Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 07:30 am

Steve Jobs agrees to collaborate on authorized biography - report

By Slash Lane

For the first time ever, Steve Jobs will participate with an author who is writing a biography of the tech titan, according to The New York Times.

While many books have been written about Jobs, none have carried the "authorized" distinction. But the Apple co-founder is now set to participate with author Walter Isaacson, former managing editor of Time magazine.

The book is still in its early planning stages, but Jobs has already invited Isaacson to tour his childhood home. The biography will reportedly span Jobs' entire life.

Isaacson is chief executive and president of the Aspen Institute in Washington. He authored two best-selling biographies: "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life," and "EinStein: His Life and Universe." He declined to comment to the Times.

"Cooperation with Mr. Isaacson could be a sign that Mr. Jobs has emerged from his recent health battles with more of an interest in shaping his legacy," the report said.

Jobs took a leave of absence from Apple in the first half of 2009. He returned to work last summer after undergoing a successful liver transplant.

Jobs has long expressed frustration with journalists and investors intruding into his life, particularly on his health issues, which he regards as private matters. The notoriously secretive Jobs revealed in 2004 that he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas.

In 2005, an unauthorized biography of Jobs by author Jeffrey S. Young entitled "iCon Steve jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business" caused Apple to pull all titles published by John Wiley & Sons from the company's stores. The reaction earned the book free publicity, and caused the publisher to double the title's initial press run and race it to stores a few weeks ahead of schedule.