On September 18, 2007, professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” Sharing slides of his CT scans, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that would claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, often cheerfully, darkly funny. A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture” and while they speak, audiences mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? The lecture Randy gave wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. The Last Lecture has become a phenomenon, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. In this book based on the now-famous lecture, Randy goes deeper to inspire us all. He’s combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.