Jack H. Simons began his work career as a paper boy in Gary, Indiana, when he was eight years old. It was long enough ago that when he started he carried seven different Chicago papers every Sunday. He later studied writing and worked as a reporter for a Texas newspaper. He pastored independent Baptist churches for 21 years, and then studied creative writing and essay writing at the University of Iowa. He taught writing for 25 years, and besides a ton of journalism, has written one unpublished novel, one unproduced screenplay, numerous essays, and several poems and short stories.
Jack has written 16 article(s) for RedFence Magazine.
Editor’s Note: The following is a chapter from an unreleased novel by Jack H. Simons. It follows the exploits of David Skevo, a man of remarkable skills and talents, whose career as an “invisible man” started with a mission gone sideways in the jungles of Laos during the Vietnam War. Recovery by Jack H. Simons […]
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And Everything Turned Out OK by Jack H. Simons The basic story plot for all ages pits ultimate evil against flawed good with the flawed good coming out on top. The protagonist must be flawed because we are all flawed. Only Jesus Christ or an old-timey Methodist would claim sinless perfection, but the rest of […]
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Editor’s Note: This is the first in our new essay series Holes in the Wall, highlighting independent restaurants whose craft achieves the level of genuine artistry. The Good Life by Jack H. Simons “Chicago, Chicago, that Toddling Town” Frank Sinatra had it right. “They have the time of their life in Chicago.” A Chicago pizza and […]
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‘Would That It T’were So Simple’ by Jack Simons Hail Caesar! – A movie set in 1951 – describes 24 hours in the life of a major Hollywood studio. The film that came from the mysterious Coen brothers’ universe has returned to its source without drawing many viewers, and according to Rotten Tomatoes 55 percent […]
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In Memoriam: Norman, Oklahoma, 1946 by Jack H. Simons Mom and Dad died — buried ten weeks apart On equally cold, wet, blustery days. And I fell into despair — as though I Had never gone to war, had never read The offices at the graveside, had not aged. As I mourned my way to […]
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Living Memory by Jack H. Simons and Erigena Sallaku Sometimes a movie comes along that the critics despise, the studio doesn’t promote, the theaters don’t show, and the audience never finds. Woman in Gold starring Helen Mirren is such a movie. Released in April, it had practically disappeared from theaters before the 4th of July weekend. […]
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Master Hustler by Jack Simons A movie comes along from time to time that astounds us with excellence in its individual parts, but when all the parts add together . . . not quite as much. American Hustle is a movie like that. As many times as I watch it, I discover only polished brilliance in […]
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For My Wife by Jack H. Simons As you go your way, And I go mine. Me to death, and you to life. I wish to tell you my heart. Though sentenced to die Before I was born, I remain a contented man, Who, while this short candle burns, Will seek you again, […]
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“Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.” –Mark Twain, S-t-e-a-m-boat a-comin’! The Pirates of My Youth by Jack Simons As a child, I developed a passion for jewels and gold – strange, seeing I possessed none, and neither did my parents. In […]
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On My Surly Part Jack H. Simons (with apologies to Dylan Thomas)
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