David Simon

Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years.{{cite news|title=Gets B'nai B'rith Press Post|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1956/08/13/84707587.pdf|access-date=19 July 2015|work=The New York Times|date=13 August 1956}}{{cite web|title=Bernard Simon, Longtime B'nai B'rith Staffer, Dead at 89|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/press-releases/bernard-simon-longtime-bnai-brith-staffer-dead-at-891|website=B'nai B'rith|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151220185559/https://www.bnaibrith.org/press-releases/bernard-simon-longtime-bnai-brith-staffer-dead-at-891 | archive-date = 20 December 2015 |access-date=15 June 2022|date=15 July 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Shefler|first1=Gil|title=Pulling no punches, down to The Wire: David Simon, creator of the HBO series, discusses his Jewish upbringing, his characters, and his motivations.|url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Pulling-no-punches-down-to-The-Wire |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140715035407/http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Pulling-no-punches-down-to-The-Wire | archive-date = 15 July 2014 |access-date=19 July 2015|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=16 November 2010}}{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Emma|title=Bernard Simon, public relations director for B'nai B'rith, dies|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2010/04/22/bernard-simon-public-relations-director-for-bnai-brith-dies/|access-date=19 July 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|via=The Baltimore Sun|date=22 April 2010|archive-date=22 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722031512/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-04-22/news/bs-md-deaths-elsewhere-bernard-simon-20100422_1_b-nai-b-rith-international-mr-simon-soviet-jewry|url-status=live}} Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony.{{Cite web|author = Kassel, Matthew |url=https://jewishinsider.com/2020/03/david-simon-drew-from-his-jewish-heritage-to-write-the-plot-against-america/|title = David Simon drew from his Jewish heritage to write 'The Plot Against America'| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200521230507/https://jewishinsider.com/2020/03/david-simon-drew-from-his-jewish-heritage-to-write-the-plot-against-america/ |access-date = 9 June 2022 |archive-date = 21 May 2020|date = 30 March 2020}} His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti").{{cite web|url=http://davidsimon.com/pickles-and-cream/|title=David Simon - Pickles and Cream|website=davidsimon.com|date=18 July 2012|access-date=2 February 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://jewishjournal.com/arts/television/311967/history-in-the-plot-against-america/| work = Jewish Journal | last = Miller| first = Gerri |title = 'The Plot Against America' Explains How Genocide 'Can Happen Here' Says Producer|date = 11 March 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200409155422/https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/television/311967/history-in-the-plot-against-america/ | archive-date = 9 April 2020 | access-date = 12 June 2022 }} He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.

In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.{{cite news|last1=Simon|first1=Bernard|title=Maybe, He Thought, He'd Wind Up at Entebbe|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/03/15/139838592.pdf|access-date=19 July 2015|work=The New York Times|date=15 March 1977}}{{cite news|last1=Reinhold|first1=Robert|title=Shaken Hostages Tell of Days of Terror|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/03/12/75048788.pdf|access-date=19 July 2015|work=The New York Times|date=12 March 1977}}{{cite news|title=Joy, Tears, Prayers and Sorrow Mark End of 39-hour Siege B'nai B'rith Leaders Appeal for Measures to|url=http://www.jta.org/1977/03/14/archive/joy-tears-prayers-and-sorrow-mark-end-of-39-hour-siege-bnai-brith-leaders-appeal-for-measures-to | location = New York| publisher = 70 Faces Media |author = Polakoff, Joseph; Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) Staff | work = JTA Daily News Bulletin |page = 3 |date=14 March 1977 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220612145052/http://pdfs.jta.org/1977/1977-03-14_050.pdf?_ga=2.217621654.1427351653.1655044990-1083929762.1655044990 | archive-date = 12 June 2022 | access-date = 12 June 2022 }}

Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/02/arts/television-radio-revisiting-baltimore-s-embattled-streets.html|title= Television/Radio; Revisiting Baltimore's Embattled Streets|access-date=11 October 2007|work=The New York Times|last1=Hinson|first1=Hal|date=2 June 2002}}

{{external media|width = 210px|float = right|headerimage=

|video1 =[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK8QhwLAiM0 Author, Screenwriter, & Producer David Simon: 2010 MacArthur Fellow] MacArthur Foundation{{cite web|title =MacArthur Fellows Program, David Simon =|publisher =MacArthur Foundation|date =2010|url = http://www.macfound.org/fellows/41/l|access-date = June 12, 2022 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}

|video2 =[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWY79JCfhjw A Conversation with President Obama and The Wire Creator David Simon], The White House{{cite web|title =The President Interviews the Creator of "The Wire" About the War on Drugs|date = 26 March 2015| url =https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/03/26/watch-president-sits-down-creator-wire-talk-about-war-drugs| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170712190828/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/03/26/watch-president-sits-down-creator-wire-talk-about-war-drugs | archive-date = 12 July 2017 |format = Blog & video | via =National Archives|work =whitehouse.gov|access-date = 28 March 2015}}}}

Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.{{cite magazine|last1=Drumming|first1=Neil|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2006/09/15/behind-tvs-most-acclaimed-and-entertaining-drama|title=High Wire Act|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=27 September 2006|date=15 September 2006|archive-date=9 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109003630/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1535094,00.html|url-status=live}} Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.

Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat.{{cite web|last1=Rose|first1=Cynthia|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/news/entertainment/html98/dave_021899.html|title=The originator of TV's 'Homicide' remains close to his police-reporter roots|work=Seattle Times| date = 18 February 1999 |access-date= 28 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990428142656/http://www.seattletimes.com/news/entertainment/html98/dave_021899.html|archive-date=28 April 1999}} A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Post{{'}}s coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.

Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," said Simon.{{cite web|last1=McCabe|first1=Bret|url=http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=3336|title=Under The Wire|work=Baltimore City Paper|date=28 May 2003|access-date=14 September 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910154119/http://www2.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=3336|archive-date=10 September 2012}}{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Stacey |title=Sun purge worked a little too well; one-fifth of editorial staff accepted buyout offer. |work=Baltimore Business Journal |volume = 9 |issue=33 |date=10 January 1992 |ref=Gale Document Number: GALE A11841164 |location=Gale General OneFile |page=3 |quote=Among those taking the buyout offer were Washington bureau chief Frank Starr, congressional reporter Peter Osterland, arts and entertainment editor Tom Cavanaugh, and reporters Ellen Uzelac, Liz Bowie and David Simon.}}

In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.{{cite news|last1=Maron|first1=Marc|title=Episode 698 - David Simon|url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-698-david-simon|access-date=20 April 2016|work=WTF with Marc Maron|date=14 April 2016}}

{{Main|Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets}}

Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.{{cite book|last=Kalat|first=David P.|url=https://archive.org/details/homicidelifeonst0000kala/page/101|title=Homicide: Life on the Street: The Unofficial Companion|publisher=Renaissance Books|year=1998|isbn=978-1-58063-021-4|location=Los Angeles, California|page=[https://archive.org/details/homicidelifeonst0000kala/page/101 101]}}

The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book.{{cite book|last1=Shepherd |first1=Laura J. |title=Gender, Violence and Popular Culture : Telling Stories |date=10 September 2012 |page=105 |doi=10.4324/9780203105030 | chapter = Hope and The Politics of Natality in The Corner |publisher=Routledge |location=London; New York|isbn =9780203105030}} The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."

{{Main|Homicide: Life on the Street}}

The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.

Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise.{{cite video

|people = David Simon

|date = 1998

|title = Homicide: Life on the Street season 4 interviews

|medium = DVD

|publisher = NBC}} He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun".{{cite episode

|title = Bop Gun

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Stephen Gyllenhaal (director), Tom Fontana (story), David Simon and David Mills (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1994-01-06

|season = 2

|number = 01}} The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.

Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2"{{cite episode

|title = Justice: Part 2

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Peter Medak (director), Tom Fontana and Henry Brommell (story), David Simon (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1996-02-23

|season = 4

|number = 14}} and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein).{{cite episode

|title = Scene of the Crime

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Kathy Bates (director), Tom Fontana, Henry Brommell and Barry Levinson (story), David Simon and Anya Epstein (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1996-04-12

|season = 4

|number = 18}} For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine"{{cite episode

|title = Bad Medicine

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Kenneth Fink (director), Tom Fontana and Julie Martin (story), David Simon (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1996-10-25

|season = 5

|number = 4}} and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein).{{cite episode

|title = Wu's on First?

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Tim McCann (director), Julie Martin and James Yoshimura (story), David Simon and Anya Epstein (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1997-02-07

|season = 5

|number = 15}} He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties"{{cite episode

|title = Blood Ties: Part 2

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Nick Gomez (director), Tom Fontana and James Yoshimura (story), David Simon (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1997-10-24

|season = 6

|number = 2}}{{cite episode

|title = Blood Ties: Part 3

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Mark Pellington (director), Tom Fontana, Julie Martin and James Yoshimura (story), David Simon and Anya Epstein (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1997-10-31

|season = 6

|number = 3}} (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press"{{cite episode

|title = Full Court Press

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Clark Johnson (director), David Simon (story), Phillip B. Epstein (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1998-04-03

|season = 6

|number = 18}} and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura).{{cite episode

|title = Finnegan's Wake

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Steve Buscemi (director), James Yoshimura and David Simon (story), David Mills (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1998-04-24

|season = 6

|number = 21}} He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin),{{cite episode

