The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon was asked to share his wisdom in a “last lecture.” While it’s a common practice for professors to give such talks as if they were their last, Pausch had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so he knew that the talk would literally be his final lecture. Deciding to focus on the theme of “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch wrote and delivered a talk that would inspire millions when a video of the lecture spread on the internet. This is the story of the man behind the lecture as he lives out his last days and leaves a legacy for his family.
The Council of Dads by Bruce Feiler
When bestselling author Bruce Feiler was diagnosed with cancer, he was devastated to think that his young twin daughters might grow up without a father. He decided to reach out to six different men and ask them to join a group that he named “The Council of Dads.” These six men represented different parts of Feiler’s life, and he asked them to be there for his daughters as they grew older and needed guidance from a father figure. He chose the men carefully based on which life lessons he would hope his daughters could learn from them. This is the story about the way one man faced one of life’s greatest challenges, and it inspires readers to ponder what is most important in their lives.