Chrisann Brennan, Jobsâ first serious girlfriend, is the author of the essay in which she recollects various instances of the tumultuous relationship she had with the man that was about to create Apple, The Associated Press reports.
The two met in 1972 while attending the Cupertino Homestead High School and their relationship lasted until 1978 when their daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, was born.
Brennan, a high school junior at the time she met Jobs, was impressed with his personality and charisma. âThis guy could make things work. And from the way heâd taken charge of the situation, I knew he knew it too,â she writes. They moved in together in summer 1972 after Appleâs future co-founder personally persuaded the owner of a cabin to rent them a space that was unsuitable for a couple.
The 17-year-old Jobs is described as a hopeless romantic, taking special interest in Bob Dylan music, poetry and the arts. Brennan also tells the story of how the couple, joined by a roommate named Al and Steve Wozniak, used to play âAlice in Wonderlandâ characters in a Santa Clara mall. Brennan would play Alice while the men would take turns playing the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit due to the excessively hot costumes that included âknee-length giant heads.â
Jobs' passion for Bob Dylan lyrics, which heâd edit on an electric typewriter, may have given him a sense of comfort, suggests Brennan. She admits she wasnât impressed at the time by Jobs' creativity. "Only now do I see what he was trying to do,â she writes in retrospect. âHe was a loner and he didn't talk much, and I think he used Dylan's songs to make sense of the world."
For Brennan, however, her memories of Jobs are not all fond ones, as their relationship inevitably depreciated. In time, Jobs turned into an âall-too-often despotic jerk,â she recalls. He also denied that he was the father of Lisa for two years after she was born, during which time he was already managing Apple. One of the computers the company sold during the early 1980s was called the Lisa after Jobsâ daughter.
The Rolling Stone edition featuring Brennanâs essay will hit newsstands on Friday. Alongside her piece, the publication also offers readers a cover story by Jeff Goodell, which describes Jobsâ management style adopted at Apple. Some of the memories shared by Brennan are also detailed in the 1999 TV docudrama âPirates of Silicon Valleyâ in which Jobs is played by Noah Wyle.
Further exploring Jobs' personality and management style, the Oct. 17 issue of Time magazine also features extensive coverage on Appleâs co-founder written in part by Walter Isaacson, the author of Jobsâ authorized biography. The 448-page book entitled simply "Steve Jobs" will be published on Oct. 24.
Steve Jobs passed away on Oct. 5 after a long bout with cancer, a day after the company unveiled the iPhone 4S and six weeks after he tendered his resignation as CEO of Apple.
11 Comments
Kind of cold to throw the daughter to welfare. By then SJ was stinking rich. Hopefully he repaired the relationship.
It did take a while, but he eventually admitted paternity, she lived with him for a time, and he paid her way through Harvard.
I stared at that for a second trying to figure out what kind of name "Al and Steve Wozniak" was.
Hey I thought LISA the computer was an acronym for something ?
Sounds like a bit of a cold bitch, for using this language against him days after his death. Have some fucking class. He's already dead, and you're alive, no need to spit on his grave.