'I wasn't always there for them, and I wanted them to know why': Steve Jobs authorised biography so his children can know him

It soared to the top of best-seller lists hours after the world heard he'd died
On his last visit author says Mr Jobs' mind was 'still sharp'

By Martin Robinson


Couple: He met his wife Laurene Powell in 1989 while speaking at Stanford's graduate business school and he had three children with her - Eve, Erin and Reed

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs used the last interview before his death to explain to his children why 'I wasn't always there for them,' it has been revealed.

Stricken with terminal cancer and too ill to climb stairs the 56-year-old, whose death was announced yesterday, wanted to ensure that his biography was ultimately a love letter to his family.

'I wanted my kids to know me,' he told Pulitzer Prize nominee and author Walter Isaacson, when asked why he agreed to a tell-all book despite living a famously private life.

Husband and wife: Steve Jobs leans his forehead against his wife after delivering the keynote address at an Apple conference in San Francisco, California, in June

'I wasn't always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did,' he added poignantly at his home in Palo Alto, California.

On that final visit last month Isaacson found Jobs coiled up in pain in a downstairs bedroom where he had moved to avoid going up and down stairs, 'but his mind was still sharp and his humour vibrant,' Isaacson said today.

He is survived by his wife Laurene Powell Jobs and their three children Eve, Erin and Reed but he also fathered a love child with his high school sweetheart Chrisann Brennan.

Thirty-three-year-old Lisa Brennan-Jobs was only accepted by her father two years later after a court-ordered blood test proved she was his.

Ms Brennan-Jobs has made a living for herself, after graduating from Harvard University, as a journalist and writer.

The biography, simply titled 'Steve Jobs', was at the top of the best-seller lists within hours of Apple's announcement of his death.

It is top of the Amazon chart, number three on Barnes & Noble.com and most fittingly the book also tops Apple's own chart: the iTunes books best-seller list.

Biological dad: Abdulfattah Jandali, 80, a casino boss, has said he wanted to meet his son but was worried about calling him in case Mr Jobs thought he was after money (left). Lisa Brennan-Jobs (right) was his love child with girlfriend Chrisann Brennan in 1978

Due to this incredible demand, publisher Simon & Schuster has announced that the release date has been moved up from November 21 to October 24.

Isaacson's book includes extensive interviews with the Apple co-founder, who rarely discussed his private life. He has written best-selling biographies of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin.

Jobs died on Wednesday after a long battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and never got to have a proper relationship with his biological father Abdulfattah John Jandali,

He was the son to the Syrian, and graduate student Joanne Schieble but the couple were not married at the time and keeping him would have been deemed shameful by their communities.

Brought up by Paul and Clara Jobs, Steve is thought never to have made contact with his biological father.

In August, Mr Jandali, a casino boss, said: ‘This might sound strange, but I am not prepared, even if either of us was on our deathbed, to pick up the phone to call him.

‘Steve will have to do that as the Syrian pride in me does not want him ever to think I am after his fortune. I am not. I have my own money. What I don’t have is my son ... and that saddens me.’

But despite its obvious complications, 'His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family,' a statement from Apple said yesterday.

'In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve's illness.'

Two-year-old Camille Anderson from Woodbridge, California, waits for her mother Tara to finish leaving a condolence note outside the Apple store in San Francisco


Heartfelt: Hundreds of handwritten notes have been left in tribute to Steve Jobs outside the Apple store in San Francisco

Tribute: People left iPads and iPhones displaying candle graphics at an Apple store in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo

Within minutes of his passing being confirmed, tributes had been paid by world leaders, the most famous technology bosses and fans throughout the world.

A day later, thousands continued to gather at shrines dedicated to Jobs from California to London, Sydney and Tokyo, Japan.

Well-wishers flocked to his home in California to leave flowers and cards, as his family mourned inside. Jobs is survived by a wife, a son and two daughters.

Devastated Apple staff, meanwhile, celebrated the life of their former boss with memorial services in his honour.

At Apple stores across the world and the company's headquarters, makeshift shrines quickly sprang up as Apple's legions of fans gathered together to remember the life of a man they revered as a hero.

'We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon,' Apple chief executive Tim Cook said yesterday.

CHINA: A man places a bouquet of white carnations beside a photo of Steve Jobs outside an Apple store in Beijing

BEIJING: An Apple fan places candles in the shape of the logo of Apple in the Sanlitun district

Stacking up: The floral tribute at Apple's California headquarters continued to grow today

Global leaders from politics and business spoke out about how they had been inspired by the celebrated innovator.

Tributes, led by President Barack Obama, began pouring in within minutes of the company confirming Jobs's death.

'We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today,' read a statement by Apple's board of directors on Wednesday.

'Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.

'His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.'

Mr Jobs registered an incredible 338 U.S. patents or patent applications for technology and electronic accessories, reported the International Business Times.

Token: Apples, like these left outside the Apple store in Tokyo, have been a popular tribute

Prego: A chef shows off his apple-shaped pizza tribute to Steve Jobs in Naples

He was believed to have driven a 2007 Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG, which was worth around $130,000 new at the time.

His 5,700 sq ft home was a 1930s Tudor-style property with seven bedrooms and four bathrooms - and it is estimated by CNBC to be worth $2.6million.

