Dolores Simon

Dolores Daly Simon November 18, 1928 February 20, 2018 Dolores Daly Simon, of Warwick, N.Y., died peacefully and gently at her home on February 20, 2018, after a long illness at the age of 89. She was born in San Francisco, Calif. on November 18, 1928, the daughter of Frank and Jeannette Cooke Daly. She grew up in Bellefonte, and graduated from Bellefonte High School in 1946. After earning a journalism degree at Pennsylvania State University in 1950, she held society editor posts at two small-town daily newspapers in Pennsylvania (the Centre Daily Times in State College and the morning Era in Bradford). In 1952, she married Sidney B. Simon, a fellow Penn State alumnus. They divorced in 1955, and she never remarried. She is survived by two sons: John and his wife Lynne Jackier, of Ithaca, N.Y. and Douglas and his wife Rose Babayan, of Escondido, Calif., as well as four grandchildren: Emma Coty, Jacob Miller, Rosie Simon and Kenzey Simon, and two great granddaughters. After moving to New York City, Simon joined the copyediting staff of what was then Harper & Brothers, Publishers in 1955. In 1960, she was promoted to copy chief of Harper trade books, overseeing editorial production of all the adult fiction and general nonfiction as well as having close involvement with various Harper cookbooks. (Meanwhile, Harper & Brothers became Harper & Row; it is now Harper Collins.) She launched her cookbook career by editing the original edition of Craig Claiborne's The New York Times Cook Book. After 28 years she retired from Harper in 1988, and began copyediting on a freelance basis. She has lectured at copyediting courses at Radcliffe, City College and New York University. With Joan Whitman, a retired New York Times editor, she was coauthor of Recipes Into Type - A Handbook for Cookbook Writers and Editors (Harper Collins), which received both a James Beard and a Julia Child award as the best food reference book published in 1993. After her retirement, Simon moved from New York City to live full time at her country house in Warwick. She became involved with the Warwick Historical Society, serving on their board of directors, as well as serving on the Board of Governors of the Albert Wisner Public Library. She organized and edited a fundraiser, Anniversary Cookbook, published by the Historical Society in 2010. A lifelong Democrat, she was a member of Phi Mu fraternity and the James Beard Foundation, serving for several years as a judge for the annual Beard awards. Funeral services are being handled by Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat. A memorial service will be held in Warwick at a date to be announced. Burial of ashes will take place in Warwick Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Warwick Historical Society, Box 363, Warwick, NY 10990. To send a condolence, write to John and Douglas Simon, 63 Blooms Corners Road, Warwick, NY 10990.