Joanna Simon, Acclaimed Singer, TV Correspondent, Dies at 85

Simon, the eldest of 4, died Wednesday, only a day earlier than her sister Lucy died, in accordance with Lucy’s daughter, Julie Simon. Their brother Peter, a photographer, died in 2018 at 71. All three had most cancers.

“Within the final 2 days, I’ve been by the aspect of each my mom and my aunt, Joanna, and watched them move into the subsequent world. I can’t actually comprehend this,” Julie wrote on Fb.

Joanna Simon, who died of thyroid most cancers, rose to fame within the opera world and as a live performance performer within the Sixties. She was a frequent visitor on TV discuss exhibits. After her retirement from singing, she grew to become an arts correspondent for PBS’s “MacNeil-Lehrer Information Hour,” the place she received an Emmy in 1991 for a report on psychological sickness and creativity.

“I’m stuffed with sorrow to discuss the passing of Joanna and Lucy Simon. Their loss will likely be lengthy and haunting. As unhappy as at the present time is, it’s inconceivable to mourn them with out celebrating their unbelievable lives that they lived,” Carly Simon mentioned in a press release Saturday.

She added: “We had been three sisters who not solely took turns blazing trails and marking programs for each other. We had been one another’s secret shares. The co-keepers of one another’s recollections.”

Joanna Simon was married to novelist and journalist Gerald Walker from 1976 till his loss of life in 2004. She was the companion of Walter Cronkite from 2005 till his loss of life in 2009.

On stage, she made her skilled debut in 1962 as Cherubino in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” at New York Metropolis Opera. That yr, she received the Marian Anderson Award for promising younger singers. Simon took on a variety of fabric. As a live performance performer, she leaned into basic and up to date songs of her time.

The siblings had been born to publishing large Richard Simon and his spouse, Andrea. Carly and Lucy as soon as carried out because the Simon Sisters, opening for different acts in Greenwich Village people golf equipment.

“I’ve no phrases to clarify the sensation of all of the sudden being the one remaining direct offspring of Richard and Andrea Simon,” Carly Simon mentioned. “They touched everybody they knew and people of us they’ve left behind will likely be fortunate and honored to hold their recollections ahead.”