"Poet Laureate" of Los Altos

Bob Simon, the unofficial poet laureate of Los Altos, writes about life, love, and laughter in his poetry.

 He is the author of "Fleeting Rhymes," a collection of light verse, that was published in 2000.

He is currently a frequent contributor of poems to The Town Crier.

His poem, "Centennial, A Poem," was selected to be read at Stanford's 100th anniversary in 1991 before a packed stadium headlined by Ted Koppel.

Bob graduated from Stanford in 1954 with an Economics major and later went on to get his Masters in 1959 at Stanford's Business School.  He was a long distance runner on the track team.  After Stanford he joined the US Air Force, learned to fly, and flew multi-engine transport aircraft during his military service.

Bob's career, before retirement, was at his alma mater.  He served 20 years as the Director of Stanford's East Coast office in Manhattan and was an assistant dean of the Business School.

Born in San Francisco, Bob has been a long time Los Altos resident for over 50 years.  Bob received the Los Altos - Los Altos Hills Volunteer Award in 2011 for his achievements in non-profit work.  He actively supported the memorial to veterans, "Liberty Cradle", in Shoup Park.  Besides writing poetry, Bob is President of the Los Altos Library Endowment, a fund established to help sustain and increase financial support for the Los Altos Library.