Linda Simon
Linda Simon (born 12 December 1946) is professor emerita of English at Skidmore College. Early life Simon was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 12 December 1946, and grew up in Flushing, New York. She is the oldest daughter of Samuel M. Perlin and Kay Perlin. She attended Queens College, New York, and holds a master's degree from New York University, and earned a PhD in English from Brandeis University, where her mentors included Milton Hindus and Michael T. Gilmore. Teaching She taught in the Expository Writing Program at Harvard University, serving as director of the writing center before joining the English department at Skidmore College, where she was a professor and department chair. At Skidmore, she taught in two abroad programs in London and Paris, where she conducted research for a biography of Coco Chanel. Simon lives in Oakland, California. She is professor emerita of English at Skidmore College. Writing A trip to Paris inspired Simon's first book, Gertrude Stein: A Composite Portrait (Avon, 1974), which then led to her writing a biography of Stein's companion Alice B. Toklas. Simon is drawn to biographical subjects who defied expectations in forging their identity and life path, including Toklas, the philosopher