Steve Jobs’ Last Moments Described in Sister’s Eulogy

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I’m not nearly half way through “Steve Jobs” and I must say I believe Walter Isaacson really managed to capture the intensity of Steve Jobs in the official biography. Jobs was not a saint and he was not a villain. But he was a visionary, a person very passionate about the work he believed in, and a person that changed or helped reshape many industries thanks to the products he and the teams of extraordinary gifted people around him created.

But I’m sure the book will not describe the last moments of Jobs’ life on this earth. After all, Isaacson’s last interview with Apple’s co-founder and former CEO took place well ahead of his death.

Mona Simpson on the other hand, Jobs’ sister and already an accomplished writer, revealed some instances of her brother’s last days during the eulogy she delivered at his memorial service that took place at the Memorial Church of Stanford University on October 16.

She talked about the Steve Jobs the media didn’t really get to know. The private person that tried to keep his personal life and his family away from the attention of the public. And while he succeeded in doing that while he was alive, it will change now that readers are getting plenty of details of that secret part of his life either thanks to the biography, that already become a best-selling book, or via various reports such as Simpson’s eulogy that was published earlier today in the New York Times.

Simpson recalls various events of Jobs’ life, and intercalates them with events that happened during the last days of Steve Jobs’ life. Here are some brief bits from an emotional eulogy, one that everyone should read, no matter how they feel about Apple’s iconic leader:

About his wife:

I remember when he phoned the day he met Laurene. “There’s this beautiful woman and she’s really smart and she has this dog and I’m going to marry her.”

About his children:

When a family member called him at work, his secretary Linetta answered, “Your dad’s in a meeting. Would you like me to interrupt him?”

About his last days:

Tuesday morning, he called me to ask me to hurry up to Palo Alto. His tone was affectionate, dear, loving, but like someone whose luggage was already strapped onto the vehicle, who was already on the beginning of his journey, even as he was sorry, truly deeply sorry, to be leaving us.

He started his farewell and I stopped him. I said, “Wait. I’m coming. I’m in a taxi to the airport. I’ll be there.”

“I’m telling you now because I’m afraid you won’t make it on time, honey.”

About his final words:

Steve’s final words were:

OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.

Rest in peace Steve Jobs!

Written on a Mac