Richard L. Simon
Richard Leo "Dick" Simon (March 6, 1899 – July 29, 1960) was an American businessman. He is a Columbia University graduate, co-founder of the publishing house Simon & Schuster, and father of world famous singer-songwriter Carly Simon.
Early life
Simon was born in 1899 to a Jewish family in New York City. His father, Leo Simon, was a wealthy feather-and-silk manufacturer of German Jewish origin and his mother Anna Meier was a German Jewish immigrant.[1] He was the eldest of five siblings (Henry, Alfred, George, and Elizabeth) who were all named after British Monarchs.[1] His brother George T. Simon was a famous music critic and author. Simon's parents joined the Ethical Culture movement, which emphasized universal morality, and sent Simon to the Ethical Cultural School and then Columbia University.[1]
Simon served in World War I and upon his return to the US, being a talented piano player, worked as a piano salesman before beginning his career as a book publisher.[1]
Personal life
In 1935, Simon married Andrea Heinemann who worked as a switchboard operator at Simon & Schuster. Raised in Philadelphia, Andrea was the daughter of a Spanish-born, Roman Catholic mother, Asuncion Maria del Rio, and a German-speaking Swiss father who had abandoned the family.[1] (Andrea also asserted she was of partial "Moorish" origin based on her mother's exotic looks).[1]
They had four children:
- former opera Mezzo-soprano singer and New York real estate agent, Joanna Simon
- Broadway score writer Lucy Simon
- singer-songwriter Carly Simon
- photographer Peter Simon
Death
Simon died in 1960 after suffering a heart attack. Simon was a resident of Fieldston, an area within Riverdale in the Bronx.[2]
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Weller, Sheila Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--and the Journey of a Generation Washington Square Press 2009
- ↑ Jackson, Nancy Beth. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Fieldston; A Leafy Enclave in the Hills of the Bronx", The New York Times, February 17, 2002. Accessed May 3, 2008. "After World War II, Richard Simon, founder of Simon & Schuster, bought a Georgian red-brick Baum house where he brought up his three musical daughters: Joanna, Lucy and Carly."
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