Author and musician George T. Simon, who played drums with the Glenn Miller Band and wrote books and liner notes on the swing era, has died. He was 88, according to a recent AP report.

Simon died Tuesday at New York University Medical Center. The cause of death was pneumonia following a battle with Parkinson's disease, according to a friend, archivist Grayson Dantzic.

Simon's music career began in 1937, while he was writing for Metronome magazine. He sat in with the up-and-coming Glenn Miller Band and played the drums as the band recorded its first half-dozen songs.

But he opted to stay in writing, and became Metronome's editor in chief in 1939. He held the job for the 16 years, championing artists from Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald to Peggy Lee.

"Simon tells it like it all was," friend Frank Sinatra wrote in a book jacket excerpt.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Beverly Jean Simon; a daughter; son; and three grandchildren.