Simon had an influential role in the 2017 ceramics exhibition Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery, as one of three curators and editors. The others were Glenn Adamson and Martina Droth, both from Yale. The exhibition made a strong impact, for its expansive scale and a breadth of approaches. It was shown in an American and a British museum, at the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut, and at The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The splendid large catalogue accompanying the show, with essays by eight curators and craft writers from the UK and the USA, has ensured the afterlife of the exhibition.
In 2020, Simon edited and contributed to the book Bernard Leach: Discovered Archives, with contributions from two Japanese scholars, making use of newly discovered research material in the CSC archives. These are just two examples of Simon's contribution to craft scholarship, his understanding of its modern history, and his clear and articulate telling of it.