About Simon

Simon Geller was born on March 16, 1920, in Lowell, Massachusetts, as the first of four boys. His parents were Benjamin Geller of Poland, and Nellie Siegel Geller of Massachusetts. The family moved north to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, after the birth of their fourth son, Irving. However, the family's time in Wolfeboro was short lived, as the family moved back to Massachusetts in the early 1930s, settling this time in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.

It's unclear as to when Simon first came on to radio, but once he did it became his life's work. Simon's career is radio is rumored to include time at WQXR (1560 AM) New York, WADO (1280 AM) New York, WBMS (1090 AM) Boston, and in the early sixties, WMEX (1510 AM) Boston.

WVCA (104.9 FM) went on the air in Gloucester on September 14, 1964, after Simon lost out on his original application for 1410 AM. While Max Richmond, owner of WMEX, told Simon that there was a future in FM broadcasting, he didn't find that to be the case. In 1967, with FM radio still catching on, and licensing costs associated with playing Top 40 acting as headwinds, Simon slowly did away with his staff and changed the station to an all Classical format. Simon would play Classical music 13 hours a day, 7 days a week, until the station was sold in 1988 to Doug Tanger.

During Simon Geller's 24 year run at the helm of WVCA-FM, his listenership would grow steadily due in part to his unique "no-frills" character. When Simon had to go on an errand he would simply announce, "And now I am closing. I have to go to the Boston..." and take the station down until he returned.

In the 1970s, as the value of the FM dial rose, Simon had his license challenged by Grandbanke Communications, who filed a petition in 1974 to deny the license renewal. Grandbanke argued that Geller had not fulfilled the station's public service requirements. This would begin a long and costly legal battle, which Geller would eventually win in 1985, with renewal of the license.

Three years later, Simon would sell WVCA to Doug Tanger, retire from broadcasting, and move to the West Side of Manhattan in New York City.

In the early 1990s, Simon relocated to Rockville, Maryland, to be close to his younger brothers, Eli and Irving.

Simon passed away on July 11, 1995.