As a young adult, she became close to British actress Dame Margaret Rutherford, whom she considered an adoptive mother, and who was the subject of a biography written by Simmons in her later years.
[5] Simmons' parents were servants at Sissinghurst Castle, the English estate of biographer Harold Nicolson and his novelist wife, Vita Sackville-West.
[1] Still living as a man, she crewcut her hair and became a teacher on the Ojibway native reserve on Lake Nipigon, experiences from which were translated into the best-selling Me Papoose Sitter (1955)—the first of many published books.
[6] After a stint as an editor for the Winnipeg Free Press,[3] Simmons moved back to England in 1947, to teach theatre at the Gregg School in Croydon, Surrey.
[1] During this time, Simmons began a prolific writing career, including a series of biographies which covered personalities such as Princess Margaret (1958), Jacqueline Kennedy (1964), Lady Bird Johnson (1967), and Mary Todd Lincoln (1970) among many more.
Rutherford, interested in meeting Simmons to discuss a role in a possible adaptation of Me Papoose Sitter, became enamored with the young author and she and Davis agreed to serve as unofficial adoptive parents.
[3] Much later, shortly before her death, her pursuit of Chippendale pieces brought her into contact with Edward Ball, a journalist whose family had owned a Chippendale-style commode, and who would later write a biography about her.
[3] After a second ceremony in England, the crate containing their wedding gifts was firebombed in Charleston, and Simmons received a ticket the next day when the charred remains were obstructing a sidewalk.