Stevenson, the founder of popular local rock music venue The Stone Balloon, says there’s much more to the story, claiming Jill and Joe’s relationship actually started in 1974, when he was still married to Jill.
“Jill, I met on the beach in Ocean City, New Jersey, in August of 1969. Sure, I fell in love with her, because I married her six months later,” Stevenson said.
In her memoir, Jill says of her first marriage, “I truly believed we were destined for each other…looking back it may seem like a mistake of youth.”
According to Stevenson, both he and Jill first got to know Joe Biden when Biden was a county councilman in New Castle, Delaware. Stevenson says he asked for Biden’s help obtaining a liquor license. Stevenson also says he threw a fundraiser for Joe that raised between $2,500 and $3,000.
“We got married in ’70, I introduced Joe to Jill in ‘72. Right before the election in ‘72, Jill, Joe, Neilia and I were in his kitchen. How do you forget that?” Stevenson said.
That would be three years before the now-famous “blind date.” Stevenson says his first inkling something was up came when Jill refused to go with him to meet Bruce Springsteen, who was booked to appear at The Stone Balloon.