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1-Page Summary of Small Fry
Overview
Lisa Brennan-Jobs wasn’t born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her childhood and teenage years weren’t easy, despite the fact that her father was famous multimillionaire Steve Jobs. After fights with Lisa’s mother Chrisann attracted the attention of school officials, Lisa moved in with Steve, but things didn’t go smoothly there either. She felt lonely throughout college even though he expressed regret before his death that he hadn’t been more present when she was younger.
Steve Jobs has always seemed larger than life. He brought us the iPhone and the Macbook, which revolutionized technology. The movies he produced at Pixar changed the way people think about animated films. As a CEO, his aesthetic sense was impeccable—he looked at things differently from everyone else.
Steve Jobs was an important figure in the world of technology. He also had weaknesses and fears, like everyone else. Lisa Brennan-Jobs describes this well in her book. But she also writes about other things, such as how they met and what life was like for them during that time period.
In this book, you’ll learn about the author’s experience with Steve Jobs and his mother. You’ll also find out how little money he paid in child support and why he’s grateful to Bono.
Big Idea #1: Lisa’s parents got into an on-and-off relationship, which ended in a pregnancy.
In 1972, Steve Jobs was a senior at Homestead High School in Cupertino, California. He met Chrisann Brennan, a junior who would help out with her friends’ claymation film projects during Wednesday evenings in the high school quad. One evening he approached her and gave her this sheet of paper.
He typed out the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.” He gave them back to Chrisann, who added drawings for her film.
Steve and Chrisann’s relationship began after Steve had broken up with his girlfriend, Virginia. Their relationship would last six years. In the beginning of their relationship, they fell in love. One of Steve’s biggest gestures was to stand up to Virginia when she became unhinged and harsh towards Chrisann because she suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
In the summer of 1975, Chrisann and Steve moved into a cabin together in Los Altos. They paid rent with money they earned from selling “blue boxes” – devices that allowed them to make free phone calls. In fall, Steve left for Reed College in Oregon but dropped out after half a year. Meanwhile Chrisann had begun dating someone else, and their relationship fell apart without much conversation. When Steve found out he was dumped by Chrisann, he was very upset. Two years later they got back together and she started working at Apple while it grew as an idea conceived by Wozniak and Jobs who named it Apple Incorporated
Chrisann was unhappy with her relationship. She had planned to leave Steve, who is temperamental. However, she got pregnant and couldn’t go through with the plan at that time. Unbeknownst to Chrisann, her body rejected an intrauterine device (IUD), which caused this unexpected pregnancy. When Steve found out about the IUD being removed from Chrisann’s uterus, he ran away in anger because he didn’t want another child.
Big Idea #2: Steve Jobs was not present at Lisa’s birth, nor did he admit paternity.
Steve said, “It’s not my kid.” It was 1978 and Steve had just arrived at the farm in Oregon where Chrisann gave birth to a girl. He told people that he wasn’t the father of the child.
Steve Jobs denied being the father of Lisa for a long time, but he did help Chrisann name her. She was on welfare and made extra money cleaning houses and waitressing.
