2004, Simon criticized the film Fahrenheit 9/11 for perceived inaccuracies and what he characterized as an unfairly harsh depiction of the U.S. forces. On December 15, 2018, Simon said of the death of Jakelin Caal, "I do not doubt that U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents did all they could to try to save the life of Jakelin Caal Maquin, a 7-year-old girl from Guatemala, who died in the custody of the United States." Journalist Jon Schwarz from The Intercept criticized Simon on Twitter, referencing his comments on Fahrenheit 9/11 to accuse his journalism of allocating excessive benefit of the doubt to the U.S. government. Awards Simon has won Peabody and Emmy awards, and received many honorary degrees. In May 2010, he was conferred Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Willamette University, where he was that year's commencement speaker. Simon is a laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, receiving the state's highest honor, the Order of Lincoln from the Governor of Illinois in 2016 in the field of Business, Industry & Communications. Personal life , Simon lives in Washington, D.C. He has been married to French documentary filmmaker Caroline Richard since September 2000. They have two daughters, both adopted as babies from China. They consider themselves a Jewish family (Simon's father was Jewish and his mother was Irish Catholic). In 2006 Simon and his wife were contacted by police as part of the Alexander Litvinenko poisoning investigation. The family was staying at a hotel near the restaurant at the center of the poisoning incident, and had bought food there for one of their daughters. The health of the family was not affected. In July 2013 Simon began tweeting his emotions and conversations with his mother during the last days of her life. "I just realized: she once had to let me go into the big wide world. Now I have to let her go the same way", read one tweet. In March 2015, he published a memoir about her titled Unforgettable: A Son, a Mother, and the Lessons of a Lifetime. Jack Brickhouse, a Chicago broadcaster (1916–1998), is Simon's godfather, whom he refers to as an uncle. References External links Weekend Edition Saturday NPR Biography on Scott Simon Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Scott Simon from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 1952 births 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American memoirists