Scott Simon

Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons.{{cite web |author=Susan Van Dongen |title=Three Americans: Abraham Lincoln, Aaron Copland and NPR's Scott Simon |url=http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/enter/11-14-00/copland.html |publisher=The Princeton Packet |date=November 14, 2000 |access-date=February 23, 2008}}[https://www.npr.org/people/3874941/scott-simon NPR Biography on Scott Simon]. Retrieved October 9, 2012.[http://www.scottsimonbooks.com/scottsimonbooks.com/Chicago_Family_Pictures.html Simon – Family Pictures]. Retrieved October 9, 2012. He had a sister who died at a young age.{{cite news |author=Paula Davenport |title=Simon Says |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2008/oct/26/simon-says/ |newspaper=The Spokesman-Review |date=October 26, 2008}}{{cite web |title=Scott Simon's Family: 'In Praise of Adoption' |author=Terry Gross |publisher=Fresh Air |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129375629&ft=1&f=13 |date=August 23, 2010}} He grew up in major cities across the United States and Canada, including Chicago; New York City; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Montreal; Cleveland; and Washington, D.C.

Simon's father was Jewish and his mother was Irish Catholic.{{cite web |author=Christine G.K. LaPado-Breglia |url=http://www.newsreview.com/chico/familiar-voice/content?oid=1984069 |title=NPR Host Scott Simon to Cover Every Beat for Chico Audience |publisher=Chico News |date=May 5, 2011}} His father died when Scott was 16,{{cite web |author=Scott Simon |title='We Don't Fully Grow Up' Until We Lose Our Parents |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/04/01/396599202/scott-simon-we-dont-fully-grow-up-until-we-lose-our-parents |publisher=Morning Edition |date=April 1, 2015}} and his mother later married former minor league baseball player Ralph G. Newman, an American Civil War scholar and author who ran the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop in Chicago.{{cite magazine |author=Jonathan Alter |title=Chicago's Cubs |url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/books/2000/0005.alter.html |magazine=The Washington Monthly |date=May 2000 |access-date=July 9, 2007}}

Simon graduated from Nicholas Senn High School in 1970.

He attended the University of Chicago and McGill University, and he has received a number of honorary degrees.

Simon has been with NPR for over four decades, beginning in 1977 as Chicago bureau chief. His career also encompasses writing and television. He has hosted the Saturday edition of Weekend Edition since its inception in 1985, excepting a period in 1992 and 1993 when Alex Chadwick hosted the show.

His books include My Cubs: A Love Story (2017); Home and Away: Memoir of a Fan (2000); Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball (2002); Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption (2010), about his experiences adopting two daughters; and the novels Pretty Birds (2005) and Windy City: A Novel of Politics (2008).{{cite web |title=Books |url=http://www.scottsimonbooks.com |publisher=Scott Simon Books= |access-date=May 1, 2016}} In 2023, he published the audiobook, Swingtime for Hitler, about the Nazis' use of jazz as a propaganda tool during World War II.{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Terry |date=September 20, 2023 |title='Swingtime for Hitler' explores the Nazis use of jazz as a propaganda tool |website=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/09/20/1200547564/swingtime-for-hitler-explores-the-nazis-use-of-jazz-as-a-propaganda-tool}}

Simon has hosted television series and specials, including PBS's Need to Know in 2011–13.{{cite web |title=Biography: Scott Simon |url=https://www.npr.org/people/3874941/scott-simon |publisher=NPR |access-date=May 1, 2016}} He guest-hosted BBC World News America, filling in for Matt Frei,{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}} and anchored NBC's Weekend Today in 1992–93.

On the November 15, 2014, episode of Weekend Edition Saturday, Simon interviewed Bill Cosby and his wife Camille about a 62-piece art collection they had loaned to the National Museum of African Art. At the end of the interview, Simon offered Cosby an opportunity to comment on the accusations of sexual assault against him. As narrated by Simon, Cosby refused to comment, only shaking his head no when prompted.{{cite web |author=Scott Simon |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/15/364297097/in-npr-interview-bill-cosby-declines-to-discuss-assault-allegations |title=In NPR Interview, Bill Cosby Declines to Discuss Assault Allegations |date=November 15, 2014 |work=Weekend Edition Saturday}}

After the September 11 attacks, Simon spoke and wrote in support of the "war on terror", publishing an op-ed in the October 11, 2001, Wall Street Journal titled "Even Pacifists Must Support This War."{{Cite journal |last=Janssen |first=Mike |date=September 8, 2003 |title=When reporters sound off, eyebrows rise |url=http://www.current.org/ethics/ethics0316news.shtml |journal=Current |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040124133434/http://www.current.org/ethics/ethics0316news.shtml |archive-date=January 24, 2004}} He questioned nonviolence at greater length in the Quaker publication Friends Journal in December 2001,{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsjournal.org/issue/december-2001 |title=Reflections on the Events of September 11 |first=Scott |last=Simon |date=December 1, 2001 |website=Friends Journal}} provoking many angry letters, to which he replied in the May 2003 issue.{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsjournal.org/friends-journal-readers-response |title=To Friends Journal Readers: A Response |first=Scott |last=Simon |date=May 1, 2003 |website=Friends Journal}} In 2004, Simon criticized Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 for perceived inaccuracies and what he characterized as an unfairly harsh depiction of the U.S. forces.{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB109088016885774289|title='Gonzo Demagoguery' Writ Large|last=Simon|first=Scott|date=July 27, 2004|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=November 18, 2021}}

