Chris Dixon is clearly charting his own unique journalistic trail. A West Coast stringer for The New York Times, his recent bylined features show the breadth of his curiosity. Here’s Dixon (ABJ ’89, MMC ’95) test-driving the world’s fastest electric car, the Tzero, which goes from 0-60 in 4.1 seconds. Here’s Dixon co-authoring a witness’ account of a terrorist bombing in Bali. Here’s Dixon explaining how vegetable oil from fast-food restaurants is converted into biodiesel fuel.
Dixon’s most recent reporting adventure was a day with a special unit of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, called the “Skunk Squad.” This team visited vacant buildings and underpasses where gangs, vagrants, and drug addicts congregate and sprayed the sites with a repulsive, skunk-like concoction. “It was a clever, horrendously foul, way to drive this criminal element out into the open,” says Dixon, “and it presented a safe way for me to see South Central L.A. Other communities will no doubt be intrigued how this big city is dealing with this urban problem.”
Dixon’s affinity for journalism is family related. His father, Jobie, was an Atlanta advertising exec with Pringle-Dixon-Pringle. His mother, Gloria Ricks (ABJ ’66), was public relations director for the Hearst Magazine Group in New York and London.
After a stint in the ad game, Dixon moved to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to surf and write. His features for an entertainment weekly, Hot Times, frequently made the cover. Realizing he could get paid to write about his twin passions—surfing and biking—he submitted articles to Surfer, Velo News, and Bike. When Esquire launched a British edition, he contributed articles about American popular culture.
Dixon’s work for Surfer led to him being online editor and publisher of Surfermag.com in Southern California. A major plus of his job was that he could surf every day. “Surfing is a lifestyle,” says Dixon, “and I love to write about it. In many ways, I had a dream job, but I was still tied down to an office and I knew there was more to life than riding waves.” So he quit and went back to freelancing.
When Dixon learned that Jimmy Buffett was looking for someone to create travel journals for his Web site, Margaritaville.com, he got the gig. “Jimmy was looking for a surfer with a college education,” says Dixon. “And he wanted a web documentarian, someone who could write and take photographs. I guess I was a perfect match.”
Dixon and his wife-to-be moved to Palm Beach, Fla., where Buffet has one of his homes. Over the next year, he took more than a thousand pictures of Buffett piloting his plane, surfing, touring with his band, even inspecting—what else?—a tequila factory. “Jimmy critiqued my work and sorta became my mentor,” says Dixon, who notes that Buffett really is the person he sings about in his songs. “He’s smart and his ideas are the basis of his success. That insight fueled my fire even more to do my own thing. That year with Jimmy was an incredible confidence booster.”
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