Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008

Randy Pausch, 1960-2008

He could have canceled the lecture. He was, after all, dying of pancreatic cancer. Instead, Pausch, a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon, delivered a wise, funny talk on the great themes: Captain Kirk, football and how to live your life. Pausch also showed us how to die: calmly, gracefully and gratefully. (Watch an interview with Randy Pausch.)

Lev Grossman