From the Wall St Journal: Periodically in the past year, Abdulfattah "John" Jandali would shoot off an email to Steve Jobs, the son he never met. They were simple notes: "Happy Birthday" or "I hope your health is improving." It's unclear if Mr. Jobs ever wrote back. A person close to Mr. Jobs's family said, no, he didn't, while Mr. Jandali said he did receive two short replies.
The last one arrived six weeks before Mr. Jobs's death, Mr. Jandali said, and said simply, "Thank you."
For Mr. Jandali, aside from the iPhone 4 he carries, his story of the emails is pretty much all he has of a son who co-founded Apple Inc. and grew into one of the world's most famous businessmen.
Mr. Jandali, 80 years old and general manager of the Boomtown casino in the barren hills outside Reno, Nev., presides over a staff of around 450 casino workers and is praised by his colleagues for his quiet leadership style and a marketing savvy. Walking the floor on Friday, he was stopped by an employee who thanked him for reinstalling $5 dollar slot machines. Mr. Jandali shook his hand, then sat down at the casino's Chinese noodle joint to eat the salmon special, as he does many days.
"I can't take credit for my children's success," said Mr. Jandali, who is also the father of the celebrated novelist Mona Simpson. Mr. Jobs was put up for adoption as a baby. Mr. Jandali said he had almost no contact with him and also has a strained relationship with Ms. Simpson.
Mr. Jandali's close friends say the estrangement with his children has been a source of great sadness over the years…..
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