Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Artwork by Jonathan Mak

Everyone who’s not unconscious or stranded on a deserted island knows that Steve Jobs died of pancreatic cancer yesterday at the relatively young age of 56.

I’m surprised at how sad his death makes me feel – I never knew him and don’t even use a Mac – and how big a loss I assume his passing represents to humankind.

We didn’t have much in common. We were both Pisces, and male, and owned eyeglasses, and neither of us graduated from college. That was about it. He was worth over $8 billion; I earn a not-yet-successful freelance writer’s salary. He owned a silver 2008 Mercedes SL 55 AMG; I drive a 1999 Buick. He was on Disney’s Board of Directors; I bought "Aladdin," "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid" for my firstborn when she was little. He changed the world; I change my clothes and my mind.

Just last month, the co-founder of Apple Inc. and former chief executive officer of Pixar Animation Studios was ranked Number 17 on Forbes’ list of the World’s Most Powerful People. He’s listed as either the primary inventor or a co-inventor in over 300 U.S. patents or patent applications for computer and portable devices, user interfaces, speakers, keyboards, power adapters, staircases, clasps, sleeves, lanyards and packages.

What impresses my kids about the 42nd wealthiest American, who resigned as Apple’s CEO five weeks ago, is that he was an executive producer of 1995’s "Toy Story," one of the coolest movies ever made.

"The thing about Steve Jobs isn't whether you use his computers or phones,” my friend Angela Vasquez-Giroux Wittrock posted on Facebook last night. “It's the things he made possible, like having all your music in your pocket, all your books in your bag, a phone that does things beyond making calls and snapping photos. He was a big brain like Benjamin Franklin. We were lucky to have him."

I was touched by the advice he gave Stanford University graduates in a 2005 commencement address. Every line of his speech is a gem, but here are my favorites:

• “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

• “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

• “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

The insightful übertechie closed his speech by urging the grads to “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

He leaves behind his wife, four children, two sisters, and 49,000 Apple employees.

What a loss.

Mark Deming’s essay on Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will appear here tomorrow.