Confronting Death

Randy says his speech is mostly about achieving childhood dreams—and living your life. "Any professor will tell you there's some lectures you have to pull them out of yourself, and there's some that just pour. This talk wrote itself," he says.

While Randy has known about his cancer for a year, he says he learned six or seven weeks ago that he might only have months to live. "One person says three to six months, and another one says, 'Yeah, three to six months, but only because three's in that range.' So you sort of get some shading of it," he says.

Randy isn't giving in to the prognosis—he is continuing his medical treatment in the hope of prolonging his life. "[Somebody said], 'You've become so famous for dying, what's going to happen if you're alive in a year or two?'" Randy says. "I said, 'Give me the problem! I'd like to work on that one.'"