Scott Simon | |
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 Simon in 2010 | |
| Born | March 16, 1952 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Radio presenter |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Employer | National Public Radio |
| Notable credit | Weekend Edition Saturday |
| Spouse | Caroline Richard (m. 2000) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | ScottSimonBooks.com |
Scott Simon (born March 16, 1952) [1] [2] is an American journalist and the host of Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR.
Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons. [3] [4] [5] He had a sister who died at a young age. [6] [7] 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. [4]
Simon's father was Jewish and his mother was Irish Catholic. [8] His father died when Scott was 16, [9] 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. [10]
Simon graduated from Nicholas Senn High School in 1970.
Simon has been with NPR for over four decades, beginning in 1977 as Chicago bureau chief. [8] 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). [11] In 2023, he published the audiobook, Swingtime for Hitler, about the Nazis' use of jazz as a propaganda tool during World War II. [12]
Simon has hosted television series and specials, including PBS's Need to Know in 2011–13. [13] He guest-hosted BBC World News America , filling in for Matt Frei,[ citation needed ] 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. [14]
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." [15] He questioned nonviolence at greater length in the Quaker publication Friends Journal in December 2001, [16] provoking many angry letters, to which he replied in the May 2003 issue. [17] 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. [18]
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." [19] Journalist Jon Schwarz from The Intercept criticized Simon on Twitter, referencing his comments on Fahrenheit 9/11 to accuse his journalism of allocating excessive benefit of the doubt to the U.S. government. [20]
Simon has won Peabody and Emmy awards, and received many honorary degrees. [13]
In May 2010, he was conferred Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Willamette University, where he was that year's commencement speaker. [21]
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. [22]
As of 2009 [update] , Simon lives in Washington, D.C. [23] He has been married to French documentary filmmaker Caroline Richard since September 2000. [1] They have two daughters, both adopted as babies from China. [24] [25] [26] [27] They consider themselves a Jewish family (Simon's father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic). [8] [25]
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. [28]
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. [29]
Jack Brickhouse, a Chicago broadcaster (1916–1998), was Simon's godfather, whom he referred to as an uncle. [30]
Steven Benjamin Goodman was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by Arlo Guthrie and many others including John Denver, The Highwaymen, and Judy Collins; in 1985, it afforded Goodman the Grammy songwriter award for best country song, as performed by Willie Nelson. Goodman co-wrote "You Never Even Called Me by My Name", which became the best-selling song of country musician David Allen Coe. Goodman had a small but dedicated group of fans for his albums and concerts during his lifetime. His most frequently sung song, "Go Cubs Go", is about the Chicago Cubs. Goodman died of leukemia in September 1984.
Michael Royko Jr. was an American newspaper columnist from Chicago. Over his 30-year career, he wrote over 7,500 daily columns for the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune. A humorist who focused on life in Chicago, he was the winner of the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
Bonnie Lynn Hunt is an American actress, comedian, director, producer, writer and television host. Her film roles include Rain Man, Beethoven, Beethoven's 2nd, Jumanji, Jerry Maguire, The Green Mile, Cheaper by the Dozen, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2.
All Things Considered (ATC) is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United States, and worldwide through several different outlets, formerly including the NPR Berlin station in Germany. All Things Considered and Morning Edition were the highest rated public radio programs in the United States in 2002 and 2005. The show combines news, analysis, commentary, interviews, and special features, and its segments vary in length and style. ATC airs weekdays from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (live) or Pacific Time or from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time. A weekend version of ATC, Weekend All Things Considered, airs on Saturdays and Sundays.
Lakeview, also spelled Lake View, is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. Lakeview is located in the city's North Side. It is bordered by West Diversey Parkway on the south, West Irving Park Road on the north, North Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and the shore of Lake Michigan on the east. The Uptown community area is to Lakeview's north, Lincoln Square to its northwest, North Center to its west, and Lincoln Park to its south. The 2020 population of Lakeview was 103,050 residents, making it the second-largest Chicago community area by population.
Paul Martin Simon was an American author and politician from Illinois. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 1985 and in the United States Senate from 1985 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, he unsuccessfully ran for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination.
Paula Ann Zahn is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series On the Case with Paula Zahn on the Investigation Discovery channel.
Michael Richard Beschloss is an American historian specializing in the United States presidency. He is the author of nine books on the presidency.
David Salzer Broder was an American journalist, writing for The Washington Post for over 40 years. He was also an author, television news show pundit, and university lecturer.
Weekend Edition is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program Morning Edition. It consists of Weekend Edition Saturday and Weekend Edition Sunday, each of which airs for two hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, with refeeds until 2:00 p.m. Weekend Edition Saturday is hosted by Scott Simon. Weekend Edition Sunday is hosted by Ayesha Rascoe.
Seth Adam Meyers is an American comedian, television host, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. He currently hosts Late Night with Seth Meyers, a late-night talk show on NBC. Prior to Late Night, Meyers was a cast member on NBC's sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2014, and served as the show's head writer and anchor of their news parody segment, Weekend Update, from 2006 until his departure in 2014.
Kenneth Dale Holtzman was an American professional baseball player and coach. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1965 through 1979 for the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Yankees.
Michel McQueen Martin is an American journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio and WNET. After ten years in print journalism, Martin has become best known for her radio and television news broadcasting on national topics.
Susan Stamberg is an American radio journalist. Stamberg was co-host of NPR's flagship program All Things Considered from 1972 to 1986. In that role Stamberg was the first female host of a national news broadcast. She's considered one of NPR's "Founding Mothers" along with Nina Totenberg, Linda Wertheimer and the late Cokie Roberts. After nearly 50 years at the network, Stamberg is a Special Correspondent and her reports appear weekly on NPR's Morning Edition.
Lourdes "Lulu" Garcia-Navarro is an American journalist who is an Opinion Audio podcast host for The New York Times. She was the host of National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday from 2017 to 2021, when she left NPR after 17 years at the network.
Ralph Geoffrey Newman was an American writer and well known Abraham Lincoln scholar. He owned the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago, Illinois, and hosted a monthly gathering known as the Civil War Round Table. He was an expert in Civil War-related manuscripts.
Up First is a daily news podcast by the American media organization NPR, which releases an episode every weekday at 6 a.m. ET, and Saturdays and Sundays by 8 a.m ET. Up First gives a brief overview of each news item in its weekday and Saturday episodes, unlike some of NPR's other popular news podcasts which provide a deep exploration of each story. The Sunday edition of the podcast varies between originally produced content for the feed and showcasing previously published episodes for NPR's various long-form journalism podcasts.
Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin and Felipe Gómez Alonzo were Guatemalan immigrant children who died, in separate incidents, while in the custody of the United States Border Patrol in December 2018, after having entered the country, by crossing the border between Mexico and the United States.
Ayesha Rascoe is an American journalist who hosts Weekend Edition Sunday on NPR. She previously served as an NPR White House correspondent and covered the Obama White House for Reuters.
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