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Many newspapers in Illinois are remembering former Senator Paul Simon today, after he died at age 75 in a hospital in Springfield, Illinois from complications due to heart surgery. The bow-tied politician is remembered for more than his trademark tie or his sometimes confusing name, which he joked about on an episode of Saturday Night Live when he and the singer were confused over who was hosting the show.

But Simon is remembered because he first earned a name as a newspaper editor and publisher (the youngest in the nation, says Wired) when his paper tackled crime and corruption in Troy, Illinois. He was 19 when he bought the paper, after dropping out of college and securing a $3,600 loan. By age 25, Simon was elected to the Illinois House, and his political career had begun.

Born to Lutheran missionary parents soon after they returned from China, Simon took his values to the statehouse. The Journal-Standard in Freeport, Illinois writes, "Simon left his mark on Illinois politics as a crusader for ethics reform when he was a state legislator in Springfield in the 1950s, where he spearheaded the Open Meetings Act." He continued his campaign against corruption until the day he died, when Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed ethics legislation that Simon helped create.

In Congress, Simon worked to feed the poor (along with his brother, Art, who founded Bread for the World), provide social programs to put the unemployed to work, sponsored the balanced budget amendment, overhauled student loan programs, and crusaded against television violence.

To those who knew him, he will be remembered for his integrity. The Central Illinois Pantagraph, writes:

In 1990, Simon bucked McLean County's Republican traditions and carried the county in his re-election bid against former Labor Secretary Lynn Martin of Rockford.

Political scientist George Gordon of Normal said the traditionally conservative area may have overlooked Simon's unabashedly liberal leanings because of his credibility.

"I think he believed in civility," said Gordon. "This is a real loss. Paul Simon was a guy who had a very broad perspective on a wide range of public policy issues."

U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, a Peoria Republican, called Simon a "true leader."

"When I was first elected to the House, Paul reached out to me to work on issues of mutual concern," said LaHood. "His bipartisan approach to being a member of Congress certainly made an impression on me and I counted Paul as a true friend."

According to Wired, Simon published two books in October. In Our Culture of Pandering, Wired quotes Simon saying, "In too many areas we have spawned 'leadership' that does not lead, that panders to our whims rather than telling us the truth, that follows the crowd rather than challenging us, that weakens us rather than strengthening us."

In 1997, Simon told the graduating class at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, "When we say the pledge of allegiance, we say 'one nation, under God, indivisible.' We ought to be achieving that goal and I want you to help us achieve it … You, my friends who are graduating here today, let your mission be not that you will add wealth and degrees and fame, but that you are going to use the tools that have been given to you here at Wesleyan to reach out and help others and make this nation and this world a better place."

In a UPI column Uwe Siemon-Netto wrote about Simon's faith-informed social concerns. "He calls the unwillingness of faith leaders 'to do the unpopular' a sin. He pillories the way they 'comfort … those who attend religious functions but not … disturb them by building bridges to other faiths or by helping the most miserable in or society and our world in concrete ways.' " Siemon-Netto continues:

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December (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47