By now many people have heard of Randy Pausch, the professor who recently gave his "Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University. Apparently, last lectures are quite common in Academia but what made this one so unique is that Professor Pausch was dying of Pancreatic cancer and only had a few months to live.

He confesses at the end of his optimistic and uplifting presentation that the main reason he agreed to do it was so his young children would someday in the future be able to know more about their dad. To that end, he made sure the school taped it and gave him a copy of the disc.

That wasn't really necessary. As of today, more than 2 million people have viewed his 75 minute lecture, complete with Power Point slides, on You Tube. That number rises to over 6 million when you include the abridged version. In fact, he became so famous on the internet that Hyperion Books published an expanded version of his story, which is already a national bestseller.

I don't know how long his video will appear on You Tube but I can say for certain that his children are going to have a very famous father. And no one is probably more surprised about what has happened than Randy Pausch. I doubt he ever envisioned that his final visit to the classroom would become a cultural phenomenon. And a few years ago it wouldn't have. Today the internet is an archive not only for the immediate family but for the whole human family. I suspect that a generation from now, Randy Pausch's grandchildren will be able to log on from their cellphones and listen to a few inspiring words from their Grandfather. This Last Lecture will last for a very long time.