BOARDMEMBER PROFILE: Pat Dixon

Hi Pat! Welcome to WEHOville. Introduce yourself, where from, when came to West Hollywood?

Born and raised on the upper west side of New York City, surrounded by Central Park on one side, Museums on the other. 

I come a nice Jewish family of seven children -I was next to the youngest.  I lived in San Francisco when I was married to my son’s dad.  We were hippies who dropped acid and smoked grass in Golden Gate Park. 

To take the edge off of our hard life I also drank a gallon of Red Mountain Dew every day or so.  I moved around the world for a while with my son and then when he went to live with his father for a while, I moved to Los Angeles where I discovered that life on the “natch” was wonderful.  

And you a sparkling senior!    How many years have you been on the Senior Advisory Board?

I had a very good friend, Barbara Krupa, who introduced me to the inner workings of West Hollywood.  She was on the SAB and took me to a few meetings. 

When I retired from Fox Studios I joined the board, but I really have no idea how long  At the same time I began to go to City Council Meetings which were a revelation. 

When I lived in Los Angeles on Genessee Street, I had no idea that LA had meetings, when and where.  It didn’t occur to me that I could have a voice in the way a city runs.  And that is the beauty of West Hollywood:  If I don’t like the way things are going I am given the opportunity to fight for change, even if it’s a lost cause, my voice is being heard. 

How has Covid affected the lives of many of our local seniors, including yourself?

COVID is a mixed blessing.  Knowing that so many died a horrible, lonely death fills my soul with tears.  It was maddening at first, going on every nuance of how this virus came to be in our lives.  I still don’t have an answer that satisfies me.  But we must go on.  I live alone and am blessed with many friends in various age groups and they were incredible  Dropping food off in front of my door and standing on the staircase for conversation.  West Hollywood has been incredible.  The JHS called and made it possible for me to have meals delivered.  You, Larry, were quick on the trigger with face masks.  Where does this happen? 

Maybe in Podunk, wherever that is, but the county is large; our city stands out for me because of the services seniors especially get.  I love to read and so I am able to indulge in sitting on a chair and reading a book a day if I so choose.  It did give me pause about getting older and not having a partner. 

I used to joke about finding Harry before I got too old  Well, I’m too old now and there’s no Harry around.  But I am at peace with the person I am becoming every day.  In a good way.  I think the social services department of West Hollywood has done a magnificent job of keeping seniors informed and taken care of.  And I have to say thank you to David Guini and Leslie Isenberg and their powerful staff in in keeping us busy on zoom. 

But I can also remember marching with you at the Protect Plummer Park rally.   You were front and center!   You’re a bit of an activist. What do you want to fight for in West Hollywood?

I am flattered to be considered an activist for West Hollywood but I fall short by the standards of the people who live here and have worked so tirelessly to keep Plummer Park safe from grandiose plans from our city council. 

The people who really put blood in the veins of this movement are Stephanie Harker, Cathy Blavis, Steve Martin and Victor; they were all fighting for term limits and other things that radically affect West Hollywood. 

In the old days, when I was an overage hippie and living in NYC and then San Francisco, I was involved in the Peace and Freedom Party in San Francisco, marching against the war in Vietnam with my (ex)husband and son in his carriage down Fifth Avenue and having blood (not real blood obviously) thrown at us. There were a great many things to get excited about then, hoping that we could make a change. 

I remember talking to people trying to get Adlai Stevenson on the ballot before I was even old enough to vote (in those days the voting age was 21 years old).  Today, the spirit is willing but the body says no.  And hope diminishes after a while when you realize the same old problems are the same old problems.  Different shirt, different tie, same mentality.  It’s kind of discouraging. 

When I was younger it was about civil rights; today it is still about civil rights and the abuse people suffer.  Back to your question, I think what I would like to see if what most people would like – affordable housing for the aging and others, a better response for the homeless; crime abatement, equality in every aspect of our lives.  A sense of unity among all of us.  Will these things happen?  Not in my lifetime, but perhaps some dent can be made into the pressing problems of life as we age. 

We saw you on a game show recently. Tell us about that!

Game show.  Not exactly.  It was the Jimmy Kimmel show and I loved every minute of it.  I started out in life wanting to act and I did the usual, summer stock, off broadway, etc. 

But those dreams were packed away for a number of reasons.  Fast forward to 2019 and I’m sitting in Farmer’s Market having a coffee with some friends and a small twist on the Lana Turner story, a producer was sitting close by and heard my banter and that is all she wrote.

He called, I called back, He called again, interview, another interview and then there I am, sitting in the “green room” of the Jimmy Kimmel show and it was kind of like a game show. I was up against a young man about 16 and we were both asked questions about each other’s culture (or whatever you want to call it) and I won, but it was very close. 

I am really a ham at heart and I won an Apple Watch which sadly I have lost or misplaced but I always called it my Jimmy Kimmel watch.  The same producer called me for another show that was going to be hosted by Jay Leno, but honestly I wasn’t interested and never pursued it.  It was a takeoff on the original Groucho Marks old show (I forgot the name). 

And some of your hobbies?   

Hobbies.  If I would use the word hobbies, I would say I like to read a lot; i like to write, i like to cook; i like to knit; I like to swim; I like to argue.  Are these hobbies?  I would think these are life sustaining activities.

And life as a grandma? 

My grandson opened my heart in a way that my son never could.  Raising my son I was conscious of how he was; what he was thinking; how was he doing?  How he was doing in life was directly tied to how I would feel.  I was very fortunate; Max is more of a grownup than I ever could be.  Having a grandson is different.   It is just pure love, at least on my part.  To him ‘Im just another annoying grownup, a small part of his life; to me he is my grandson, smart, funny, handsome, and very special.  

Thank you Pat, we love you much.   Happy Holidays.