Steve Jobs’ daughter is writing memoir about rocky relationship with her dad

Steve Jobs’ daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, is writing a coming-of-age memoir.

Given his immense significance as the CEO who turned around Apple’s fortunes, there are many books about Steve Jobs. This newly announced one written by his daughter will offer a different, more personal take on the late Steve Jobs than most of its bookstore rivals.

Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ memoir announced

Scheduled for launch September 4, Brennan-Jobs’ book isn’t, strictly speaking, entirely about Steve Jobs, although he will not doubt play a big part in it. Publisher Grove Press calls the book a “poignant” story about growing up — and the challenges of contending with a famous and unpredictable father.

Now aged 39, Lisa Brennan-Jobs is Jobs’ oldest child. The child of Jobs’ former girlfriend Chrisann Brennan, rather than his wife, Laurene Powell-Jobs, Lisa and Steve had a tumultuous relationship.

Lisa’s troubled history with Steve Jobs

Lisa’s mother met Steve when they attended Homestead High School in Cupertino, California. Lisa was born on Robert Friedland’s All One Farm commune outside of Portland, where Jobs briefly worked. By the time of her birth, however, Chrisann and Steve Jobs were estranged. The Apple co-founder went as far as denying paternity of his daughter.

Even when it was proven that Jobs was Lisa’s father, he continued to deny it and agreed only to pay Brennan $385 per month in child support — which increased to $500 per month after Apple went public and Jobs became a multimillionaire.

At the time, Jobs was working on a new computer called the Lisa. He originally said the machine’s name was an acronym for “Local Integrated System Architecture,” although people at Apple joked it stood for “Let’s Invent Some Acronym.”

Years later, Jobs admitted that the computer was named after Lisa. In the official Jobs biography, Steve told Walter Isaacson, “Obviously it was named for my daughter.”

A reconciliation

While Steve Jobs and Lisa did patch up their relationship later on (Jobs reportedly left her a multimillion dollar inheritance in his will), it went through various rocky patches over the years.

Lisa has never really spoken publicly before about her relationship with her father. She was, notably, one of the few key interviews that Walter Isaacson never got.

She did later speak with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, writer of the movie adaptation of the Isaacson book. Sorkin said Lisa’s story changed his idea about what his Steve Jobs movie should be.

A strong writing background

Both Lisa’s parents have now told their story in the form of books. Jobs, as noted, lent his support to the Walter Isaacson book (which top Apple officials disapprove of), while Chrisann Brennan wrote the 2013 memoir The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Life With Steve Jobs.

Lisa Brennan-Jobs does, it should be noted, have a writing background — which will hopefully make this book more personal than if it were to be a ghostwritten title (which it presumably won’t be.)

She studied at Harvard University, where she wrote for The Harvard Crimson. She’s also written for Southwest Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Harvard Advocate, Spiked, Vogue and O, The Oprah Magazine.

Color me intrigued!

Source: Chicago Tribune