Friends Honor Professor Randy Pausch

Friday marked the untimely passing of Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor that awed and inspired us all.  Last week’s blog post called out his incredible “Last Lecture” and the amazing things he did with his unintentional celebrity.  Below are words of encouragement and hope from Stephen Beck, creator of the online fundraising page created as an inspirational tribute site for Randy.  Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this difficult time.

Dear Friends – As most of you now know, Randy passed away this morning.  Our deepest and most heartfelt condolences go to Jai and his family at this terrible time.  The brilliant flame may have been snuffed out far too early, but it burned exceptionally brightly.  The world may have lost the person, but we are better for his having been here, and Randy’s spirit will continue to shine as we honor his bravery and inspiration.  The Carnegie Mellon University web site has an obituary (http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/beyond/2008/summer/an-enduring-legacy.shtml) in which the family’s wish is reiterated for contributions to be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network which you may do from this page.  Since you are reading this, we thank you most humbly for honoring Randy’s legacy.  Your kind wishes and contributions to date truly touched and overwhelmed Randy and only reinforced his positive outlook.  Please keep them coming, as they will certainly do the same for Jai and the family.