Crazy Enough to Think He Could Change the World. And He Did.

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do.
-Apple's Think Different campaign, 1997-2002.

I was sitting in my hotel room in Banff last night when I heard a text ding in. It was my nephew, in Rochester, NY: Steve Jobs dead at 56

Noooo I texted back, as I reached for the remote to find CNN on Canadian TV. And then, I cried. And wished I were home in San Jose.

Oh, I knew this day was coming soon. First, the book publication date was pushed up. The book for which he had done rare interviews.

And then, his resignation as CEO. Even as the hopeful opined that he could now spend quality time with his family, his message said that he was too sick to do the thing he loved most, next to his family: run his company.

I knew. We all knew. And yet, when the day finally came, it shocked us all.

I didn't know Steve, but he was a presence in Silicon Valley from the moment I arrived here in 1984. He built a company uniquely of our generation, one that couldn't have come out of any other time.

Steve and Apple have been the backdrop to my life in California and his death a harsh reminder that at some point, life ends for us all. We're all mortal. Even Steve Jobs.

In a time when many people lived lives of unfulfilled potential, Steve more than fulfilled his. His photo wasn't in the Think Different campaign. But it could have been.

His enthusiasm for life, for making a difference, for changing the world--they weren't traits we're used to seeing in CEOs. In business. Steve and Apple were a unique combination.

Yes, Apple will go on. Many talented people are still there. And yet, its unique spark has been extinguished.

This poignant photo of Steve and his wife, taken after his last public appearance, said everything. How hard he'd fought. How tired he was. And the tacit acceptance that this was the last time he'd appear publicly for the company he'd built and then rebuilt. Steve and his wife look so connected, so loving in this photo.

By all accounts, Steve Jobs lived a full life. He had an accomplished career. A loving family. And, he did something everyone of our generation wanted to do: he changed the world.

Our entire community grieves his family's loss. And our own.

The opinions expressed here are the blogger's and not necessarily those of the local editor's or anyone affiliated with Patch.