Apple CEO Steve Jobs appears to have sent a new email to a fan, which we've obtained.

The email provides some insight into why the typically apolitical CEO has publicly thrown his support behind a pro-organ donation bill making its way through California's state senate.

Jobs has recently responded to a bunch of customers' and fans' emails, a practice that has further endeared him to millions of people. Many of these emails have become public, via excited recipients who sent them to news outlets.

Steve's latest is a good one because it's not about any of Apple's gadgets, but about life. It shows a human side to Steve that he seems to be showing the public more of lately.

Silicon Alley Insider reader "James" sent Jobs an email last week after reading a speech Steve gave about his experience with liver disease, which led to his liver transplant last year. Steve was speaking at an event in California, where he was promoting a bill that would effectively make it easier for people who need organ transplants to get them.

James wrote to Steve:

Thank you, you're awesome.

I lost my girlfriend on April 23, 2008 from melanoma which spread rapidly to her liver, 48 hours after we found out it spread to her liver she sadly passed away....she was only 24 and I think about her every day. I am so grateful you took time out to do this. My girlfriend and I are from Cupertino, since childhood, and it's really nice to see the hometown hero take time out to do this.

Once again, thank you so much.

Sincerely,

James

A few hours later, Steve wrote back*:

Your most welcome, James. I'm sorry about your girlfriend. Life is fragile.

Steve

Sent from my iPad

In an email to us, our reader James adds:

I was hesitant to share this email from Steve, but ultimately decided it was a good idea, because everyone focuses on Steve the CEO, but forgets there is someone else, a normal person who does care about good causes. I emailed Steve thanking him for his support at the Lucile Packard's Children's Hospital in regards to encouraging organ donations. The goal of the event was to unveil a new California Bill (SB 1395) which requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles to ask one simple question to driver license applicants, "Do you want to become an organ donor?". Even though the email was sent on the day of Apple's earnings call, Steve still replied. The reason why I made this email public is because if one person decides to become an organ donor for some personal reason after reading this post or would like to get involved in raising the awareness for organ donations, then it's worth releasing this email to the public and I would like to think Steve wouldn't mind. For more information on organ donations or becoming an organ donor please visit www.OrganDonor.gov.

*(Yes, we noticed the grammatical error in Steve's email, which seems unlike something the detail-obsessed CEO would make. After reviewing the header information, we believe this email is indeed from Steve. But there's always the possibility that it's not.)

For more on Steve's efforts to promote organ donor programs, see our story, "How Steve Jobs Got Sick, Got Better, And Decided To Save Some Lives."

[Republished from www.businessinsider.com]