|title = Shades of Gray

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Adam Bernstein (director), Julie Martin and David Simon (story), T. J. English (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1999-01-08

|season = 7

|number = 10}} "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura){{cite episode

|title = The Same Coin

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Lisa Cholodenko (director), James Yoshimura and David Simon (story), Sharon Guskin (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1999-01-29

|season = 7

|number = 12}} and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer).{{cite episode

|title = Self Defense

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Barbara Kopple (director), David Simon and Eric Overmyer (story), Yaphet Kotto (teleplay)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1999-04-09

|season = 7

|number = 18}} Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution"{{cite episode

|title = The Twenty Percent Solution

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Clark Johnson (director), David Simon (writer)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1998-10-30

|season = 7

|number = 04}} and "Sideshow: Part 2".{{cite episode

|title = Sideshow: Part 2

|series = Homicide: Life on the Street

|series-link = Homicide: Life on the Street

|credits = Edwin Sherin (director), David Simon (writer)

|network = NBC

|airdate = 1999-02-19

|season = 7

|number = 15}} Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray".{{cite web

|title=60 Minute Category

|publisher=Humanitas Prize

|access-date=2006-09-28

|url=http://www.humanitasprize.org/winners60m.htm

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315172450/http://www.humanitasprize.org/winners60m.htm

|archive-date=2007-03-15

|url-status=dead

}} Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).{{cite magazine

|author = Nick Madigan

|title = Cable pix please WGA

|magazine = Variety

|access-date = 2006-09-28

|url = https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/cable-pix-please-wga-1117490195/

| date=1999-01-14}}

Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.

{{Main|The Corner}}

In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market.{{cite magazine

|author = Jesse Walker

|date=October 2004

|title = David Simon Says

|magazine = Reason Magazine

|access-date = 2006-09-27

|url = http://www.reason.com/news/show/29273.html

}}{{cite web

|title = The Corner: About the Book

|publisher = Random House

|access-date = 2006-10-03

|url = http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780767900317}} Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project.{{cite web

|title = David Simon Biography

|publisher = HBO

|access-date = 2007-10-03

|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/david_simon.shtml

|archive-date = 2010-01-09

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100109113120/http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/david_simon.shtml

|url-status = dead

}} Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."

The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times.{{cite news

|title = Notable Books of the Year 1997 – Non-Fiction

|newspaper =The New York Times

|access-date = 2006-09-29

|url = https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/reviews/notable-nonfiction.html}} Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.

Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO.{{cite news

| author = Blackwell, Mary Alice

| date = 23 March 2007

| title = Fun comes down to 'The Wire'

| newspaper = Daily Progress

| location = Charlottesville, VA

| access-date = 30 May 2014

| url = http://www.dailyprogress.com/lifestyles/article_40cfad7f-8544-57a2-9109-3de44696c689.html

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170924072907/http://www.dailyprogress.com/lifestyles/article_40cfad7f-8544-57a2-9109-3de44696c689.html

| archive-date = 24 September 2017 |quote =The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.}}

{{Main|The Wire}}

Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire for five seasons.{{cite news |last1=Deggans |first1=Eric |title=HBO's 'We Own This City' is the closest fans will get to a sequel of 'The Wire' |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094590786/hbo-we-own-this-city-the-wire-baltimore-police |work=Morning Edition |publisher=National Public Radio |date=May 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220619210704/https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094590786/hbo-we-own-this-city-the-wire-baltimore-police |archive-date=June 19, 2022 |format=Text & Audio}} Many of The Wire's characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.{{cite video

|people = David Simon

|date = 2005

|title = The Wire "The Target" commentary track

|medium = DVD

|publisher = HBO}} After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/02/AR2007090201454.html|title=Down to "The Wire": It's a Wrap for Gritty TV Series|last=Wiltz|first=Teresa|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=3 September 2007|access-date=3 September 2007}}

Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYXNdELqCe4| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/ZYXNdELqCe4| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=David Simon on why he created The Wire - Observer Ideas|last=Guardian Members|date=22 October 2014|access-date=2 February 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun.{{Cite journal|last1 = Steiner|first1 = Linda|last2 = Guo|first2 = Jing|last3 = McCaffrey|first3 = Raymond|last4 = Hills|first4 = Paul|author-link1 = Linda Steiner|title = The Wire and repair of the journalistic paradigm|journal = Journalism|volume = 14|issue = 6|pages = 703–720|doi = 10.1177/1464884912455901|date = August 2012|s2cid = 146157813}} Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."{{cite news|author=Rothkerch, Ian |year=2002|title=What drugs have not destroyed, the war on them has|work=Salon.com| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215030002/http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/tv/int/2002/06/29/simon/index.html |archive-date=December 15, 2007 | oclc=43916723 |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/tv/int/2002/06/29/simon/index.html}}

They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot{{cite Q | Q107445464 |last=Alvarez|first=Rafael|year=2004|title=The Wire: Truth Be Told|publisher=Pocket Books| archive-date=May 5, 2014 | archive-url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780802144997 |language=En | location=New York|pages=18–19, 35–39}} after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress.{{Sfn|Talbot|2007}} Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.

