The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Listening to the silence

For one year, he has been silent.

The silence is as recognizable as the voice that once filled it. For more than 50 years, former Sen. Paul Simon's deep and unmistakable voice commanded attention and respect, whether he was speaking from the Senate floor, a newsroom desk, an SIUC classroom or Carbondale's Town Square Pavilion, where his crooning gave that other Paul Simon a run for his money.

For one year, however, he has been silent.

Despite that, daughter Sheila Simon still loves the sound of his voice.

"It's been fun to listen to Dad's voice on NPR lately," said Simon, an assistant professor in the SIUC Law School and member of the Carbondale City Council. "I've spoken to so many people whose lives he touched. He cherished the things he could do for others."

Now, one year after his death on Dec. 9, 2003, at the age of 75 following complications from heart surgery, many who heard Simon's voice are contemplating the legacy he left behind. At first, it appears to be obvious: He was a senator.

He ran for president.

He founded SIUC's Public Policy Institute.

He wore bow-ties. Lots of them.

But under the surface of his highly public life is a man who was driven simply by a desire to help others, friends and former colleagues say. Never one to pose as a political elite, Simon was the exception to the rule that power corrupts, and it is a reputation that many say is all too rare in today's political climate.

In fact, Joseph Brown, director of the Black American Studies program, said the magnitude of Simon's legacy is something we cannot yet calculate without the benefit of more hindsight.

"I don't think we have yet articulated the full effect of Paul Simon," Brown said. "We don't have a clue. There are so many kinds of people he touched. We can't fully understand his impact yet."

Nonetheless, we can see what he left behind.

Born in Oregon during the final year before the Great Depression, Simon came to Illinois at the age of 19 to become the nation's youngest newspaper publisher. Simon took to the work well, eventually presiding over a chain of 13 newspapers in central and Southern Illinois, and journalism was something he kept with him through his final years at SIUC.

Politics, however, were what truly grabbed him. Illinois elected Simon as a state representative in 1954, a position he filled for eight years before being elected to the Illinois Senate. In 1968, he became lieutenant governor, running for and narrowly losing the governor's seat in 1972. He soon won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and quickly moved into the Senate. He was re-elected in 1990, two years after making a brief bid for the presidency, and he served with distinction until his retirement in 1997.

David Kenney, a retired SIUC political science professor, has co-authored a book titled "An Uncertain Tradition," which examines the history of Illinois senators. Kenney said that despite Simon's reputation as a compassionate leader, he served with success because of his preternatural understanding of politics.

"He had great integrity, but he understood politics," Kenney said. "His reputation for honesty was excellent, but he was never a great leader because his colleagues never fully trusted him. They thought he would blow the whistle."

Despite Simon's illustrious political career, his personal and professional pursuits were not limited to a congressional chamber. Building upon his early journalistic experience, Simon penned more than 20 books and received more than 50 honorary degrees while finding time for a family along the way.

In 1960, he married Jeanne Hurley, with whom he had two children, Sheila and Martin, and he married Patricia Derge in 2000, after Hurley died and two years before his death.

His life ended at SIUC, where he came following his senatorial retirement to establish the Public Policy Institute, which he got off the ground with the help of fellow former journalist Mike Lawrence.

Lawrence, who took charge of the institute in October, said it is not rational to imagine the organization being the same without Simon. He said the former senator brought grace and a sense of class that is impossible to equal. Still, Lawrence says the institute is going on with its work with Simon in mind and with such upcoming projects as discussing rural health care and the drawing of state legislative districts, it continues to move in a direction of which Simon would approve.

"The institute will never be the same without Paul. It's his living legacy," Lawrence said. "The best thing is to be faithful to his vision and values, and I think we've moved ahead in a way he would have appreciated."

And as everyone has moved ahead in the past year, so have the tributes to Simon. His funeral service, which took place at the SIU Arena in front of a packed house, was attended by Sen. Ted Kennedy and was supposed to include a speech by former President Bill Clinton until his plane was grounded due to inclement weather.

In September, the Carbondale Federal Building, 250 Cherry St., was renamed in Simon's honor. Politicians from across the state attended the ceremony.

But perhaps the most important thing that remains is his voice, what it said and the vacancy left when it finally went silent.

John Jackson, a visiting professor at the Public Policy Institute, met Simon 30 years ago when the rising political star was running for governor. Jackson said even then, Simon had a way about him that was interested in the lives of regular people.

Now, a year after the sun set on Simon's life, Jackson said there are still lessons from Simon to learn and, even in the silence, a voice to be heard.

"He was tireless in his advocacy for the downtrodden," Jackson said. "The silence of the past year emphasized what a tremendous voice he had in Illinois and national politics."

 

 

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