Rachel Simon
Encyclopedia
Rachel Simon is an American author of both fiction and non-fiction. Her six books include the 2011 novel The Story of Beautiful Girl, which was her first New York Times Bestseller, and the 2002 memoir Riding The Bus With My Sister, which was a national bestseller. Her work has been adapted for film, television, radio, and stage.
, Millburn, Irvington
, and Succasunna. During that time, she began writing short stories and novels, which she shared widely with friends and teachers but never submitted to editors. When Rachel was eight, her parents split up. She and her three siblings remained with their mother for eight years, and then moved to Easton, Pennsylvania
to live with their father, with Rachel also becoming a boarding student at Solebury School
in New Hope, PA. Rachel studied anthropology at Bryn Mawr College
and graduated in 1981. She then moved to the Philadelphia area and worked at a variety of jobs, including supervisor of researchers for a television study at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania
. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College
in 1988. Just before graduating, she won the Writers At Work short story contest, and when she attended the Writers At Work conference that June in Park City, Utah
, she decided to be more courageous than she’d been as a teenager. She brought multiple copies of a collection of short stories, Little Nightmares, Little Dreams, that she’d just completed and handed them to every agent and editor who was interested. An editor from Houghton Mifflin bought the manuscript six weeks later and published it to critical acclaim in 1990.
movie, also titled Riding The Bus With My Sister
, which originally aired on CBS on May 1, 2005, where it was watched by fifteen million viewers. Ever since, it has been rebroadcast frequently on the Hallmark Channel. The film stars Rosie O' Donnell as Rachel’s sister Beth and Andie McDowell as Rachel, and was directed by Anjelica Huston.
The success of the book and adaptation of Riding The Bus With my Sister led to Rachel becoming a widely sought-after speaker around the country. The book has also received numerous awards, including a Secretary Tommy G. Thompson Recognition Award for Contributions to the Field of Disability from the US Department of Health and Human Services; a TASH
Image Award for positive portrayals of people with disabilities; and a Media Access Award from California Governor's Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities.
Other adaptations of Rachel Simon’s work include the title story from Little Nightmares, Little Dreams (Houghton Mifflin, 1990), which has been adapted for both the National Public Radio program Selected Shorts
, and the Lifetime program “The Hidden Room.” Another story from that collection, “Paint,” was adapted for the stage by the Arden Theatre Company (Philadelphia)
.
Rachel’s other titles are the novel The Magic Touch (Viking, 1994), the memoir The House on Teacher's Lane (2010); and an inspirational book for writers, The Writer's Survival Guide (1997).
Rachel Simon is one of the only authors to have been selected twice for the Barnes & Nobel Discover New Writers Award, once for the novel The Magic Touch, and again for the memoir, Riding the Bus with My Sister. She has received creative writing fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, and the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation.
During the early years of Rachel’s writing career she ran author events for Barnes & Noble
in Princeton, New Jersey
and Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
, and she taught creative writing at Bryn Mawr College and Penn State Abington
, both in Pennsylvania. Since 2007, Rachel has been writing full-time.
For more information about Rachel Simon's career and life, please see www.rachelsimon.com.
. Rachel visits frequently with her sister Beth, whose love of bus riding is chronicled in Riding The Bus With My Sister, and who does still ride the buses.
Early life
Rachel Simon was born in New Jersey and spent most of her first sixteen years in the New Jersey towns of NewarkNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, Millburn, Irvington
Irvington, New Jersey
Irvington is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a total population of 53,926, a decline of 11.2% from the 60,695 residents enumerated in the 2000 Census.-Geography:...
, and Succasunna. During that time, she began writing short stories and novels, which she shared widely with friends and teachers but never submitted to editors. When Rachel was eight, her parents split up. She and her three siblings remained with their mother for eight years, and then moved to Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....
to live with their father, with Rachel also becoming a boarding student at Solebury School
Solebury School
Solebury School is a co-educational college preparatory day and boarding school located on a campus in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania . There are currently 230 day and boarding students enrolled...
in New Hope, PA. Rachel studied anthropology at Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
and graduated in 1981. She then moved to the Philadelphia area and worked at a variety of jobs, including supervisor of researchers for a television study at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania
Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania
The Annenberg School for Communication is the communications school at the University of Pennsylvania. The school was established in 1958 by Wharton School's alum Walter Annenberg as "The Annenberg School of Communications." The name was changed to its current title in the late 1980's.Walter...
. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
in 1988. Just before graduating, she won the Writers At Work short story contest, and when she attended the Writers At Work conference that June in Park City, Utah
Park City, Utah
Park City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
, she decided to be more courageous than she’d been as a teenager. She brought multiple copies of a collection of short stories, Little Nightmares, Little Dreams, that she’d just completed and handed them to every agent and editor who was interested. An editor from Houghton Mifflin bought the manuscript six weeks later and published it to critical acclaim in 1990.
Career
Until 2011, when The Story of Beautiful Girl (Grand Central Publishing) was published and became an almost instant New York Times Bestseller, Rachel Simon was best known for her memoir, Riding The Bus With My Sister (Houghton Mifflin, 2002; Plume paperback, 2003). A national bestseller, it became a seminal book in the disability community and a frequent selection on high school reading lists. It was also adapted for a Hallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
movie, also titled Riding The Bus With My Sister
Riding the Bus with My Sister
Riding the Bus with My Sister is a memoir by Rachel Simon, published in 2002 by Houghton Mifflin about the time she spent with her sister Beth, who has a developmental disability, whose lifestyle revolves around riding buses in her home city.-Book:...
, which originally aired on CBS on May 1, 2005, where it was watched by fifteen million viewers. Ever since, it has been rebroadcast frequently on the Hallmark Channel. The film stars Rosie O' Donnell as Rachel’s sister Beth and Andie McDowell as Rachel, and was directed by Anjelica Huston.
The success of the book and adaptation of Riding The Bus With my Sister led to Rachel becoming a widely sought-after speaker around the country. The book has also received numerous awards, including a Secretary Tommy G. Thompson Recognition Award for Contributions to the Field of Disability from the US Department of Health and Human Services; a TASH
TASH (organization)
TASH is an international advocacy association of people with disabilities, their family members, other advocates, and people who work in the disability field. The organization's full name is The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps. TASH operates as a 501 non-profit organization...
Image Award for positive portrayals of people with disabilities; and a Media Access Award from California Governor's Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities.
Other adaptations of Rachel Simon’s work include the title story from Little Nightmares, Little Dreams (Houghton Mifflin, 1990), which has been adapted for both the National Public Radio program Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts
Selected Shorts is an event at New York’s Symphony Space on the Upper West Side, in which actors read classic and new short fiction before a live audience. The annual season of the live events at Symphony Space begins in the mid-fall and ends in mid-spring, and a typical episode would include...
, and the Lifetime program “The Hidden Room.” Another story from that collection, “Paint,” was adapted for the stage by the Arden Theatre Company (Philadelphia)
Arden Theatre Company (Philadelphia)
-Introduction:The Arden Theatre Company is a full-service professional regional theatre located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offering the highest quality theatrical and educational productions and programs to artists, audiences and students of the greater Philadelphia region. The company includes...
.
Rachel’s other titles are the novel The Magic Touch (Viking, 1994), the memoir The House on Teacher's Lane (2010); and an inspirational book for writers, The Writer's Survival Guide (1997).
Rachel Simon is one of the only authors to have been selected twice for the Barnes & Nobel Discover New Writers Award, once for the novel The Magic Touch, and again for the memoir, Riding the Bus with My Sister. She has received creative writing fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, and the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation.
During the early years of Rachel’s writing career she ran author events for Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
and Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
Willow Grove is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. A community in Philadelphia's northern suburbs, the population was 15,726 at the 2010 census. It is located in Abington Township and Upper Moreland Township...
, and she taught creative writing at Bryn Mawr College and Penn State Abington
Penn State Abington
Penn State Abington is a commonwealth campus of the Pennsylvania State University. Located approximately north of Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States in the Abington section of Abington Township, it is set in wooded, which include a duck pond and stands of hardwood trees...
, both in Pennsylvania. Since 2007, Rachel has been writing full-time.
For more information about Rachel Simon's career and life, please see www.rachelsimon.com.
Personal life
She is married to Hal Dean, an architect whom she met shortly after she graduated from college. Their highly unusual, nineteen-year-long path to marriage, is recounted in The House On Teacher’s Lane. They now live in Wilmington, DelawareWilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
. Rachel visits frequently with her sister Beth, whose love of bus riding is chronicled in Riding The Bus With My Sister, and who does still ride the buses.