Viewed by millions, and now earning millions

Millions around the world have viewed Randy Pausch's last lecture and millions more may soon be reading about it.

Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon computer science professor who's dying from pancreatic cancer, recently signed a deal with Hyperion Books to co-author a book with Jeff Zaslow of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) for a reported $6.7 million. (For comparison's sake, the largest advance for a nonfiction book was more than $10 million to former President Bill Clinton for his memoir "My Life.")

The book will include Pausch's last lecture, titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", and "lots of other material," Zaslow told Editor & Publisher.

Zaslow is a Carnegie Mellon alumnus who wrote about Pausch's last lecture and narrated an accompanying video clip for the WSJ web site. Zaslow is a 1980 graduate of Carnegie Mellon's College of Humanities and Social Sciences, where he earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing.

The book deal is the latest occurrence in the media frenzy surrounding Pausch since his last lecture on Sept. 18. Pausch has been a two-time guest on "Good Morning America" and has been featured on the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show." He will also be the subject of an upcoming feature on ABC's "20/20," which is tentatively set to air the Friday before or after Christmas.

Bruce Gerson