
Thank you so much for writing what you did! You really put things into perspective, especially your comments about perceived vs. real threats. I did actually loose my father to pancreatic cancer and before his diagnosis, I had never even heard of it. I wholeheartedly join you in promoting the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. They are wonderful advocates for all of us affected by this horrible disease. Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer death, but the research to find a cure or eary detection is very poorly funded. It has very grim survival statistics as you say. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network works to provide cancer research funding, but more importantly, I think, they also provide wonderful resources to the caregivers and patients. They have a resource called PALS where anyone can call toll free for help: 877-272-6226.
Thank you again for your essay on this topic. Randy Pausch is truly an inspiration and I will definitely watch 20/20 tonight.

By: Simone Brunozzi

Simone Brunozzi — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:09:14 +0000

Dear Antonio,
I follow your blog regularly, and I already knew about Randy.
Three days ago, my father (I’m still in Italy for a few more weeks) approached me, telling he has a present for me.
He knows I don’t read italian books anymore, but he said “you have to read this”, and it was Randy’s biography.
My father bought it because one italian newspaper wrote about it (unfortunately, he can’t really feel what we english speakers feel when we watch that video), but he felt it was good for me.
He was surprised, of course, to know that I already knew lots of things about Randy.

You’re right, Antonio, his great accomplishment is to show how to live in a good way, despite a death sentence on his head.

Honestly, I’m trying to be like this since three years (a change in my life, without any mayor drama), but seeing one like Randy succeed, means we all can do it.

Thanks for this post, Antonio, I loved reading it, and today it reminded me of Randy.

Best,

By: Antonio Cangiano

Antonio Cangiano — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:41:22 +0000

Thank you Toledo, that’s very kind of you to say. 🙂

By: Marcos Toledo

Marcos Toledo — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:39:36 +0000

I have watched the lecture before. But I can barely remember when was the last time I was touched by a post like yours did.

Seeing the actual cancer numbers is also astonishing. I guess we very easily ignore things which make us feel bad, and rather prefer to think that Terrorism or anything else could cause us more harm than what the numbers actually say.

In any case, it’s clear by your words that the lecture has touched you very deeply, and thanks a lot for spreading this across.

Take care,
Toledo