Jeff Zaslow tells audience to say ‘I love you’ more

Wall Street Journal columnist Jeff Zaslow said his favorite topic to write about is love.

“I wanted to write about three words: ‘I love you,’” Zaslow said Monday night at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. “Tell your friends, tell your roommates you love them because you never know when will be your last chance.”

Zaslow talked about his life as a journalist and his column, “Moving on,” in which he writes about life transitions – everything from “a first breath” to “a first job.”

His speech was the first of the School of Journalism’s fall speaker series.

Zaslow’s passion for life and love inspired him to contact Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University professor dying from pancreatic cancer, who was scheduled to give his last lecture titled, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.”

“I was so nervous. I didn’t know how to talk to a dying man,” Zaslow said. “But Randy was so full of life. He put me at ease.”

Zaslow soon found out that the plane ticket to Pausch’s last lecture would cost $850.

“My editor told me to forget about it and just call him instead. I decided to drive the 300 miles,” Zaslow said. “I learned you’ve got to go the extra mile. If I’d decided to talk to him on the phone, the world wouldn’t have found out about him.”

Pausch and Zaslow co-authored the book, “The Last Lecture,” which has since become a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller and has been translated into 45 different languages.

Zaslow showed video of Pausch’s famed “last lecture,” in which the audience witnessed his love for life and pursuing dreams. His words reached many viewers, including freshman Claire Wiseman.

“I’m really glad I got to see Zaslow’s lecture and witness Pausch’s outlook on life,” Wiseman said. “It’s great to know that although he’s gone, he can still impact people and give them such a strong message.”

Although he worked with Pausch for the remainder of his life, Zaslow took away one message more than anything else.

“Time is all we have, and one day we’ll find out we have less than we thought,” Zaslow said. “We need to treasure all of our best moments.”

Zaslow then ended his lecture with a word of advice.

“Go hug the people who are important to you,” he said. “And if you’re a journalist, go drive that 300 miles because it might be that story that’s worth telling.”