Howard Simon; Playwright’s Latest Work Had Just Opened to Good Reviews

Howard Simon, 37, a playwright whose first major New York production opened to good reviews just days before his death. A Cleveland native who attended Morehouse College and studied in New York University’s graduate writing department, Simon wrote at least nine plays, several of which were produced in small theaters around the country. His “James Baldwin: A Soul on Fire,” which chronicles a night in Baldwin’s life before a meeting with Robert F. Kennedy in 1963, opened Sunday and got good reviews. David DeWitt, writing in the New York Times, called the play “funny, thrilling and wise.” Simon became ill during the play’s rehearsal process with a loss of equilibrium and severe headaches and was admitted to New York Methodist Hospital on April 1. He fell into a coma the next day, the Times reported, never regaining consciousness and never knowing that his play received favorable reviews. On Wednesday in New York of septic shock brought on by streptococcus meningitis.