On December 15, 2018, Simon said of the death of Jakelin Caal, "I do not doubt that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents did all they could to try to save the life of Jakelin Caal Maquin, a 7-year-old girl from Guatemala, who died in the custody of the United States."{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/12/15/676894328/opinion-what-the-death-of-a-7-year-old-migrant-says-about-this-country|title=Opinion: What The Death Of A 7-Year-Old Migrant Says About This Country|last=Simon|first=Scott|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=December 17, 2018}}

Simon has won Peabody and Emmy awards, and received many honorary degrees.

In May 2010, he was conferred Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Willamette University, where he was that year's commencement speaker.[http://www.willamette.edu/events/commencement/cla/honorary_degrees/past_recipients/2010/index.html "2010 Honorary Degrees"], Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters & CLA Commencement Speaker, Willamette University.

Simon is a laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, receiving the state's highest honor, the Order of Lincoln from the Governor of Illinois in 2016 in the field of Business, Industry & Communications.{{cite web |author=Office of the Governor, State of Illinois |title=Governor Rauner Announces Recipients of 2016 Order of Lincoln Award |url=http://thelincolnacademyofillinois.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Governors-press-release.2.12.16.pdf |date=February 12, 2016 |publisher=Lincoln Academy of Illinois}}

{{As of|2009}}, Simon lives in Washington, D.C.{{cite news|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/salaries/|title = What Washingtonians Make|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = September 7, 2009|accessdate = November 18, 2021|last = Schwartzman|first = Paul}} He has been married to French documentary filmmaker Caroline Richard since September 2000. They have two daughters, both adopted as babies from China.{{cite web |author=Scott Simon |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4189029 |title=Cat and Child, So Comfy Together |publisher=Weekend Edition |date=November 27, 2004 |access-date=July 10, 2007}}Jeff Rubin, [http://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views---blog/news-and-views/2006/10/18/scott-simon-npr-host-riding-on-airwaves "NPR Host Scott Simon: Riding on Airwaves"], Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, October 18, 2006. Also [http://www.interfaithfamily.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ekLSK5MLIrG&b=297403&ct=3220797 at InterfaithFamily.com]. Both retrieved July 10, 2007.[http://wkar.org/enews/story.php?fill=050830/prettybirds "Scott Simon Releases First Novel: Pretty Birds"], WKAR, August 30, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2007.{{cite web |author=Scott Simon |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11626212 |title=Reflections on Welcoming a New Family Member |publisher=Weekend Edition |date=June 30, 2007 |access-date=July 10, 2007}} They consider themselves a Jewish family (Simon's father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic).

In 2006 Simon and his wife were contacted by police as part of the Alexander Litvinenko poisoning investigation. The family was staying at a hotel near the restaurant at the center of the poisoning incident, and had bought food there for one of their daughters. The health of the family was not affected.{{cite web |author=Robert Siegel |title=NPR Host's Lunch in London Intersects Spy Case |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6561762 |publisher=All Things Considered |date=November 30, 2006 |access-date=July 10, 2007}}

In July 2013 Simon began tweeting his emotions and conversations with his mother during the last days of her life. "I just realized: she once had to let me go into the big wide world. Now I have to let her go the same way", read one tweet. In March 2015, he published a memoir about her titled Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime.{{cite news |author=Carlos Lozada |title=Review of "Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime" by Scott Simon |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2015/03/19/after-tweeting-his-mothers-death-nprs-scott-simon-has-written-the-book-of-her-life/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 19, 2015 |access-date=June 29, 2015}}

Jack Brickhouse, a Chicago broadcaster (1916–1998), was Simon's godfather, whom he referred to as an uncle.{{cite web | url = https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2017/04/07/scott-simon-npr-chicago-cubs | title = Scott Simon On Life With The Cubs And The Manager Who Cursed Out Chicago| date = April 7, 2017}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Official website|http://scottsimonbooks.com|Scott Simon's official website}}
• [https://www.npr.org/programs/wesat/ Weekend Edition Saturday]
• [https://www.npr.org/people/3874941/scott-simon NPR Biography on Scott Simon]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090722113943/http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/antisemitism/voices/transcript/?content=20090703 Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Scott Simon] from the [http://www.ushmm.org/ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]
• {{C-SPAN|13165}}

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Category:1952 births

Category:20th-century American Jews

Category:20th-century American journalists

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Category:21st-century American memoirists

Category:American male journalists

Category:American male novelists

Category:American memoirists

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:Jewish American journalists

Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C.

Category:Living people

Category:NPR personalities

Category:Novelists from Illinois

Category:Radio personalities from Chicago

Category:Radio personalities from Washington, D.C.

Category:Journalists from Chicago