Inspired by Randy Pausch's life and lecture

July 25, 4:29 PMParenting ExaminerKaren Deerwester

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Randy Pausch's legacy lives on in his book, The Last Lecture.

Randy Pausch died today, July 25th, from incurable pancreatic cancer.

Thank you Randy Pausch for being the kind of dad and the kind of person we all wanted to be.  Your courage made us a little less afraid of death because you made your journey more publicly than most.  You said you wrote your "Last Lecture" for your family; then you allowed millions more to listen in.  Boy, did we listen!

We are listening now to the echoes in the silence.  Laughter never dies.  You taught us to play more, to have more fun.  May your words be immortalized when you said, "I don't know how to not have fun".  We should tape your words next to our computer screens, on our dashboards and on our bathrooms mirrors to see as we begin and end every day. 

To those who knew you, loved you and were loved by you, we extend our heartfelt sympathy.  Big spirits leave big holes.  To those of us who knew you through the media, we can try to give your message resonance, ringing on and on.

And so today, I ask parents not to be afraid to use the word "death" with their children.  Children really don't know the word to be as scary as adults think.  It's clear; it's descriptive.  Talking about death is talking about life.  Randy Pausch showed us that.  And Mr. Pausch was not a scary guy.