{"id":2217,"date":"2008-07-28T20:37:19","date_gmt":"2008-07-28T20:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=2217"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:23:14","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:23:14","slug":"6468","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/","title":{"rendered":"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>DOHA, QATAR (July 28, 2008) \u2013 When Randy Pausch gave what would become known as \u201cThe Last Lecture,\u201d he spoke of the lessons he learned from playing football.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n\u201cWe actually don\u2019t want our kids to learn football \u2026 but we send our kids out to learn much more important things,\u201d he said. \u201cTeamwork, sportsmanship, perseverance, etcetera, etcetera. And these kinds of head fake learning are absolutely important. And you should keep your eye out for them because they\u2019re everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chuck Thorpe, a fellow graduate student and later colleague of Pausch\u2019s in the computer science department at Carnegie Mellon University, fell victim to and was a beneficiary of the Pausch \u201chead fakes.\u201d As students, the two were on the same intramural football team. Thorpe played quarterback, and Pausch played receiver.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/Bm\/lt\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\/Pausch.jpg\" alt=\"Pausch\" hspace=\"4\" vspace=\"4\" align=\"right\" \/>\u201cWe would have won the intermediate league championship, except that he ran such a good fake on his pass route that he faked out both the defender and me, and I threw it to the wrong spot!\u201d Thorpe recalls.<\/p>\n<p>Pausch became famous after giving \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo\" target=\"_blank\">The Last Lecture<\/a>\u201d speech on September 18, 2007. The speech, which he gave when it became clear he was dying of pancreatic cancer, became a YouTube sensation and has been seen by more than 3.5 million people. He died Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Last Lecture was great &#8211; very hard for us to watch, knowing that we wouldn&#8217;t be growing old with him, but very much Randy having a great time being Randy,\u201d recalls Thorpe, who is now dean of the Carnegie Mellon campus in Qatar.<\/p>\n<p>Although Thorpe and Pausch played football together as graduate students, they didn\u2019t grow close until both were professors at Carnegie Mellon. They served on committees together, planned for the university\u2019s future and competed on the basketball court every Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>He and others were excited last year when it appeared that Pausch was getting better.<br \/>\n\u201cWhen I saw him last summer I told him to come visit us in Qatar,\u201d recalls Thorpe. \u201cHe looked a little skinny, and I gave him a hard time about sharpening his elbows to be even more effective on the basketball court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRandy was very much the way he comes across in The Last Lecture,\u201d Thorpe says. \u201cVery straight forward, very clear, very focused on what he thought was the right thing to do, very energetic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn&#8217;t believe in playing politics,\u201d Thorpe adds. \u201cIf he thought you were doing something stupid, he&#8217;d tell you, quietly on the side so as not to embarrass you, but very clearly. And if he thought you were doing something good, he&#8217;d tell you that also, very clearly, and very publicly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most amazing thing to all of us was how he kept such an even keel through his illness,\u201d Thorpe says. \u201cHe had serious pancreatic cancer &#8211; went to great lengths to find the most aggressive treatment &#8211; and thought he had it licked. It was very interesting talking to him &#8211; he took on cancer like he took on any research problem, with focus and determination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pausch was diagnosed with the cancer in 2006, but seemed to improve. But in August of 2007, he was told he had three to six months to live.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rest of us were depressed,\u201d Thorpe says. \u201cRandy didn&#8217;t have time to be depressed, he wanted to keep on living as fully as he could, for his own sake and for the sake of his kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As committed as Pausch was to his work, he also was devoted to his family. \u201cWe all thought he&#8217;d never get married because he was looking for the perfect woman,\u201d Thorpe says. \u201cIn Jai, he found her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pausch was one of the first people Thorpe ever knew to own a cell phone, which he purchased to keep in touch with his extended family. \u201cOnce he was married, he bought a house close to school so he wouldn&#8217;t waste any time commuting so he could spend all his free time with his wife and kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was a caring person, and a good example to us all of how to lead a life of integrity and purpose,\u201d Thorpe says. It was an obvious example \u2013 no head fake needed.<\/p>\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: Thorpe is a member of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stoneridgecc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Stoneridge Covenant Church<\/a> in Allison Park, Pennsylvania.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=2217&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DOHA, QATAR (July 28, 2008) \u2013 When Randy Pausch gave what would become known as \u201cThe Last Lecture,\u201d he spoke of the lessons he learned from playing football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DOHA, QATAR (July 28, 2008) \u2013 When Randy Pausch gave what would become known as \u201cThe Last Lecture,\u201d he spoke of the lessons he learned from playing football.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-07-28T20:37:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-22T17:23:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/Bm\/lt\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\/Pausch.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"headline\":\"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-07-28T20:37:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:23:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":723,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/Bm\\\/lt\\\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\\\/Pausch.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/\",\"name\":\"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch - Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/Bm\\\/lt\\\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\\\/Pausch.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-07-28T20:37:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-22T17:23:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/Bm\\\/lt\\\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\\\/Pausch.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.covchurch.org\\\/uploads\\\/Bm\\\/lt\\\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\\\/Pausch.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/2008\\\/07\\\/28\\\/6468\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/\",\"name\":\"Covenant Newswire Archives\",\"description\":\"Evangelical Covenant Church\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/newswire\\\/author\\\/covwebster\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch - Covenant Newswire Archives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch - Covenant Newswire Archives","og_description":"DOHA, QATAR (July 28, 2008) \u2013 When Randy Pausch gave what would become known as \u201cThe Last Lecture,\u201d he spoke of the lessons he learned from playing football.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/","og_site_name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","article_published_time":"2008-07-28T20:37:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-22T17:23:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/Bm\/lt\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\/Pausch.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"headline":"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch","datePublished":"2008-07-28T20:37:19+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:23:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/"},"wordCount":723,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/Bm\/lt\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\/Pausch.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/","name":"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch - Covenant Newswire Archives","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/Bm\/lt\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\/Pausch.jpg","datePublished":"2008-07-28T20:37:19+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-22T17:23:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/Bm\/lt\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\/Pausch.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/Bm\/lt\/BmltG9oY8-yMqm4cAGDm7Q\/Pausch.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2008\/07\/28\/6468\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thorpe Reflects on Life, Impact of Randy Pausch"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#website","url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/","name":"Covenant Newswire Archives","description":"Evangelical Covenant Church","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/#\/schema\/person\/2a26f1b1df304098ad9cbae0bbf2c6e8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed9f85aca58d0540113c3fcae90abb716831fd0b1d806d275666cf7052268ea9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/author\/covwebster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5353,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2217\/revisions\/5353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}