The Last Lecture: Foreword Summary & Analysis

The foreword, written by Randy Pausch’s wife Jai after his death, is the only section of the book not written from Randy’s perspective. Jai recalls taking Randy to a celebratory lunch after his book, The Last Lecture, was released in April of 2008. After lunch they went to a bookstore, where she snapped a picture of Randy holding his book. She notes that working on the book was one of the things that kept him vital until his last days. She states how touched she is that people, still to this day, reach out to her to tell her how much of a difference The Last Lecture has made to their lives. She ends by saying that the past few years without Randy have been tough, but Jai and her children “choose to find the joy in life and good in people,” and that’s the best lesson she could hope to teach her kids in honor of their father.