Randy lives on as inspiration for all of us, though I too grieve for his family. He hung in there so much longer than predicted and put every innovation possible to work in his life and to stave off his decline.

Two months ago our family was attending son Gavin's graduation at Carnegie Mellon Univ., and we were incredibly blessed by a huge surprise: Randy arrived, in person, to take the podium and use his day's entire energy to urge us forward in life!! For three glorious, heartfelt minutes, he bestowed a timeless gift upon us. For Mother's Day, Gavin gave me Randy's book, which was distributed on campus.

How lucky we ALL are to have witnessed through every medium, how totally unselfish love transforms our lives.


Non-smoker non-drinker, 50 when diagnosed 9/11/06 stage IV scc of oropharnyx, malignant lymph nodes both sides of neck. Cause=HPV16. Daily chemo & daily IMRT for 7 weeks. In 2 clinical trials at Johns Hopkins, good results. Peg tube out March 07. Update September 2014: gratefully in good health!