The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports.{{cite news|author=Vine, Richard |date = 13 January 2005|title=Totally Wired|url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theguide/archives/tv_and_radio/2005/01/totally_wired.html | website = The Guide Blog |publisher=The Guardian Unlimited|location=London| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060204205906/http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theguide/archives/tv_and_radio/2005/01/totally_wired.html | archive-date = 4 February 2006 | access-date=16 June 2022}} The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education.{{cite web

|title = A Teacher in Baltimore

|publisher = HBO

|access-date = 2006-10-03

|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/interviews/ed_burns.shtml}} The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.

Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel.{{cite video|people = David Simon|date = 2005|title = "The Target" commentary track|medium = DVD|publisher = HBO}} They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.

Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor."{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} Pelecanos became a regular writer{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_1.shtml|title=Season 1 crew|access-date=2007-10-14|publisher=HBO|year=2007}} and later a producer for the show's second{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_2.shtml|title=Season 2 crew|access-date=2007-10-14|publisher=HBO|year=2007|archive-date=2007-10-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012034646/http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_2.shtml|url-status=dead}} and third seasons.{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_3.shtml|title=Season 3 crew|access-date=2007-10-14|publisher=HBO|year=2007|archive-date=2007-10-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012034651/http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_3.shtml|url-status=dead}} Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground"{{cite web

|year = 2004

|title = Episode guide – episode 36 middle ground

|publisher = HBO

|access-date = 2006-08-09

|url = http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season3/episode11.shtml}}{{cite episode

|title = Middle Ground

|episode-link = Middle Ground (The Wire episode)

|series = The Wire

|series-link = The Wire (TV series)

|credits = David Simon, George P. Pelecanos

|network = HBO

|airdate = 2004-12-12

|season = 3

|number = 11}} which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.tv/awards/awardsearch.php|title=Emmy award archives|access-date=2007-10-16|publisher=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|year=2007}}

Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener.{{cite web|url=http://members.aol.com/TheWireHBO/exclusive-17.html|title=Exclusive David Simon Q&A|access-date=2007-10-14|publisher=AOL|year=2007}} Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.

Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season.{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/dennis_lehane.shtml|title=Dennis Lehane biography|access-date=2007-10-16|publisher=HBO|year=2007}} Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}}

Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer.{{cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_4.shtml|title=Season 4 crew|access-date=2007-10-16|publisher=HBO|year=2007|archive-date=2007-10-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012034656/http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/crew/season_4.shtml|url-status=dead}} He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.

Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season.{{cite web|url=http://wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3410 |title=2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced |access-date=2008-12-12 |publisher=WGA |year=2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212052838/http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3410 |archive-date=2008-12-12}} Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.{{cite web|title = 60th Primetime Emmy Awards|publisher = Academy of Television Arts & Sciences|access-date = 2009-03-31|url = http://cdn.emmys.tv/awards/2008pte/60thpte_nomswin_pt.php?action=search_db#1}}

Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.

{{Main|Generation Kill (TV series)|l1=Generation Kill}}

Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.{{cite news|title=HBO drafts cast for 'Kill' mini|work=The Hollywood Reporter|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i10d8acfd8966c363df89ead3d214f518#TheWireHBO|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070603080151/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i10d8acfd8966c363df89ead3d214f518#TheWireHBO|archive-date=3 June 2007|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Treme (TV series)|l1=Treme}}

Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme,{{cite web|url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-hbopilots-tca,0,3595323.story#TheWireHBO|title=Wire Creator Heads to New Orleans|access-date=13 July 2008|publisher=Zap2It|year=2008|archive-date=3 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203214844/http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-hbopilots-tca,0,3595323.story#TheWireHBO|url-status=dead}} a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series.{{cite news|url=http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/07/more_on_david_simons_treme.html#ThewireHBO|title=More on David Simon's 'Treme'|access-date=13 July 2008|newspaper=The Times-Picayune|year=2008|author=Dave Walker|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410085142/http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/07/more_on_david_simons_treme.html#ThewireHBO|archive-date=10 April 2009|url-status=dead}} The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.

Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm.{{cite news|url=http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/07/hbo_sets_drama_series_in_treme.html#TheWireHBO|title=HBO sets drama series in Treme with focus on city's musicians|access-date=13 July 2008|newspaper=The Times-Picayune|year=2008|author=Dave Walker|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326060046/http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/07/hbo_sets_drama_series_in_treme.html#TheWireHBO|archive-date=26 March 2010|url-status=dead}} One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.{{cite news|url=http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/07/treme_script_wowed_hbo_exec.html#TheWireHBO|title=New Orleans native Wendell Pierce set to star in 'Treme'|access-date=13 July 2008|newspaper=The Times-Picayune|year=2008|author=Dave Walker|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122052941/http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/07/treme_script_wowed_hbo_exec.html#TheWireHBO|archive-date=22 January 2010|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Show Me a Hero}}

In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2014/07/david-simon-miniseries-starring-oscar-isaac-catherine-keener-greenlighted-hbo-812259/|website=Deadline Hollywood|title=HBO Greenlights David Simon Miniseries Starring Oscar Isaac and Catherine Keener|author=Nellie Andreeva|date=30 June 2014|access-date=20 May 2015}} Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/05/20/show-me-a-hero-to-premiere-on-hbo-sunday-august-16th-at-9pm/406631/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524015952/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/05/20/show-me-a-hero-to-premiere-on-hbo-sunday-august-16th-at-9pm/406631/|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 May 2015|title='Show Me a Hero' to Premiere on HBO Sunday August 16th at 9pm|author=Amanda Kondolojy|date=20 May 2015|access-date=20 May 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Goodman|first1=Amy|title=Two Separate Americas: David Simon's New Mini-Series Looks at "Hypersegregation" in Public Housing|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/26/two_separate_americas_david_simons_new|access-date=27 August 2015|work=Democracy Now!|date=26 August 2015|quote=video interview that includes full transcript}}

{{Main|The Deuce (TV series)|l1=The Deuce}}

The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2015/08/david-simon-james-franco-the-deuce-time-square-porn-drama-capitoll-hill-carl-bernstein-get-hbo-pilots-1201492951/|title=David Simon '70s Times Square Porn Drama Starring James Franco, Capitol Hill Drama With Carl Bernstein Get HBO Pilot Orders|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|date=6 August 2015|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=2 February 2017}} It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/david-simons-hbo-porn-drama-857388|title=David Simon's HBO Porn Drama Starring James Franco Picked Up to Series|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=19 January 2016}}

The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.

{{Main|The Plot Against America (miniseries)|l1=The Plot Against America}}

An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism.{{cite web |last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |title=HBO Orders 'The Plot Against America' Miniseries From David Simon & Ed Burns |url=https://deadline.com/2018/11/hbo-orders-the-plot-against-america-miniseries-from-david-simon-ed-burns-1202498217/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=November 8, 2018 |date=November 8, 2018}} The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.

{{Main|We Own This City|l1=We Own This City}}

A miniseries based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton. The miniseries details the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption surrounding it. The six-part miniseries premiered on April 25, 2022, on HBO.

