From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeane L. Dixon (January 5, 1904^[1][2] – January 25, 1997) was one of the best-known American astrologers and psychics of the 20th century, due to her syndicated newspaper astrology column, some well-publicized predictions and a best-selling biography.^[3]

Early life

Dixon was born as Lydia Emma Pinckert to German immigrants, Gerhart and Emma Pinckert, in Medford, Wisconsin, but raised in Missouri and California. ^[4] Dixon's birthdate is often reported as 1918 and Dixon would offer this date to reporters^[2][1], at one point even producing a passport to this effect^[1], but she once testified in a deposition that she was born in 1910.^[1] An investigation by a reporter for the National Observer, who interviewed family members and examined official records, indicates that Dixon was born in 1904.^[1][5]

In Southern California, her father owned a car dealership with Hal Roach, an American film and television producer and director.^[6] Dixon claimed that while growing up in California, a "gypsy" gave her a crystal ball and read her palm, predicting she would become a famous "seer" and advise powerful people.^[7] She was married to James Dixon from 1939 until his death, but they had no children.^[8] James Dixon was a car dealer in California, who later ran a successful real estate company in Washington DC.^[9] Dixon worked with her husband in the business for many years and served as the company's president.^{[4] [10]}

Career as a psychic

Dixon is best known for allegedly predicting the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In the May 13, 1956, issue of Parade Magazine she wrote that the 1960 presidential election would be "dominated by labor and won by a Democrat" who would then go on to "[B]e assassinated or die in office though not necessarily in his first term." She later admitted, “During the 1960 election, I saw Richard Nixon as the winner”,^[11] and at the time made unequivocal predictions that JFK would fail to win the election.^[12]

Dixon was the author of seven books, including her autobiography, a horoscope book for dogs and an astrological cookbook. She gained public awareness through the biographical volume, A Gift of Prophecy: the Phenomenal Jeane Dixon, written by syndicated columnist Ruth Montgomery. Published in 1965, the book sold more than 3 million copies. Professing to be a devout Roman Catholic, she attributed her prophetic ability to God.^[4] Another million seller, My Life and Prophecies, was credited "as told to Rene Noorbergen", but Dixon was sued by Adele Fletcher, who claimed that her rejected manuscript was rewritten and published as that book. Fletcher was awarded five percent of the royalties by a jury.^[1]

President Richard Nixon referred to Dixon as "the soothsayer" and ordered preparations for a terrorist attack she had predicted.^[13] She was also one of several astrologers who gave advice to Nancy Reagan during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

The Jeane Dixon effect

John Allen Paulos, a mathematician at Temple University, coined the term "the Jeane Dixon effect", which refers to a tendency to promote a few correct predictions while ignoring a larger number of incorrect predictions.^[4] Many of Dixon's predictions proved false, such as her claims that a dispute over the offshore Chinese islands of Quemoy and Matsu would trigger the start of World War III in 1958, that Walter Reuther, an American labor union leader, would run for President of the United States in the 1964 presidential election and that the Russians would be the first to put men on the moon.^[14][9]

Death

Dixon suffered a cardiac arrest and died at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. on January 25, 1997.^[4]

Many of Dixon's possessions ended up with Leo M. Bernstein, a Washington D.C. investor and a banker whose clients included Dixon. In 2002, he opened the Jeane Dixon Museum and Library in Strasburg, Virginia, to display what he owned. Bernstein died in 2008; in July 2009, the possessions, 500 boxes in all, were scheduled to be auctioned off.^[8]

Bibliography

Publications by Jeane Dixon:

• Dixon, Jeane, co-authored with Noorbergen, Rene, Jeane Dixon : My Life and Prophecies, William Morrow and Company, August 1969, ISBN 0688021425.
• Dixon, Jeane, Reincarnation and Prayers to Live By, W. Morrow, 1970, ISBN 0688150039.
• Dixon, Jeane, The Call to Glory , Bantam Books, 1973, ISBN 0553075128.
• Dixon, Jeane, Jeane Dixon's Astrological cookbook, Morrow, 1976, ISBN 0688030912.
• Dixon, Jeane, Horoscopes for Dogs, Houghton Mifflin, 1979, ISBN 0395274532.
• Dixon, Jeane, Yesterday, Today, and Forever, Andrews Mcmeel Publishing, 1987, ISBN 0836279417.
• Dixon, Jeane, A Gift of Prayer Words of Comfort and Inspiration From the Beloved Prophet and Seer, Viking Studio Books, 1995, ISBN 9780670860104.
• Dixon, Jeane, Do Cats Have Esp?, Running Press Book Publishers, 1998, ISBN 9780966520200.

See also

• Joan Quigley
• Carroll Righter
• Joyce Jillson

Sources

• Betz, Paul, (Ed.), Carnes, Mark (Ed.), American National Biography: Supplement 1 (American National Biography Supplement), Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, pp. 163-164, ISBN 978-0195150636.
• Dixon, Jeane, Noorbergen, Rene, Jeane Dixon: My Life and Prophecies, William Morrow and Company, August 1969, ISBN 0688021425

References

External links

• Jeane Dixon at the Internet Movie Database
• Jeane Dixon at Find a Grave