My professional glory

So, yesterday morning I overheard my colleague's phone conversation with a patron who was looking for a book that had an extensive waiting list. While my colleague was searching for the book, I listened as she described how to find it on YouTube while waiting for the book to come in.

I felt that I was missing something, so asked what she was talking about. After hearing a description of the tradition of "the last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon (professors are invited to lecture on what matters most to them as if they were about to vanish from the face of the earth) and learning the fact that the author/professor of the book in question was diagnosed with pancreatic (i.e. terminal) cancer before giving his lecture, I put the pieces together.

And, in all my professional glory, I asked the question to top all questions:

"Oh! Is this that book that people are reading?"

Oh. My. God. The. Mortal. Embarrassment.

Why, yes. Yes it is.

Just in case I'm not the last person (although I'm sure I am the last librarian) on Earth to hear about this book, it is an expansion on his lecture, Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. He compiled the book, with the help of others, during the final stages of his disease.

And from what I've heard, it is a pretty good read if you're into life lessons stuff.