• Parting the Waters:{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ta-nehisi-coates-signs-uta-881372|title=Ta-Nehisi Coates Signs With UTA|work=hollywoodreporter.com|date=6 April 2016|access-date=2 February 2017}} With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer.{{cite web|url=http://davidsimon.com/a-maryland-film-festival-panel-slated/|title=David Simon - A Maryland Film Festival panel slated|work=davidsimon.com|date=4 May 2015|access-date=2 February 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Kaltenbach|first1=Chris|title=Md. Film Fest panel to feature David Simon, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Taylor Branch, James McBride|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/movies/bal-panel-on-david-simons-upcoming-america-in-the-king-years-set-for-maryland-film-festival-20150504-story.html|access-date=15 August 2015|work=The Baltimore Sun|date=4 May 2015}}{{cite news|last=Cep|first=Casey N.|title=Telling the Story of Civil Rights: A Conversation in Baltimore |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/telling-the-story-of-civil-rights-a-conversation-in-baltimore|access-date=15 August 2015|magazine=The New Yorker|date=11 May 2015}} About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968.{{cite book|last1=Branch|first1=Taylor|title=At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68|date=2006|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|isbn=978-0-684-85712-1|edition=2006 Hardcover|oclc=62118415|url=https://archive.org/details/atcanaansedgeame00bran}} The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey,{{cite news|last1=Fleming|first1=Mike Jr.|title='The Wire's David Simon Takes On Oprah-Produced HBO Mini On Martin Luther King|url=https://deadline.com/2014/03/the-wires-david-simon-takes-on-oprah-produced-hbo-mini-on-martin-luther-king-694012/|access-date=15 August 2015|work=Deadline Hollywood|publisher=Penske Business Media, LLC|date=5 March 2014}} but was shelved.{{Cite web|last=Simon|first=David|date=July 26, 2021|title=Rest in power, Bob Moses. Perhaps my single greatest professional regret is that a miniseries based on the Taylor Branch trilogy did not find purchase at HBO. Moses, of course, as centerpiece. First season of Westworld pulled an amazing number and our funds went to season two.|url=https://twitter.com/AoDespair/status/1419638916454535169|url-status=live|website=Twitter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726124204/https://twitter.com/AoDespair/status/1419638916454535169 |archive-date=2021-07-26 }}
• The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980s.{{cite web|last=Simon|first=David|title=In Development|url=http://davidsimon.com/in-development/|website=David Simon|access-date=15 August 2015}}
• The Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson{{cite book|last1=Swanson|first1=James L.|title=Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer|date=2006|publisher=William Morrow|location=New York|isbn=978-0-060-51849-3|edition=1st|oclc=61253945|url=https://archive.org/details/manhunttwelveday00swan}} and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.{{cite book|last=Kauffman|first=Michael W.|title=American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies|date=2004|publisher=Random House|location=New York |isbn=978-0-375-50785-4 |edition=1. |oclc=55000441}} The show was to be executive produced by Simon and Tom Fontana.{{Cite web |last=Frankel |first=Daniel |date=2008-09-15 |title=‘Homicide’ duo join HBO’s ‘Manhunt’ |url=https://variety.com/2008/film/markets-festivals/homicide-duo-join-hbo-s-manhunt-1117992244/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=Variety}} Manhunt was later adapted by a different team as a miniseries for Apple TV+ in 2024, created by Monica Beletsky.{{Cite web |last=Otterson |first=Joe |date=2022-01-05 |title=Apple Orders Limited Series About Hunt for John Wilkes Booth From Monica Beletsky, Tobias Menzies to Star |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/apple-john-wilkes-booth-series-monica-beletsky-tobias-menzies-1235147334/ |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}
• Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015, but has not received a subsequent season order.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hbo-orders-two-david-simon-813513 |title=HBO Orders Two David Simon Pilots, James Franco to Star In Porn Drama|author=Rose, Lacey|work= The Hollywood Reporter|date= 6 August 2015|access-date= 25 September 2015}}
• Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC{{Cite web|last=Simon|first=David|title=Yes. Legacy of Ashes now being developed by the BBC, in conjunction with myself, Ed Burns and Dan Fesperman.|url=https://twitter.com/aodespair/status/771136197011841024?lang=en|url-status=live|website=Twitter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912203727/https://twitter.com/aodespair/status/771136197011841024?lang=en |archive-date=2021-09-12 }} and would have had Anthony Bourdain and Ed Burns on the writing staff.{{Cite web|date=2018-06-11|title=Tony|url=https://davidsimon.com/tony/|access-date=2021-09-12|website=The Audacity of Despair|language=en-US}}
• The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George Pelecanos, focused on the band The Pogues.{{Cite web |date=2013-12-29 |title=The Pogues project – clarified |url=https://davidsimon.com/the-pogues-project-clarified/ |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=The Audacity of Despair |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2017-04-17 |title=The Wire creator writes show based on Pogues' music |url=https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2017/0503/872062-the-pogues/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=RTÉ.ie}}
• A Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.{{cite news|last1=Hopewell|first1=John|title='The Wire's' David Simon Developing New Series Set During Spanish Civil War (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/the-wire-david-simon-new-series-spanish-civil-war-1202747360/|access-date=7 May 2018|work=Variety|date=9 April 2018}}{{cite news|last1=Clarke|first1=Stewart|title=Michael Douglas, Ava DuVernay, David Simon Board New Shows for Atrium TV|url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/michael-douglas-ava-duvernay-david-simon-peter-dinklage-atrium-tv-1202817294/|access-date=29 May 2018|work=Variety|date=21 May 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Rubio Hancock |first1=Jaime |title=The weekend that the creator of 'The Wire' spent arguing with Twitter users about Spain |url=https://english.elpais.com/verne/2020-08-12/the-weekend-that-the-creator-of-the-wire-spent-arguing-with-twitter-users-about-spain.html |access-date=10 June 2022 |work=El Pais |date=12 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022234648/https://english.elpais.com/verne/2020-08-12/the-weekend-that-the-creator-of-the-wire-spent-arguing-with-twitter-users-about-spain.html |archive-date=22 October 2020 |quote=Simon also had a more serious debate with the New York-based Spanish writer Julio Valdeón on the question of Catalan independence; he announced that the script for the drama series A Dry Run, which follows the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, is underway}}

Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority.{{sfn|Talbot|2007}} He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/22/071022fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=1|title=Stealing life|access-date=14 October 2007|magazine=The New Yorker|year=2007|author=Talbot, Margaret|quote=Simon's gift is in recognizing an anecdote [...] for the found parable that it is — "stealing life," as he once described it to me — and knowing which parts to steal.}}

In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.

Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.

