Kate Simon
Encyclopedia
Kate Simon was a Polish-born American author.
She was born Kaila in Warsaw, Poland, the daughter of David Grobsmith, a shoe designer, and Lonia Grobsmith née Babicz, a corsetiere. Her Jewish family brought her to the United
States when she was four, where they rejoined her father. Kate was raised in the Bronx, New York, and attended Hunter College
where she earned a B.A. Her writing career began as a book reviewer for The New Republic
and The Nation
magazines. She worked for Book-of-the-Month Club,
Publishers Weekly
, and as a free-lance editor for Alfred A. Knopf
.
Simon became one of Americas best known travel writer and several of her guides became best sellers. Her autobiography was written in three parts. The first, Bronx Primitive: Portraits in a Childhood (1982) was one of the New York Times twelve best books of 1982 and was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. This was followed by Wider World: Portraits in an Adolescence (1986) that told of her teen age period and college experiences. The third volume, Etchings in an Hourglass (1990) is about her adulthood. Her work, Fifth Avenue: A Very Social Story (1978), is a social history of Manhattan. A Renaissance Tapestry: The Gonzaga of Mantau (1988) tells the story of the Renaissance through the history of the Gonzaga family.
She was married twice. Her first common-law husband, Stanley Goldman, died, as did her only child Alexandra and her sister, all of brain tumors. She was divorced from Robert Simon in 1947.
She was born Kaila in Warsaw, Poland, the daughter of David Grobsmith, a shoe designer, and Lonia Grobsmith née Babicz, a corsetiere. Her Jewish family brought her to the United
States when she was four, where they rejoined her father. Kate was raised in the Bronx, New York, and attended Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
where she earned a B.A. Her writing career began as a book reviewer for The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
and The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
magazines. She worked for Book-of-the-Month Club,
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, and as a free-lance editor for Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
.
Simon became one of Americas best known travel writer and several of her guides became best sellers. Her autobiography was written in three parts. The first, Bronx Primitive: Portraits in a Childhood (1982) was one of the New York Times twelve best books of 1982 and was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. This was followed by Wider World: Portraits in an Adolescence (1986) that told of her teen age period and college experiences. The third volume, Etchings in an Hourglass (1990) is about her adulthood. Her work, Fifth Avenue: A Very Social Story (1978), is a social history of Manhattan. A Renaissance Tapestry: The Gonzaga of Mantau (1988) tells the story of the Renaissance through the history of the Gonzaga family.
She was married twice. Her first common-law husband, Stanley Goldman, died, as did her only child Alexandra and her sister, all of brain tumors. She was divorced from Robert Simon in 1947.