Laurence (Laurie) D. Simon is the third generation of his family to be in the Lock and Hardware Industry. For over one hundred and twenty years, the Simon family has been active in many operations of the profession.

Laurie has been in various phases of the industry for sixty years. He has been in the fields of Architectural Hardware, Locksmith Supplies, Locksmithing and the manufacturing of products related to the industry. His number of major contributions includes designing and engineering of products currently manufactured by major firms in the industry.

Motivated by an almost daily barrage of requests for technical information from distributors, dealers, architects, designers and manufacturers worldwide, he has assembled this data. It was originally published in book form and in 1995 converted into a data base for computerized retrieval. As a guide, the data is based on ANSI standards, rated on cost and countries of origin and includes the old Government numbers for reference. Facts are based on manufacturers standards and his own expertise.

Laurie and his wife Helen, reside in Richardson, (Dallas), Texas where they operate the H&L SIMON COMPANY. Their firm is quite diversified, serving as manufacturers? representatives, marketing, advertising and technical consultants. Helen also operates an accounting practice and assists both her clients and H&L SIMON's customers in accounting procedures, tax and general business advice.

His business associations include life memberships in DHI and ALOA and many regional trade associations. He is a frequent lecturer around the country covering both history and technical subjects.  He is always reaching out to assist associations efforts in raising the standards of the various trades.  Currently he is the editor of the monthly publications NTLA/ALNT (North Texas Locksmiths Association and the outgoing Web Master for GHLA (Greater Houston Locksmiths Association).