One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200801/bowden-wire|magazine=The Atlantic|title=The Angriest Man In Television|first=Mark|last=Bowden| issn=1072-7825| eissn=2151-9463 |oclc=936540106 |date=January 2008}} Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge.{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2008/01/06/fake-newsroom-real-anger/ |title=Baltimore Sun. Fake newsroom, real anger |first=Laura |last=Vozzella|publisher=Articles.baltimoresun.com|date=6 January 2008|access-date=14 September 2010}} Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.

When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."

In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."

While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicated what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears."{{cite web|first=David|last=Simon|url=https://davidsimon.com/wire-creator-david-simon-testifies-on-the-future-of-journalism/|title=Testimony, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, Hearing on The Future of Newspapers|website=The Audacity of Despair|date=6 May 2009}} Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."

Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.{{cite web |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/03/the-wire-david-simon-hbo|title=The Wire and the World|last1=Sheehan|first1=Helena|author-link=Helena Sheehan|last2=Sweeney|first2=Sheamus|date=10 March 2018|website=Jacobin|access-date=10 March 2018}}

In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones.Duncan, Ian. "[https://www.baltimoresun.com/2013/06/08/david-simon-weighs-in-on-nsa-surveillance/ David Simon weighs in on NSA surveillance] ." The Baltimore Sun. June 8, 2013. Retrieved on June 12, 2013. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wire{{'}}s first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal.""[http://davidsimon.com/we-are-shocked-shocked/ We are shocked, shocked…]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130612225129/http://davidsimon.com/we-are-shocked-shocked/ Archive]) David Simon Blog. June 7, 2013. Retrieved on June 12, 2013.

During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."David Simon (7 December 2013). [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/08/david-simon-capitalism-marx-two-americas-wire David Simon: 'There are now two Americas. My country is a horror show']. The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2013.[http://billmoyers.com/episode/david-simon-on-america-as-a-horror-show/ David Simon on America as a Horror Show]. Moyers & Company, 31 January 2014.

Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."{{Cite news|url=http://www.themillions.com/2017/02/fake-pill-city.html|title=Fake Pill City - The Millions|date=2017-02-22|work=The Millions|access-date=2017-03-15|language=en-US}}

During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.

In April 2022, David Simon thanked Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for using a quote from the TV series The Wire in his court speech and wished good luck to the politician.{{Cite web |title=David Simon's tweet - "Thanks for the loan of it, @navalny, but the quote is yours now. You own it. And stay strong, brother. The whole world is watching. " - Trendsmap |url=https://www.trendsmap.com/twitter/tweet/1513596659510521857 |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=www.trendsmap.com}}

In 1991, Simon married graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.

In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters.{{cite news|last1=Zak|first1=Dan|title='The Wire' writer David Simon among MacArthur genius grant winners|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/27/AR2010092706331.html|access-date=19 July 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=28 September 2010}}{{cite news|last=Weiss|first=Max|title=The Baltimore Grill: Laura Lippman |url=http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/old-site/people/2009/08/the-baltimore-grill-laura-lippman |access-date=19 July 2015|work=Baltimore Magazine|date=August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923182201/http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/old-site/people/2009/08/the-baltimore-grill-laura-lippman|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.{{cite news|last=Pinckley|first=Diana |title=Author Laura Lippman on her husband David Simon, New Orleans life and her love for mysteries |url=http://www.nola.com/books/index.ssf/2010/10/author_laura_lippman_on_her_hu.html |access-date=19 July 2015|work=The Times-Picayune|date=3 October 2010}} Lippman and Simon separated in 2020, divorcing in 2024.{{Cite web |last=Lippman |first=Laura |date=2024-12-05 |title=I Don't Know Why #4 |url=https://oldster.substack.com/p/i-dont-know-why-4 |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=Oldster Magazine |quote=Our marriage ended Feb. 9, 2020, although the divorce wouldn’t be official until Jan. 12, 2024.}} The two continue to co-parent their daughter.{{cite news |last1=McCauley |first1=Mary Carole |title=Baltimore author Laura Lippman's deeply personal essay reveals breakup with David Simon, family crises |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bs-fe-lippman-summer-of-fall-20230503-6asyqskz4zaoxcqewetktmrply-story.html |access-date=4 May 2023 |work=Baltimore Sun |date=3 May 2023}}

Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow.{{cite magazine|year = 2008|title = Dead Meadow Gets Some Help From Uncle Dave|magazine = New York|access-date = 2008-07-20|url = https://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/01/dead_meadow_get_some_help_from.html}} The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.

Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.{{cite web|url=http://blog.georgetownvoice.com/2012/05/04/living-social-ceo-tim-o%e2%80%99shaughnessy-and-producer-of-%e2%80%9cthe-wire%e2%80%9d-david-simon-among-this-years-commencement-speakers/|title=LivingSocial CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy and Producer of "The Wire" David Simon among this year's commencement speakers|date=4 May 2012|work=georgetownvoice.com|access-date=2 February 2017|archive-date=9 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709025756/http://blog.georgetownvoice.com/2012/05/04/living-social-ceo-tim-o%E2%80%99shaughnessy-and-producer-of-%E2%80%9Cthe-wire%E2%80%9D-david-simon-among-this-years-commencement-speakers/|url-status=dead}}

In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.{{cite magazine |title=Damon Lindelof, Hart Hanson Among Top Showrunners Posting Termination Letters In Wake Of Failed WGA-ATA Negotiations | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827211144/https://deadline.com/2019/04/wga-ata-termination-damon-lindelof-hart-hanson-steven-deknight-alexi-hawley-tim-doyle-chrissy-pietrosh-1202595448/ | archive-date=August 27, 2019 | date=April 13, 2019 | last=Ramos | first= Dina-Ray |url=https://deadline.com/2019/04/wga-ata-termination-damon-lindelof-hart-hanson-steven-deknight-alexi-hawley-tim-doyle-chrissy-pietrosh-1202595448/ | publisher=Penske Media Corporation |magazine=Deadline}}{{cite magazine|author = Deadline Team|title='The Wire' Creator David Simon Rips "Greedhead" Agencies Over Packaging, Urges Lawsuit Against ATA |url=https://deadline.com/2019/03/david-simon-writers-agents-packaging-fight-wga-ata-commentary-1202578152/ |magazine=Deadline |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401022924/https://deadline.com/2019/03/david-simon-writers-agents-packaging-fight-wga-ata-commentary-1202578152/|archive-date=April 1, 2019|date=March 19, 2019|access-date = June 5, 2022}}

• {{cite news|title=Does the News Matter To Anyone Anymore?|author= Simon, David|date=January 20, 2008|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/18/AR2008011802874.html|access-date=2012-08-20}}
• {{cite news|title= In Baltimore, No One Left to Press the Police|author=Simon, David |date=March 1, 2009|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022703591.html|access-date=2012-08-20}}
• {{cite news|title= Build the Wall|author= Simon, David|date=July 16, 2009|work=Columbia Journalism Review|url=https://www.cjr.org/feature/build_the_wall_1.php?page=all|access-date=2012-08-20}}

• {{cite Q|Q1387845|author=Simon, David|title=Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets|location=Boston|publisher= Houghton Mifflin|date= 1991| url=https://archive.org/details/homicide0000simo/mode/2up | oclc=23356235 |isbn=978-0-395-48829-4}}
• {{cite book|author1=Simon, David |author2=Burns, Edward |title=The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood|location=New York|publisher=Broadway Books|date=1997|isbn=978-0-767-90030-0|url=https://archive.org/details/corneryearinlife00simo}} {{OCLC|36857674}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite web|first = David | last = Bianculli |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3933251 |title='The Wire's' David Simon and George Pelecanos|date= September 23, 2004 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220118054003/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3933251 | archive-date = January 18, 2022 |work=Fresh Air}}
• {{cite web|url=http://democracynow.org/2015/8/26/david_simon_on_katrina_anniversary_new|title= David Simon on Katrina Anniversary: New Orleans 'May Be the Greatest Gift We Have to Offer'|date= August 26, 2015 |author = Goodman, Amy |format = Video, podcast and transcript|website=Democracy Now!}}
• {{cite web|url=http://democracynow.org/2015/8/26/the_drug_war_has_to_end |author = Goodman, Amy |format = Video, podcast and transcript |title=The Drug War Has to End: David Simon on "The Wire" & Over-Policing of the Poor|date= August 26, 2015|website=Democracy Now!}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2015/8/26 |author = Goodman, Amy |format = Video, podcast and transcript |title=Two Separate Americas: David Simon's New Mini-Series Looks at Hypersegregation in Public Housing|date= August 26, 2015 |website=Democracy Now!}}
• {{cite news|work=Newsweek|url=https://www.newsweek.com/why-baltimore-burning-man-who-wrote-wire-328905|title=Why Baltimore Is Burning, By the Man Who Wrote 'The Wire'|author=Keller, Bill |date=6 May 2015}}
• {{cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/22/071022fa_fact_talbot?printable=true| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071016173100/https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/22/071022fa_fact_talbot?printable=true |archive-date = October 16, 2007 |access-date = June 9, 2022 |date=October 14, 2007|last= Talbot | first = Margaret |format = Profile |title= Stealing life, The crusader behind 'The Wire'|work=New Yorker}}

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{{Portal|Biography}}

• {{cite book|url=http://davidsimon.com/ |title=The Audacity of Despair|author=Simon, David}} David Simon's blog.
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