Darran Simon, a journalist who developed an expertise reporting on trauma during a wide-ranging career that had recently brought him to The Washington Post, where he covered District politics and government, passed away on Thursday, April 9, 2020 at his home in Washington, DC. He was 43 years old.

Born in London, England, he lived in Guyana until he was 9 when his family settled in Iselin, New Jersey.

Darran attended the University of Rhode Island, where he was on the men's track and field team, he won awards for student leadership and shared a top prize from the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists for a comparative study on black student activism in the 1970s and the 1990s. He graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in English and, energized by his work on the campus newspaper, received a master's degree in 2004 from Northwestern University's journalism school.

He worked for two years as the Miami Herald's minority affairs reporter and moved to New Orleans in 2007 as an education reporter for the Times-Picayune, compelled to document the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. There he wrote about school reconstruction and covered accountability issues as well as the upending of students' lives in a city of dramatic inequities even before the storm.

A reserved and conscientious reporter, he went on to cover crime for the Philadelphia Inquirer, was a general assignment reporter for Newsday, and was a senior writer with CNN Digital in Atlanta focusing on national and international breaking news before starting March 2 on The Washington Post Metro staff.

He is survived by his parents, Stephen and Jacqueline Simon, both of Iselin; brother, Sherrard Simon of South Carolina; sister, Jeunee Simon of San Francisco, California; grandmother, Agnes Harry; nephew Syncere, niece Janae Marie, uncles and aunts {Myrtle Spooner (Dick), Ewart Simon (Volda), Winifred Cox (Lance), Rance Simon (Holly), Sherlock Simon (Annie), Keith Harry (Carol), Janet Lashley (Charles), Cheryl Pollard (Berkley), June-ann Hunt (Leslie), Kenrick Harry (Cynthia), Gilly Simon (Jennifer), Brian Harry (Paulette), Paula Richmond (Godfrey) and many other relatives and friends.

A memorial service will be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers contributions to Epic Church International 2707 Main St. Ext, Sayreville, NJ 08872 in Darran's memory would be greatly appreciated by his family.