Mr Jobs also owned a huge historic Spanish colonial home in Woodside, which had 14 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, located across six acres of forested land. But he later had it knocked down to make way for a smaller property after a long legal battle.

His charitable giving has always been a secret topic, just like most other elements of his lifestyle.

Mr Jobs reportedly declined to get involved with the Giving Pledge - founded by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to get the wealthiest people to give away at least half of their wealth.

Behind the iconic Californian's wealth and fame lies an extraordinary story of a fragmented family.

Relatives: Mr Jobs did not meet his biological sister Mona Simpson, left, until he was aged 27. Lisa Brennan-Jobs, right, was his love child with longtime girlfriend Chrisann Brennan in 1978

Mr Jobs, of Palo Alto, California, is survived by his sisters Patti Jobs and Mona Simpson, his wife Laurene Powell Jobs and their three children Eve, Erin and Reed.

But his family is far from straightforward. He was adopted as a baby and, despite his biological father's attempts to contact him later on, remained estranged from his natural parents.

In his early twenties Mr Jobs became embroiled in a family scandal before his days of close media scrutiny, after he fathered a love child with his high school sweetheart Chrisann Brennan.

Ms Brennan, who was his first serious girlfriend, became pregnant in 1977 - and he at first denied he was the father.

She gave birth to Lisa Brennan-Jobs in 1978 - and in the same year Mr Jobs created the 'Lisa' computer, but insisted it only stood for 'Local Integrated Software Architecture'.

The mother initially raised their daughter on benefits. But he accepted his responsibilities two years later after a court-ordered blood test proved he was the father, despite his claims of being 'infertile'.

Ms Brennan-Jobs has made a living for herself, after graduating from Harvard University, as a journalist and writer.

'My father was rich and renowned, and later, as I got to know him, went on vacations with him, and then lived with him for a few years, I saw another, more glamorous world'

Lisa Brennan-Jobs.

Biological dad: Abdulfattah Jandali, 80, a casino boss, has said he wanted to meet his son but was worried about calling him in case Mr Jobs thought he was after money

She was eventually invited into her father's life as a teenager and told Vogue that she 'lived with him for a few years'.

'In California, my mother had raised me mostly alone,' Lisa wrote in an article for Vogue in 2008. 'We didn’t have many things, but she is warm and we were happy. We moved a lot. We rented.

'My father was rich and renowned, and later, as I got to know him, went on vacations with him, and then lived with him for a few years, I saw another, more glamorous world.'

Mr Jobs was born to Joanne Schieble and Syrian student Abdulfattah Jandali before being given up for adoption.

Mr Jandali was a Syrian student and not married to Ms Simpson at the time of Mr Jobs's birth in San Francisco, California, in February 1955.

She did not want to bring up a child out of wedlock and went to San Francisco from their home in Wisconsin to have the baby.

Mr Jobs is thought never to have made contact with his biological father.

Mr Jandali, 80, a casino boss, has said he wanted to meet his son but was worried if Mr Jobs thought he was after money.

Couple: He met his wife Laurene Powell in 1989 while speaking at Stanford's graduate business school and he had three children with her - Eve, Erin and Reed

He had always hoped that his son would call him to make contact - and had emailed him a few times in an attempt to speak.

Mr Jandali once said he 'cannot believe' his son created so many gadgets.

'This might sound strange, though, but I am not prepared, even if either of us was on our deathbeds, to pick up the phone to call him,' he said.

Ms Schieble and Mr Jandali then had a second child called Mona Simpson, who became a novelist.

Ms Simpson is an author who once wrote a book loosely based on her biological brother. She lives in Santa Monica, California, with her two children and was once married to producer Richard Appel.

But Mr Jobs did not actually meet Ms Simpson until he was aged 27. He never wanted to explain how he tracked down his sister, but she described their relationship as 'close'.

Mr Jobs was adopted by working-class couple Clara and Paul Jobs, who have both since died, but they also later adopted a second child - Patti Jobs.

He later had the Ms Brennan-Jobs love child with his longtime girlfriend Ms Brennan in 1978.

He met his wife Laurene Powell in 1989 while speaking at Stanford's graduate business school and he had three children with her - Eve, Erin and Reed.

They married in 1991 and Reed was born soon after. He is their oldest child, aged 20.
Mr Jobs registered an incredible 338 U.S. patents or patent applications for technology and electronic accessories, reported the International Business Times.

Tributes: Flowers adorn the sidewalk outside the home of Steve Jobs in Palo Alto, California, today

He was believed to have driven a 2007 Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG, which was worth around $130,000 new at the time.

His 5,700 sq ft home was a 1930s Tudor-style property with seven bedrooms and four bathrooms - and it is estimated by CNBC to be worth $2.6million.

Mr Jobs also owned a huge historic Spanish colonial home in Woodside, which had 14 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, located across six acres of forested land.

But he later had it knocked down to make way for a smaller property after a long legal battle.

His charitable giving has always been a secret topic, just like most other elements of his lifestyle.

Mr Jobs reportedly declined to get involved with the Giving Pledge - founded by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to get the wealthiest people to give away at least half of their wealth.

But he is rumoured to have given $150million to the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California in San Francisco, reported the New York Times.

It is cancer organisations that are most likely to be supported if any charities are in his will, as he died on Wednesday at the age of 56 from the pancreatic form of the illness.


source:dailymail