“An Evening with Valerie Simpson” honoring her beloved late husband, Nick Ashford, interviewed by Gwen Ifill, and presented as a benefit for The HistoryMakers is Nov. 9, in Thorne Hall of Northwestern University’s School of Law. Ashford (he died in August of cancer) and Simpson, who spent over 40 years as a husband-wife songwriting team and recording artists and 30-plus years as a married duo — a life of tremendous accomplishment and acclaim. Even if they never became the superstars that their songs helped Diana Ross and Chaka Khan become, they were known for far more than the mid-chart hits they did manage as recording artists.