The Last Lecture

Recommendations

Info

The Last Lecture 3 The Elephant in the Room J AI WAS already in the hall—an unexpected full house of 400—and as I hopped on stage to check out the podium and get organized, she could see how nervous I was. While I busied myself arranging my props, Jai noticed that I was making eye contact with almost no one. She thought that I couldn’t bring myself to look into the crowd, knowing I might see a friend or former student, and I’d be too overwhelmed by the emotion of that eye contact. There was a rustling in the audience as I got myself ready. For those who came to see just what a man dying of pancreatic cancer looked like, surely there were questions: Was that my real hair? (Yes, I kept all my hair through chemotherapy.) Would they be able to sense how close to death I was as I spoke? (My answer: “Just watch!”) Even with the talk only minutes away, I continued puttering at the podium, deleting some slides, rearranging others. I was still working at it when I was given the signal. “We’re ready to go,” someone told me. I wasn’t in a suit. I wore no tie. I wasn’t going to get up there in some professorial tweed jacket with leather elbow patches. Instead, I had chosen to give my lecture wearing the most appropriate childhood-dream [22]
The Last Lecture garb I could find in my closet. Granted, at first glance I looked like the guy who’d take your order at a fast-food drive-through. But actually, the logo on my short-sleeved polo shirt was an emblem of honor because it’s the one worn by Walt Disney Imagineers—the artists, writers and engineers who create themepark fantasies. In 1995, I spent a six-month sabbatical as an Imagineer. It was a highlight of my life, the fulfillment of a childhood dream. That’s why I was also wearing the oval “Randy” name badge given to me when I worked at Disney. I was paying tribute to that life experience, and to Walt Disney himself, who famously had said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” I thanked the audience for coming, cracked a few jokes, and then I said: “In case there’s anybody who wandered in and doesn’t know the back story, my dad always taught me that when there’s an elephant in the room, introduce it. If you look at my CT scans, there are [23]
Page 2 and 3: The Last Lecture The Last Lecture R
Page 4 and 5: The Last Lecture Contents Introduct
Page 6 and 7: The Last Lecture Introduction I HAV
Page 8 and 9: The Last Lecture I THELASTLECTURE [
Page 10 and 11: The Last Lecture 1 An Injured Lion
Page 12 and 13: The Last Lecture Logan, Chloe, Jai,
Page 14 and 15: The Last Lecture Dr. Reiss listened
Page 16 and 17: The Last Lecture And so, with Jai
Page 18 and 19: The Last Lecture 2 My Life in a Lap
Page 20 and 21: The Last Lecture When the waitress
Page 24 and 25: The Last Lecture approximately ten
Page 26 and 27: The Last Lecture II REALLYACHIEVIN
Page 28 and 29: The Last Lecture 4 The Parent Lotte
Page 30 and 31: The Last Lecture soaked up his tech
Page 32 and 33: The Last Lecture Many people who sa
Page 34 and 35: The Last Lecture 5 The Elevator in
Page 36 and 37: The Last Lecture Given my limited a
Page 38 and 39: The Last Lecture 6 Getting to Zero
Page 40 and 41: The Last Lecture I called an offici
Page 42 and 43: The Last Lecture 7 I Never Made It
Page 44 and 45: The Last Lecture That lesson has st
Page 46 and 47: The Last Lecture What we really wan
Page 48 and 49: The Last Lecture annual companion v
Page 50 and 51: The Last Lecture 9 A Skill Set Call
Page 52 and 53: The Last Lecture doors,” he said.
Page 54 and 55: The Last Lecture 10 Winning Big O N
Page 56 and 57: The Last Lecture Have you ever walk
Page 58 and 59: The Last Lecture The giant stuffed
Page 60 and 61: The Last Lecture Virginia, and I’
Page 62 and 63: The Last Lecture Because I was gett
Page 64 and 65: The Last Lecture III ADVENTURES…A
Page 66 and 67: The Last Lecture 12 The Park Is Ope
Page 68 and 69: The Last Lecture will be in to see
Page 70 and 71: The Last Lecture moment. I felt inc
Page 72 and 73:
The Last Lecture 13 The Man in the
Page 74 and 75:
The Last Lecture 14 The Dutch Uncle
Page 76 and 77:
