Sun reporter Gus G. Sentementes meets with Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs' biographer and Dr. Carla Hayden, CEO of the Pratt Library, at the CityLit Festival in Baltimore.

Sun reporter Gus G. Sentementes (left), Steve Jobs' biographer Walter Isaacson, and Enoch Pratt Free Library CEO Dr. Carla Hayden speak at the CityLit Festival in Baltimore on April 14, 2012. (Roswell Encina/Pratt Library / April 14, 2012)

The great news for Baltimore and Maryland is that the University of Maryland Baltimore County's president, Freeman A. Hrabowski III, was named to Time's annual Top 100 influential people today.

Another person on the list: Walter Isaacson, known recently and most famously as the official biographer of Steve Jobs.

Mr. Isaacson was in Baltimore on Saturday, where he was a featured speaker at the CityLit Festival. I had the pleasure of introducing him to a crowd of hundreds. Indeed, it was a strong turnout at the festival, held at the Enoch Pratt Free Library's central/downtown location, which had 2,500 people attend.

In the photo above, that's me on the left, Walter on the right (sitting) and Pratt CEO Dr. Carla Hayden.

We chatted about the future of libraries, the digital divide and Mr. Isaacson's experience in New Orleans working on childhood education issues.

While I was with Mr. Isaacson, I noticed he was using a BlackBerry. I found that curious, since he knew and wrote about Steve Jobs. I followed up today and asked him about it via email, and he said he uses the BlackBerry for his work (as CEO of the Aspen Institute in Washington DC), and has an iPhone for personal use. He used his iPhone while working on the book about Steve Jobs, he told me.

If you wish to watch Mr. Isaacson's talk, below is a video of him speaking at the Pratt on Saturday. I introduced him to the crowd, who asked some really good questions afterward.

 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/technology/blog/bal-steve-jobs-biographer-walter-isaacson-in-baltimore-20120418,0,3797508.story
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