Background: A former graphic designer, college instructor and art critic, Simon is now a freelance writer. Before he moved to Buckhead, he worked for advertising agencies in New York and Florida. But he's such a hard-core vintage film buff, he dreams of working for Turner Classic Movies someday.
Collecting focus: Simon pared down his collection when he moved into a condo, but some of his favorites are still on display, including a series of small architectural prints by Bernard Buffet. Among his bronze sculptures is a 1988 "Dancing Woman" by Fernando Botero, a plump, nude figure with her arms thrown wide and her leg kicked up in a moment of joy.
Favorite piece: A huge French poster for Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 thriller, "The Man Who Knew Too Much," illustrated by Boris Grinsson and printed in Paris. Purchased from a Manhattan gallery in 1983, the lithograph captures the movie's suspense and intrigue in full Technicolor glory. Simon is such a Hitchcock devotee that he's made trips to some of the film locations the famed director used. He's never ventured as far as Marrakech, but he has studied Hitchcock settings in San Francisco, Mount Rushmore, Chicago and London's Royal Albert Hall, where Doris Day's climactic scene in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" takes place.
Where it's displayed: Simon once loaned it to the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for an exhibit of movie posters, but now keeps it hanging in a windowless hallway. "I have to be careful about exposing it to the light," he said. "But it dominates an entire wall that I pass by frequently, and I can't ignore it."
Why he loves it: Simon was always a fan of graphic arts, so when he spotted this poster of one of his favorite childhood films, he knew he had to have it. "It has a lot of impact and brings back so many memories for me," he said. So much so that when he sat through a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, "I kept looking around the whole time and waiting for Doris Day to scream."
