Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon computer science professor whose last lecture became an Internet sensation and bestselling book, has died of pancreatic cancer last Friday, July 25th. He was 47.
A few weeks ago he was asked what he considers being his most important legacy. His anwer:
That many children in America will from now on be allowed to paint their bedroom walls.
For those of you who have not read the book: He refers to his own wall-painting adventure as a kid and how grateful he is that his parents allowed him to do so.
In Chapter 5 “The Elevator in the Ranch House” he describes how he painted the walls of his childhood bedroom and he closes the chapter by saying:
Anybody out there who is a parent, if your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let them do it. It`ll be OK. Don`t worry about resale value on the house.
I don`t know how many more times I will get to visit my childhood home. But it is a gift every time I go there. I still sleep in that bunk bed my father built, I look at those crazy walls, I think about my parents allowing me to paint, and I fall asleep lucky and pleased.