Guest Post: My appearance in Walter Isaacson’s ‘Steve Jobs’

Since word first leaked about a biography being written about Steve Jobs, I was interested in reading it. As a fan of Apple,* and having been inspired by Steve Jobs in a variety of ways, I looked forward to Walter Isaacson’s thorough take on Steve. When Steve passed away in October, the book’s release was…

About the AuthorRobert Murphy is the online campus pastor at Christ Community Church and an active member of the Silicon Prairie News community as an occasional blogger and regular attendee of events.

You can find Murphy on Twitter, @ramhatter, or contact him by email at ramhatter@gmail.com. (Photo from twitter.com/ramhatter.)

Editor’s Note: Originally published on his personal blog, “Ramhatter,” Murphy has kindly given us permission to republish it here.


Photo by Robert Murphy

Since word first leaked about a biography being written about Steve Jobs, I was interested in reading it. As a fan of Apple,* and having been inspired by Steve Jobs in a variety of ways, I looked forward to Walter Isaacson’s thorough take on Steve.

*My costume this past Halloween? Steve Jobs.

When Steve passed away in October, the book’s release was pushed up, to October 24, to leverage the interest in him. A number of friends and people I interact with went out and got it as soon as it was released. The book was No. 1 on a number of bestseller lists worldwide.

I did not get the book right away. In fact, I still haven’t read it. I want to, but I’m trying to utilize the library more. So, I am on a waiting list to read it, from the Omaha Public Library. I look forward to reading it. I do wonder if I had read the book, as soon as it was released, if I would’ve noticed a particular passage in the book.

On November 25, I get a phone call around 11:30 p.m. from my friend Jordan Green. I’m annoyed that I’m woken up by his call, so I don’t answer. I figure that if it is important he will call back or text. I fall back asleep. The next morning, I wake up and grab my iPhone to see the time. I see Jordan has texted me and check to see what was so important that he woke me up the previous night. He’s texted me a picture of a page of a book, and I see my name on it. The page looks like it’s an author listing of their sources for their book. In the text, Jordan asks, “Is the Steve Jobs bio [thing] old news to you?”

What?!

I look at the picture Jordan texted me again. Page 589, Chapter 22: Toy Story, Robert Murphy, John Cooley, Creative Process.

The post I wrote for Silicon Prairie News, about Pixar’s Josh Cooley, was sourced in Steve Jobs.

I didn’t doubt Jordan, but I had to see this for myself. So, later that morning I was out and about and I stopped by Barnes & Noble. I grabbed a copy of “Steve Jobs” and flipped to page 589. There it was.

Photo by Robert Murphy

After it settled in that my work was a source for this biography, I thought, “Bummer, they misspelled Josh Cooley’s name.” (Josh was incredibly gracious when I sat down to interview him.)

I texted Jordan later to ask how he came across it, because I had no idea. Jordan found it by accident. He was near the end of the book and thought about the acknowledgements. How there are all these people that helped with the composition of the book. Jordan randomly flipped to a page in the notes, and the first thing he saw was my name. The cool thing? Jordan took the pictures that appeared in the post I wrote for Silicon Prairie News.

Walter used the portion of my post where I talk about Pixar’s first film, “Toy Story,” and the development of the character of Woody.

In the grand scheme of things, does it matter all that much? Probably not. Is it cool? Yeah, very much so. I’m an Apple fan and a Pixar fan. I love to write. So, to see all that come together in this surprising way, brought a smile to my face.

Thanks again to Silicon Prairie News for giving me the opportunity to write about Pixar back in 2010!

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

Get the latest news and events from Nebraska’s entrepreneurship and innovation community delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday.