(July 25, 2008)-- Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Professor Randy Pausch, whose "last lecture" about how he was facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday.
In the lecture, Pausch talked about living the life he had always dreamed of instead of concentrating on his impending death.
The book "The Last Lecture" jumped to the top of nonfiction bestseller lists after its publication in April, and remains there.
Pausch said he dictated the book to Jeffrey Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal by cell phone.
He later wrote that the lecture was intended for his three young children, but "if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful."
At Carnegie Mellon, he became recognized as a pioneer of virtual reality research.
Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2006 and chronicled his treatment on his Web site.
The university says he succumbed this morning at his home in Virginia.
He was 47.
Randy Pausch’s Web Site (Site was not responding Friday morning)