Literary work however, continued his principal avocation, and his first article, a piece on the Garden of Eden written from Baghdad, in the magazine was contributed in 1914, beginning a 35-year service with the Society.

[1] As a diplomat, he went to countries such as Germany, Turkey and Mexico, where he served as the U.S. Consul general, performing services to British, German and Chinese nationalists, during the Mexican Revolution of 1910.

His full service with the National Geographic Society began in 1927, when he was hired by Dr. Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor to join the magazine's staff, and this is where he remained for the rest of his life.

[1] Upon becoming Assistant Editor in 1931, he focused mainly on publishing "biographies" of as many of the 48 States as he could, writing down information about their natural resources, people, cities, and landmarks.

On January 24, 1950, Simpich was preparing for a flight to Texas to work on an article about the state when he was diagnosed with a sudden and deadly yet unknown disease.