Stephens was born in 1953, in Apple Creek, Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio in 1975 and a Master's degree in Communication from Stanford University in 1979, where he also pursued work toward a doctorate. He served on the "Public's Right to Information Task Force" as part of the President’s Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. He has claimed he was employee #12 at Apple, Inc., though Daniel Kottke also claims this number.