THE CROWN PUBLISHING GROUP

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For Immediate Release

Contact: Tammy Blake
212-572.2542
tblake@randomhouse.com

Jai Pausch, Widow of Bestselling Last Lecture Author Randy Pausch,

To Write Inspirational Memoir for Crown Archetype
(October 7, 2010 — New York, NY) Jai Pausch, a cancer research advocate, mother, and widow of
Randy Pausch, Ph.D., acclaimed Carnegie Mellon University Professor and author of the
internationally best-selling book The Last Lecture, has reached agreement with Crown Archetype to
write an inspirational memoir about building a new life and keeping one’s dreams alive after
experiencing tragedy.

In her book, scheduled for publication in Spring 2012, Jai Pausch will chronicle the journey she and
her husband took together after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, including how his twenty-three
month battle with the disease thrust her into the role of caregiver and required her to learn how to
balance the demands of raising three small children while managing finances and medical care,
making gut-wrenching decisions, navigating a steep medical learning curve, and experiencing the
emotionally and physically draining realities of tending a loved one who is dying. Pausch will also
describe the process of coming to terms with Randy’s death and of dealing with life alone as a single
mother, as well as how she has been able to rebuild a life infused with promise, purpose, joy,
adventure, and dreams for the future.

John Glusman, Vice President and an Executive Editor of the Crown Publishing Group, acquired
world, electronic book, audio, and first serial rights from Gary Morris and David Black of The David
Black Literary Agency, and will edit the book.

Said Jai Pausch, “I’d like to share what I learned from my experiences as a way to help the millions
of folks who are going through or will go through similar experiences. I’d also like to write about
building new dreams, and about not giving up and becoming bitter when circumstances change for
the worse. We all face adversity in our life, and I have learned from experience that we all have the
strength within us to face life’s challenges, even the greatest challenge of caring for a dying loved
one.”

Said Tina Constable, Senior Vice President, Publisher, Crown Archetype, “In writing candidly about
her own family’s experience, Jai will give hope to a wide range of readers who seek inspiration in
overcoming adversity in their own lives. Her book will have special resonance for the millions of
caregivers around the world as well as for those who have experienced the loss of a loved one.”

A member of the National Board of Directors of The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Jai Pausch
speaks frequently on the urgent need for cancer research funding. She lives with her children, Dylan,
Logan, and Chloe, in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Crown Archetype is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group at Random House, Inc., whose parent
company is Bertelsmann AG.

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