Dying Pittsburgh prof’s speech will be published

Dying Pittsburgh prof’s
speech will be published

NEW YORK — A dying professor’s inspirational speech, an Internet sensation this fall, will be published next spring by Hyperion Books. Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, gave a lecture in September in which he spoke of suffering from pancreatic cancer and likely having just months to live. A video of the speech soon began spreading online, attracting millions of viewers, and the 47-year-old Pausch eventually gave television interviews to Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric and others. “Remember, brick walls let us show our dedication,” Pausch advises in his speech. “They are there to separate us from the people who don’t really want to achieve their childhood dreams. Don’t bail.” The book will be called “The Last Lecture” and will be written with the Wall Street Journal’s Jeff Zaslow. Financial terms were not disclosed, although the deal has been widely reported to be worth more than $6 million. “I was deeply moved by Randy’s speech, as millions of others have been,” Hyperion president Robert S. Miller said in a statement Tuesday. “We believe that his book can go beyond the speech to inspire readers for years to come to choose to live each day of their lives with purpose and joy.”

Baby boy for Usher, wife

ATLANTA — Usher is the father of a baby boy. His wife, Tameka Foster, gave birth to their son, Usher Raymond V, in Atlanta on Monday night, a publicist for the 29-year-old singer said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. The baby weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces. He is the couple’s first child. Foster, 37, has three children from a previous marriage. “We are so happy and proud of our beautiful son. What a blessing!” Usher said in a statement provided Tuesday night by publicist Patti Webster. The couple wed in a large, glitzy ceremony in early September after exchanging vows a few weeks earlier in a civil ceremony. They had called off their July 28 wedding amid reports that Foster had checked into a hospital because of problems with her pregnancy.

Today’s birthdays

Hall-of-Fame sportscaster Vin Scully is 80. Blues singer-musician John Mayall is 74. Composer-musician Chuck Mangione is 67. Pop singer-musician Felix Cavaliere (The Rascals) is 63. Olympic skier Suzy Chaffee is 61. Comedian Garry Shandling is 58. Movie director Joel Coen is 53. Actor-comedian-game show host Howie Mandel is 52. Actress Cathy Moriarty is 47. Actress Kim Delaney is 46. Actor Tom Sizemore is 46. Actor Don Cheadle is 43. Musician Wallis Buchanan (Jamiroquai) is 42. Pop singer Jonathan Knight (New Kids on the Block) is 39. Actor Larry Joe Campbell is 37. Rapper The Game is 28. Actor Lucas Black is 25.