One of my business heroes, the hip, overly headstrong, charming, innovative Steve Jobs—the suddenly-frighteningly-thin hero behind Apple’s rise over the past 10 years (and of course one of the founders, well before that)—announced he’s okay today…and Apple stock rose 4%, showing the weight of this one man within his corporation. 

 Steven P. Jobs, the chief executive ofApple, sought to put to rest persistent speculation about his health on Monday, disclosing in a public letter that a hormone problem — and not a recurrence of cancer — had contributed to his very visible weight loss over the last year…click here for full story in today’s Times, which basically just says he’s fine.

Another moment, perhaps, to reflect on the plague that is cancer—effecting one in three men and one in four women, by some estimates—a plague whose rapid increase in the 20th century closely paralleled the use of toxic chemicals in everyday household cleaners, furniture, clothes, food. 

Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my .1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause — a hormone imbalance that has been ”robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s C.E.O. during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s C.E.O. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve

Bonus: Jobs’ now-legendary commencement speech at Stanford from four years back.

Bonus—breaking news—”everything is just a few hundred clicks away” (with thanks for the tip to Shawn Collins, our Mac Guruji in Boulder, Colorado):