The Last Lecture Looking back, his
Page 78 and 79:
The Last Lecture open, eyes widenin
Page 80 and 81:
The Last Lecture 16 Romancing the B
Page 82 and 83:
The Last Lecture She was told I was
Page 84 and 85:
The Last Lecture In April, I made
Page 86 and 87:
The Last Lecture 17 Not All Fairy T
Page 88 and 89:
The Last Lecture on their wedding d
Page 90 and 91:
The Last Lecture 18 Lucy, I’m Hom
Page 92 and 93:
The Last Lecture 19 A New Year’s
Page 94 and 95:
The Last Lecture took me aside. “
Page 96 and 97:
The Last Lecture In that moment, I
Page 98 and 99:
The Last Lecture On April 11, 1945,
Page 100 and 101:
The Last Lecture 21 Jai I ’VE ASK
Page 102 and 103:
The Last Lecture night. “He just
Page 104 and 105:
The Last Lecture Jai has gotten to
Page 106 and 107:
The Last Lecture He was obviously t
Page 108 and 109:
The Last Lecture IV ENABLINGTHE DRE
Page 110 and 111:
The Last Lecture 23 I’m on My Hon
Page 112 and 113:
The Last Lecture Develop a good fil
Page 114 and 115:
The Last Lecture “Hi, this is Ran
Page 116 and 117:
The Last Lecture important to use t
Page 118 and 119:
The Last Lecture My hope was that m
Page 120 and 121:
The Last Lecture 25 Training a Jedi
Page 122 and 123:
The Last Lecture Tommy turned out t
Page 124 and 125:
The Last Lecture here if not for Ra
Page 126 and 127:
The Last Lecture These were student
Page 128 and 129:
The Last Lecture On presentation da
Page 130 and 131:
The Last Lecture 27 The Promised La
Page 132 and 133:
The Last Lecture Caitlin Kelleher N
Page 134 and 135:
The Last Lecture V IT’SABOUTHOWTO
Page 136 and 137:
The Last Lecture 28 Dream Big M EN
Page 138 and 139:
The Last Lecture 29 Earnest Is Bett
Page 140 and 141:
The Last Lecture 30 Raising the Whi
Page 142 and 143:
The Last Lecture 31 Let’s Make a
Page 144 and 145:
The Last Lecture 32 Don’t Complai
Page 146 and 147:
The Last Lecture Complaining does n
Page 148 and 149:
The Last Lecture This was something
Page 150 and 151:
The Last Lecture 35 Start By Sittin
Page 152 and 153:
The Last Lecture As I called off ea
Page 154 and 155:
The Last Lecture 37 Watch What They
Page 156 and 157:
The Last Lecture major ones. I love
Page 158 and 159:
The Last Lecture The title of the a
Page 160 and 161:
The Last Lecture get upset. They be
Page 162 and 163:
The Last Lecture portfolio were goo
Page 164 and 165:
The Last Lecture my lab. If we kick
Page 166 and 167:
The Last Lecture 43 The Friday Nigh
Page 168 and 169:
The Last Lecture One of my greatest
Page 170 and 171:
The Last Lecture 46 All You Have Is
Page 172 and 173:
The Last Lecture Factor.” If I do
Page 174 and 175:
The Last Lecture medicine in the wo
Page 176 and 177:
The Last Lecture 49 Get in Touch wi
Page 178 and 179:
The Last Lecture 50 The $100,000 Sa
Page 180 and 181:
The Last Lecture and me feel so goo
Page 182 and 183:
The Last Lecture When I was fifteen
Page 184 and 185:
The Last Lecture focused on poring
Page 186 and 187:
The Last Lecture The Carnegie Mello
Page 188 and 189:
The Last Lecture life. It’s inter
Page 190 and 191:
The Last Lecture So I wanted my stu
Page 192 and 193:
The Last Lecture I’ve always been
Page 194 and 195:
The Last Lecture 56 Make a Decision
Page 196 and 197:
The Last Lecture best friends: my h
Page 198 and 199:
The Last Lecture 57 A Way to Unders
Page 200 and 201:
The Last Lecture 58 The Input of Ot
Page 202 and 203:
The Last Lecture appropriate thing
Page 204 and 205:
The Last Lecture with which we touc
Page 206 and 207:
The Last Lecture VI FINALREMARKS [2
Page 208 and 209:
The Last Lecture 59 Dreams for My C
Page 210 and 211:
The Last Lecture Logan, the ultimat
Page 212 and 213:
The Last Lecture that you may not a
Page 214 and 215:
The Last Lecture I have a direct an
Page 216 and 217:
The Last Lecture Realizing some mig
Page 218 and 219:
The Last Lecture Jai and I work har
Page 220 and 221:
The Last Lecture 61 The Dreams Will
Page 222 and 223:
The Last Lecture fake?” I took a
Page 224 and 225:
The Last Lecture anyone he knew in
Page 226 and 227:
The Last Lecture either. Carnegie M
Page 228 and 229:
The Last Lecture AbouttheAuthors R
show all

The Last Lecture

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?