The Sad Story of Apple's Steve Jobs
And no, it is not about how he died. The cancer, the gradual thinning of a once full of life man as he was in 2005. God, I hate cancer. It is such a vampire, sucking life out of loved ones. But, it was made worse. Something ate away at Steve from the moment he found out that he was adopted, the why, the where are my real parents, the how could they do this! Famous people are not exempt from bad beginnings, in fact, it is more of a norm. Look at John Lennon, his parents had forced him to choose, at age 5, which parent he loved. It ate him alive, music saved his life and look what he gave the world.
Had Steve Jobs not suffered this fate, his name would Steve Jandali, yet, the young, unwed woman gave Steve up for adoption, after both biological parents agreed to. Steve was born in 1955 in San Francisco. He was adopted by Paul Jobs, a high school dropout who worked later as a machinist. His adoptive mom, was Clara, she never made through college. Steve lived his first 20 years as a normal lower middle class kid, not a lot going for him. If you thought Steve looked Middle Eastern, you are spot on. His biological father is Syrian and now is 80. He claims that Steve is just like how he looked back in his prime. His family roots are in Homs, Syria, which is in total upheaval today with riots about freedom against the Assad regime. Steve's real dad lives in Nevada and operates a casino, and even though he owns a PhD in political science, his own dream of being a diplomat is long gone. Steve's biological mom was Joanne Schieble, a grad student in speech therapy when she became pregnant with Steve. John's father was against the relationship, so Joanne left for SF for a few months. It was during that time Joanne put Steve up for adoption. Then, in a twist of fate, John's father dies, and Steve's real parents actually do get married but Steve was gone to the new parents. The Jandalis moved and lived in Syria for awhile, but came back to Green Bay, Wis. to give birth to Steve's sister, Mona. John taught at the university.
Adversity followed the family, soon after Mona was born, the marriage ended and Joanne got remarried. John, devastated, left for the West Coast in 1968. He basically abandoned Mona Simpson, who is now an author. John settled in Reno, NV. Bought and operated several successful casinos. So, when did John Jandali, the biological father, learn that he was Steve's father: 2005. It was a major shock after all these years, yet photo comparisons of Steve and John clearly show very similar characteristics at certain ages. John did try to make contact but Steve did not respond. Yet, Steve have a relationship with his sister.
The ironic and sad thing is that It is not clear whether Steve knew John was his biological father, Imagine, Steve Jobs of Apple, receives a call from a man claiming to be his father.
The famous, rich son and the average father. A similar thing happened with John Lennon and his Dad Fred, a merchant marine. At the height of Beatlmania, Fred meets with his son. John recalled, " he was just an old man that I had no feelings for, yet, I felt obligated because he was my Dad. So I bought him a small house. After that, I never saw him again".
In either case, it is just heartbreaking for all parties. All these ruined lives, yet because of it, great success can bloom.
