Keynote: Scott Simon
Lakeside welcomes Scott Simon, one of America’s most admired writers and broadcasters, to Hoover Auditorium for a lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 25.
Simon is the host of “Weekend Edition Saturday” and is one of the hosts of NPR’s morning news podcast “Up First.” He has reported from all 50 states, five continents and covered 10 wars. His books have chronicled war and peace, sports and art, and tragedy and comedy.
Simon has won every major award in broadcasting, including Peabody, Emmy, Columbia-DuPont, Ohio State Award, Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and Sidney Hillman Award.
Simon has hosted many television specials, including PBS’s “State of Mind,” “Voices of Vision” and “Need to Know.” “The Paterson Project” won a national Emmy, as did his two-hour special from the Rio Earth Summit meeting.
He has appeared as a guest and commentator on many major networks, including BBC, NBC, CNN and ESPN.
Simon has contributed articles to The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Sunday Times of London and The Guardian among other publications. He won a James Beard Award for his story, “Conflict Cuisine,” in Gourmet News.
Simon attended the University of Chicago and has received numerous honorary degrees. He and his wife, Caroline Richard Simon, have two daughters, Elise and Paulina. His hobbies are books, theater, ballet, British comedy, Mexican cooking and “bleeding for the Chicago Cubs.”
Simon is a native of Chicago and received the Order of Lincoln from the State of Illinois in 2016, the state’s highest honor.
