How Did We Miss This One?

The earthly possessions of Jeane Dixon, psychic to the stars [not Nancy Reagan, however – that was Joan Quigley; we will correct this error from last Friday’s edition] were auctioned off on July 26 by Sloans & Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Somehow the article in The Washington Post slipped past us; otherwise we’d have at least taken a seat at the proceedings to see who would bid upon the savant’s possessions.

Many of the auction’s specifics were reported at News-Antique.com, which said the total brought by the auction exceeded $312,000 — well beyond the predictions made by the auction house beforehand. The most noteworthy transaction was doubtlessly Dixon’s crystal ball, a highly visible symbol of her calling, which was sold for $11,950. However, that wasn’t the highest price paid for one of her possessions; that distinction went to a Continental gilt brass-mounted bas relief cast composition wishing well. Despite a pre-auction estimate that it would bring in no more than $1,200, it ultimately sold for $22,107.50.

Although the auction was only held last month, Dixon had actually died of a heart attack at age 93 in 1997. She eventually achieved fame through her predictions, which could be found in newspapers across the country, as well as through her acquaintances with the rich and famous.

According to Wikipedia, Dixon was born Lydia Emma Pinckert in Wisconsin and was raised in Missouri and California, though she didn’t talk of her past in public. After her death, the article states, “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…” Later that year the museum closed, and eventually some 500 boxes of items were sent to the auction house.

— [the other] Eric Francis / DogtownВ  Writer