David Simon is a journalist, writer, and television producer. He penned the non-fiction book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, which became the basis for the TV series Homicide: Life on the Streets.http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n12/htdocs/david-simon-280.php Simon has created, produced, and written other television series or miniseries, most notably HBO's The Wire.http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.6241271/k.8712/David_Simon.htm He has received an Edgar Award, Emmy Awards, and Writer's Guild of America Awards for his work.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0800108/awards In 2010, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named him one of 23 MacArthur Fellows.http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.6239749/k.1427/Meet_the_2010_Fellows.htm

As a boy, Simon was inspired to become a journalist after his father took him to see Ben Hecht's and Charles MacArthur's play The Front Page, a comedy about a newspaper.http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/01/the-angriest-man-in-television/6581/http://www.esquire.com/features/essay/david-simon-0308-2 He began working for the Baltimore Sun while still attending the University of Maryland, securing a permanent position after graduation.http://www.esquire.com/features/essay/david-simon-0308-2 He later took a leave of absence to follow the homicide unit of the Baltimore Police Department, which he recounts in the Edgar-award winning book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04172009/profile.html He took another leave of absence and, with Ed Burns, wrote another non-fiction book about the drug trade in one Baltimore community, The Corner.http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04172009/profile.html

Simon worked for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Streets, which was based on his book. He then wrote and co-produced The Corner as a miniseries for HBO, which earned him Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Miniseries.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0800108/awards Simon created, produced, and wrote for the HBO series The Wire, which aired from 2002 – 2007. Despite mediocre ratings, the show garnered near universal acclaim for its portrayal of a city through its various institutions – law enforcement, the drug trade, dock workers, city hall, public schools, and a newspaper.http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.6241271/k.8712/David_Simon.htmhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/magazine/21simon-t.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1 Numerous publications, including Slate and Esquire, lauded the show as the best in television history.http://www.slate.com/id/2149566/http://www.esquire.com/features/essay/david-simon-0308

Simon's follow-up to The Wire was the 2008 miniseries Generation Kill, and the current series Treme, both for HBO.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0800108/