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Jeane Dixon

 
Who2 Biography: Jeane Dixon, Columnist / Prognosticator

  • Born: 3 January 1918
  • Birthplace: Medford, Wisconsin
  • Died: 25 January 1997 (Heart attack)
  • Best Known As: Popular astrologer and psychic

A Roman Catholic, Jeane Dixon believed she had a gift from God that allowed her to foretell the future. In 1956 she predicted that a Democrat would win the 1960 presidential election, and that he would be assassinated while in office. When John Kennedy was killed, Dixon became famous. In 1965 a book about Dixon sold millions of copies, and she became a syndicated newspaper columnist, delivering horoscopes and advice. For many years supermarket tabloids relied on Dixon's annual predictions, most of which didn't come true.

For a short time, Dixon was an advisor to Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

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(1918-1997)

American sensitive and prophesier. Dixon's rise to prominence began when she predicted the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. She also predicted the Communist takeover of China, the partition of India, the deaths of Carole Lombard, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Mahatma Ghandhi, and the suicide of Marilyn Monroe.

Dixon was born January 5, 1918, to Frank and Emma Pickert in Medford, Wisconsin; she moved with her family to California at an early age. A gypsy told the eight-year-old Dixon that she had a sensitivity to events around her and presented her with a crystal ball, in which she saw visionary pictures. Dixon's family moved again and she attended high school in Los Angeles, later training to become a singer and actress. At age 21, she married James L. Dixon, who was then in partner-ship with the film producer Hal Roach in an automobile agency. During World War II, Dixon entertained servicemen with her predictions through the Home Hospitality Committee, which was organized by Washington socialites.

Being a devout Roman Catholic, Dixon believed that she had a God-given gift that must be used for the good of human-kind. She was also the founder of the charity known as Children to Children Inc.

Her astrological forecasts were syndicated by the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate, Inc. Her books include Jeane Dixon, My Life and Prophecies: Her Own Story as Told to Rene Noorbergen (1969), Reincarnation and Prayers to Live By (1970), Jeane Dixon's Astrological Cookbook (1976), Horoscopes for Dogs(1979), and The Riddle of Powderworks Road (1980). Newspaper reporter Ruth Montgomery published Dixon's biography, A Gift of Prophecy, in 1965. It sold nearly three million copies in hardback and became a number one best-seller in paperback.

Some critics belittled Dixon for her inaccuracy in predicting events. Most prophesiers, however, have a certain failure rate, often based on the faulty interpretation of symbols, visions, and psychic reactions; Dixon freely admited to these errors. It is said that extrasensory perception is too unpredictable for prophecy to be an exact science.

Dixon died on January 26, 1997 in Washington D.C.

Wikipedia: Jeane Dixon
Top

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]

Contents

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

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

  1. ^ a b c d e f David St. Albin Greene, "The Untold Story...of Jeane Dixon", National Observer, 27 Oct 1972
  2. ^ a b Clauson-Wicker, Su, "Offbeat Attractions", Roanoke Times & World News, Roanoke, Virginia, 17 April 2005, "Displays lead you from Dixon's birth in Wisconsin in 1904 (she liked to say it was 1918)"
  3. ^ Jeane Dixon, biography, IMDb.com
  4. ^ a b c d e "Jean Dixon Psychic and Astrologer Whose Predictions Were Read By Millions", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 27 January 1997.
  5. ^ Denis Brian, Jeane Dixon: The Witnesses, Doubleday & Company, 1976, p147–148
  6. ^ Bordsen, John (21 July 2002). "Mementos of a crystal-gazer fill Jeane Dixon Museum". Houston Chronicle. 
  7. ^ "Celebrity Astrologer Jeane Dixon Dies". The Washington Post. 27 January 1997. 
  8. ^ a b Koncius, Jura (July 19, 2009). "Prophet Margin: What Does the Future Hold for the Sale of Jeane Dixon's Possessions?". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/16/AR2009071604717.html. Retrieved 2009-10-01. 
  9. ^ a b Brady, James (3 February 1997). "Jeane Dixon may have been wacky, but divined comedy made her a star". Crain's New York Business. 
  10. ^ "Astrologer, psychic Dixon dies in Washington", The Oregonian, 26 January 1997.
  11. ^ The Straight Dope Mailbag: The Straight Dope Mailbag: Did psychic Jeane Dixon predict JFK's assassination?
  12. ^ Hines, Terence. (2003). Prometheus Books. p. 71. 
  13. ^ Terror Watch: President Nixon’s Secret Psychic Adviser - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com
  14. ^ Carroll, Robert T.. "Jeane Dixon & the Jeane Dixon effect". The Skeptics Dictionary. http://skepdic.com/dixon.html. Retrieved 2009-10-01. 

External links



 
 
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Who2 Biography. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Jeane Dixon biography from Who2.  Read more
Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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