By Kevin Greer & Isabel Hamilton
Lakeside Marketing Team
Scott Simon is one of America’s most respected broadcasters and writers. Name any major journalism award, and he’s won it. The host of “Weekend Edition Saturday” on National Public Radio (NPR) will visit Lakeside for the first time as the Keynote Speaker on Tuesday, July 25 at 8 p.m. in Hoover Auditorium.
Following his keynote presentation, Simon will be signing books in the lobby of Hoover Auditorium. Bring a book or memento for him to sign or pick up a copy of one of his books at The Fine Print bookstore. Limited books are available.
Simon has reported in all 50 states, five continents and 10 wars. He 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 BBC, NBC, CNN, ESPN and many others. Simon’s broadcasting awards include the Peabody, Emmy, Columbia-DuPont, Ohio State Award, Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and Sidney Hillman Award.
Simon is a native of Chicago and received the Order of Lincoln from the State of Illinois in 2016, the state’s highest honor.
Simon is also a best-selling author, writing books about war and peace, art, tragedy, comedy and his beloved Chicago Cubs. 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 covers many topics on his NPR show and the network’s morning news podcast “Up First.” He did the same when he talked with The Lakesider Newspaper prior to his trip to Lakeside.
Have you ever been to Lakeside?
No, never.
What are you going to talk about when you come to Lakeside?
As I understand it, the theme is community. I have concerns that a lot of current technology and trends in modern life, despite the fact that the word ‘community’ is used and overused, actually mitigate against community. I’m going to talk about some of my experiences over the years, covering things in various parts of the world and even my own family background, which I think can foster a sense of community and a common identity among all of us.
How often do you go on the road to give lectures?
Eight or nine times a year, I would say.
How does radio and television broadcasting differ from speaking to a crowd?
Well, my father, who was a comedian, used to joke, “Don’t worry about people walking out on you, worry if they start coming toward you.” I think that’s never far from my mind. It is and yet it also isn’t [different]. I must say I don’t give that much thought. I try not to pick my nose.
You’re very well-rounded and have covered a little bit of everything, that’s how your show works.
Yes, we try and cover a little bit of everything. Obviously, the news, but also what we consider to be important are books, music, film, theater, comedy and sports. We’re the only NPR show that covers sports in any devoted way, week after week. I think all of that is important.
Do you have a favorite thing you like to cover?
My answer to that changes from week to week. I wouldn’t want to be tied down to it. When there’s breaking news, there is also something extraordinarily satisfying about everybody jumping into action, pulling together and bringing the story directly to our listeners. There’s something very gratifying about that.
How are you able to keep finding places and topics you’re interested in talking about?
There’s no shortage of that. We have to leave many more promising stories behind on a week-to-week basis and hope to catch up with them at one point or another. We’re rarely pressed. There’s such a plethora of things that you should be concerned about in the world. One thing I think it’s important to underscore, we could fill our show with important and critical stories from stem to stern every week, but if they were all important and critical, I’m not sure how many people would be with us. It’s also important to have moments of lightness, humor, enjoyment, beauty and curiosity, as well as what is important and urgent.
Is there a journalist you look up to?
Oh, more than one. In no particular order, a man who’s now gone who was once my editor at Channel 11 in Chicago, my news director, John Callaway. Ben Hecht, the great Chicago journalist and playwright; I admire him enormously. The late Joan Didion, for the keenness and elegance of her essays. Edward R. Murrow and the signature reports he had from London. Martha Gellhorn reporting from World War II. She’s often remembered by some people in history as having been married to Ernest Hemmingway, but in many ways, she was the real writer in that family.
Of all the interviews you have done, which one stands out?
Well, that’s another one of those questions where the answer can change from day to day or hour to hour. You can interview some very famous people. I spent a lot of time profiling Mother Teresa, and the experience was overwhelming, but I can’t say she said to me anything she had never said to anybody before. Though all of it was interesting, I don’t go around quoting her all the time, whereas people who I think aren’t interviewed or profiled very frequently are the interviews or the stories that can stay with you.
I would probably say a young woman who was age 15 in Sarajevo named Irena Zaric. We got to know her and her family and we began to see the siege of Sarajevo through the eyes of her and her friend. I remember saying to her one day, after we had come under sniper fire and were laughing about it, “You know, I can’t imagine any of our 16-year-old American teenage mall rats living through a period like this with your poise and your wisdom.” She said something that indicated to me that she had become very wise in a short period of time: “Oh you know Scott, they would if they had to. None of us here ever thought we would live like this, hiding in the basement scurrying around from sniper fire, but this is what we had to do to survive, that’s what Americans would do, too.” I thought, “Wow, you are wise.”
Is there a person you haven’t interviewed that’s at the top of your list?
Oh, there are several. I would absolutely love to interview Pope Francis, Steven Spielberg and (Los Angeles Angles star) Shohei Ohtani. I’d even be willing to learn Japanese to do that one, but you don’t do that overnight, do you?
You have won awards in broadcasting and print, not many people can say that.
I never give it any thought. I guarantee you my daughters have no idea what I do for a living, or at least a very small idea, and I think that’s very healthy. I mean every now and then our 20-year-old makes fun of me because there were a couple of young women in her dorm who would do imitations of me.
Many people have trust issues with the media. How does the media get that trust back?
There’s no easy answer to that. I understand why people would have difficulty with the media sometimes, bringing them stories and news they don’t want to hear. I like to think, knowing this world as we do, that when a time of national interest or national concern or national crisis strikes, people turn to us in that moment of need and that’s when they learn that they can trust us, or at least the people I work for. We do our best, which is not to say that we don’t make mistakes, but we correct them as soon as we learn about them. We try to avoid venturing into areas that can’t be substantiated. Certainly, at NPR, we would rather be late on a story than wrong. I think it’s important to keep that relationship going. I’m going to talk a little bit about this, but we’re living in a world now that people can find the news they want to hear, and they don’t have to take a fact they don’t accept. I think that can be a problem. That’s not learning about the world, that’s not being a responsible citizen, that’s not taking a responsibility in a democracy to learn about issues. That concerns me because I think it’s important that people branch out and get to know all different viewpoints and get to know stories from all over the world and not things that just might fit into the relatively narrow interest we all have.
Journalism jobs are being cut across the board, what advice would you give to somebody who wants to get into the business?
I sometimes tell young journalism students, “I’d get your realtor’s license first.” All I can say is do what you love. That’s what we should do in life if we can. I’ve been blessed to be able to do that. I realize that it is getting harder, but I like to think that there is still work out there for people who want it and for them to pursue with passion and because it’s important.
What is your biggest takeaway from all your years in the industry?
As long as I don’t have to live and die with this answer, I have been very blessed around the world and in this country. No matter how much discouraging news there may be, to see people rise to the occasion and then some. People in Sarajevo and Afghanistan. We did a profile of a family on the south side of Chicago. Two young children got home right after school and they would board up their apartment because they were worried about crime. I admired their parents who created such an atmosphere of love and support for the young brother and sister. Time and time again I absolutely marveled at the power of human beings to overcome adversity and to try and bring something amazing and magical to the world. I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen that in place after place, and I consider myself lucky to have seen that.
