Ken Simons: Curriculum vitae

Ken Simons
born 1956 in British Columbia, Canada
lived until 1979 in BC, from then until 1996 in England, and subsequently in Toronto.
Email: info at kgsimons.org
Spouse: Maggie Helwig link
Children: one daughter, Simone Helwig (born 1995)
Parents: Arthur and Margaret Simons [Fulford Harbour BC]; siblings Wayne Simons [BC] and Bob Simons [died 1999] link

Education

Bachelor of Arts: Honours First Class (Iberian and Latin American Studies), 1989 University of Southampton, England.
Dissertation title: “A política nuclear no Brasil 1945-1988”

Earlier education:
  • Attended University of Victoria, BC Canada from 1973-75
  • Gulf Islands Secondary School, Ganges BC Canada 1968-73; Saltspring Elementary, Ganges BC Canada 1966-68; Marlborough Elementary, Burnaby BC Canada 1962-66

Employment

Paid editorial work
  • Managing editor Peace Magazine 2002-present [on acting basis for individual issues 1997-2002]
  • Production manager Canadian Forum 1999
  • Office manager Peace Magazine 1997-present
  • Editor/production worker Peace News (UK) 1990-1996
  • Production manager The Martlet 1981
  • Editor-in-chief The Martlet (University of Victoria) 1978-79
Freelance work
Websites designed, edited, and maintained

Currently webmaster for: peacemagazine.org (since 1997); pcpctoronto.org / pcpcontario.org and subsidiary sites (since 1999); metta.spencer.name (since 2002); maggiehelwig.com (since 2003); davidhelwig.com (since 2004); twoaspirinsandacomedy.com and subsidiary sites (since 2005); poetrypei.com (since 2008); shirleyandderek.ca (since 2008); ChildLife.ca (since 2008); davidwurfel.ca (since 2008); democracynow.ca (since 2009); Science for Peace (since 2009); Collected Works of Florence Nightingale (since 2010); The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy (since 2010); Saint Stephen-in-the-Fields Anglican Church (since 2011); Canadian Electoral Alliance (since 2012); Hiroshima Day Coalition (since 2012); The Nightingale Society (since 2012); Canadian Sanctuary Network (since 2012).

Was original designer and webmaster for wri-irg.org for 11 years, Oct 1997-Nov 2008.

Monographs copy-edited and designed
  • Metta Spencer The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2010)
  • Nonviolence and Social Empowerment, Chris Ney, ed. (London: WRI, 2005).
  • The Lessons of Yugoslavia, Metta Spencer, ed. (London: Elsevier Press, 2000)
  • Separatism: Democracy and Disintegration, Metta Spencer, ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998)
  • PN Educational Offprints 1 and 2, Ken Simons, ed. (London: Peace News, 1993/94)
  • Nonviolent Struggle and Social Defence, Shelley Anderson and Janet Larmore eds. (London: WRI, 1991)
  • Opening Doors to Peace, Mitzi Bales ed. (London: WRI, 1991)
Editorial work on shorter papers and dissertations

I have edited academic papers and dissertations in the UK and Canada; have done editorial and design/layout work on a number of reports, book chapters, and newsletters; converted print manuscripts to ebook format; and have designed maps for print publication.

Consultancy work

I do computer troubleshooting and consulting on a freelance basis, including network setup, hardware and software upgrades, data rescue, and document layout (Quark or Scribus).

Other fulltime work in the nonprofit sector
  • Worker, Balham Food and Book Co-operative, London UK, 1983-85
  • Assistant warden, Youth Hostels Association, London UK, 1980-83
  • Fulltime volunteer, Clapham Action for Vocational Education (adult literacy), London UK, 1979-80
  • Coordinator of Salt Spring Island recycle depot, 1974
Committee work
  • Peace Magazine editorial group, 1996-present
  • Personnel selection committees, War Resisters’ International and Peace News, 1992-1996
  • Newsletter committee, National Peace Council 1992-94
  • Organising committee for post-Gulf War conference, 1991
  • Urgent response network, National Peace Council 1990-93
  • Peace News Trustees board, 1990-1996

Talks, lectures and courses taught

  • Talk on Kosovo to the Communities in Conflict working group, University of Toronto 2000
  • Workshop on solidarity movements, “Choosing Peace Together” conference, Porec, Croatia, 1998
  • Workshop on former-Yugoslavia, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Cardiff, Wales 1993
  • Workshops on peace journalism, War Resisters’ International conferences in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994
  • Bicycle maintenance teacher, Clapham and Battersea Adult Education Institute, London UK 1981-1984
  • Bicycle maintenance teacher, Braziers College, Oxfordshire 1983
  • Lecture on wholefood cookery to 6th form domestic science class, Bedford UK 1983
  • Adult literacy animateur, Frontier College, BC/Alberta 1981
  • Literacy tutor, CAVE adult literacy club, London UK 1978-1980

Publications

Periodicals

Numerous articles in Sanity (UK), Peace News (UK), The Martlet (Canada), Peace Magazine (Canada)

Also: Nonviolent Activist (USA), Tribune (UK), Comeback (UK).

Chapters in books

Civil society and the Kosovo crisis, 1981-1999 in Metta Spencer ed. The Lessons of Yugoslavia (London: Elsevier Press, 2000)

Languages

Studied Portuguese to degree level, Spanish to second-year university level, and French to high-school level. I have done translations of articles from Portuguese, Spanish, and French for publication; and have cleaned up other translations from/to the above languages, including much of the pre-2009 material on the wri-irg.org website. I also understand some German and Italian, and have a rough working knowledge of the south Slavic languages.

Technical skills

I learned cut-and-paste layout skills back in the days of photo-offset newspaper production, together with experience in early (punched-tape) photosetting computers.

In late 1980s, I began to use PCs for word processing and rudimentary programming. From 1990 onwards, desktop publishing (with Ventura Publisher) was a core part of my working life. [I now use Quark and Scribus regularly for page layout.]

I began designing websites in 1996. I have upgraded site architecture as new standards became expected — for instance, introducing CSS layouts from 1998; integrating and adapting Perl scripts in the late 1990s; PHP and flat-text databases in the early 2000s; SQL in the late 2000s; and responsive layouts (with HTML5) in the early 2010s.

I now have a range of sites which run on either flat-text or SQL content management systems. My preferred CMS for large projects is Textpattern. For small sites, I use CMSimple XH and OneFileCMS.