Simon was born and died in
New York City, New York. Simon was born into a wealthy and talented family. Not only was his father wealthy, but his brother,
Richard L. Simon, was the co-founder of the American publishing house Simon & Schuster, and singer-songwriter
Carly Simon is one of his nieces. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Harvard College in 1934, and began working for
Metronome magazine the following year. He was editor-in-chief of
Metronome from 1939 to 1955 and shifted its emphasis from a publisher of technical articles to a chronicler of the
swing era. Simon was probably the most influential jazz commentator during the swing era. Thanks to his inside connections with the jazz world, he was able to report information about bands and their personnel with great accuracy. After leaving
Metronome, he was involved with the
Jazztone Society (1956–57), was a consultant to the Timex All-Star Jazz Show broadcast from 1957 to 1959, and wrote about jazz for the
New York Herald Tribune and the
New York Post daily newspapers. He also composed
liner notes for musicians including
Thelonious Monk. In 1978, he won a
Grammy Award for Best Album Notes. Simon appeared as an imposter for
Joe Rosenthal on the March 5, 1962 episode of the
CBS television game show
To Tell the Truth, receiving two of the four votes. Simon died of
pneumonia in 2001 at the age of 88, after years of suffering from
Parkinson's disease. He was inducted into the
Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame the following year (2002). ==Selected bibliography==