Peter Dixon with the covers of a few of the many books he's written over the past 50 or so years.
Peter Dixon with the covers of a few of the many books he's written over the past 50 or so years.
He spent 50 years in Malibu, where surfing and writing consumed his days.
American author Peter Dixon is the man behind many hit TV shows from the 1960s, '70s and '80s including, Flipper, Little House on the Prairie, Knight Rider, and Bionic Woman.
But in the 1990s Malibu shifted to a more affluent lifestyle, traffic increased and the waves were too crowded.
Dixon and his wife still wanted to be close to the waves, so they discovered Gisborne.
Justine Tyerman meets the 85-year-old who is still writing at least two pages a day, and surfing in his adopted home.
Dixon after a swimming session at the Olympic Pool. Photo / Gisborne Herald
Swimming has defined Peter Dixon's life.
It saved the 85-year-old's life, nearly claimed his life, introduced him to celebrities, provided inspiration for his books, scripts and movies, material for his master's degree thesis, brought him semi-fame - he's still waiting for the elusive fortune - and was how he met his wife.
The New York City-born author, movie producer, scriptwriter and one-time underwater stuntman now calls Gisborne's waves home.
While studying at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Dixon, 21, worked as an lifeguard at Venice Beach, Los Angeles. He was swimming to shore one day when he collided head-on with a 20-year-old Santa Monica Pool lifeguard named Sarah Daniels.
"Swimming literally brought us together," says Dixon of his wife.
The couple recently celebrated 61 years together, a union that produced three children.
Drafted into the army at 23 to fight in the Korean War, Dixon's prowess in the water resulted in his appointment as a swimming pool manager and lifeguard instructor at Fort Hood in Texas.
"Swimming probably saved my skin," he says.
But it also exposed him to some dangerous situations. His expert swimming and scuba diving skills came to the attention of Malibu neighbour Paul Stader, stunt director for the hit TV series Sea Hunt, who hired him as an underwater stunt double for actor Lloyd Bridges.
"Lloyd was a sweet man to work with but he was way taller than I was," Dixon said.
"When I drove his boat I had to stand on a box to become his stunt double."
It was on the set of 1960s TV series Sea Hunt that Peter nearly lost his life when he was trapped in an underwater set and his safety man had removed his air tank. The alert cameraman spotted him lying on the bottom unconscious and fished him out.
Dixon's underwater adventures also resulted in decompression sickness and ruptured ear drums. He estimates spending some 1100 hours underwater.
After graduating from UCLA with a degree in education specialising in recreation, Dixon completed a master's degree thesis on the use of scuba diving in forensic investigations and body recovery.
Peter and Sarah Dixon about to hit the waves at Wainui Beach. Photo / Gisborne Herald
An accomplished writer in academic genres, Dixon then tried his hand at scriptwriting, first for Sea Hunt and then for Flipper. He wrote the first episode of Flipper and nine afterwards.
The show funded the house he built at Malibu Beach.
"We lived in the house that Flipper built for 35 happy years," Dixon says.
During the Cold War-era of the 1960s, Peter did a stint training Nato radar operators to keep electronic watch on Russian aircraft.
"I was working for RAND (Research and Development) as a 'Cold War warrior' and hated it."
He wrote and co-wrote scripts for several movies, including a 1977 Alain Delon French production of The Children Are Watching, adapted from the novel he co-wrote with Laird Koenig, which won France's best mystery novel award in 1972.
Flipper. picture / supplied
A much-cherished project was Children, Families and the Sea, a series of five books the Dixons were commissioned to write in 1978-79 for use in schools.
The couple lived with fishing families in coastal communities in Japan, Mexico, Trinidad, Canada and the state of Maine, and wrote about children growing up there.
The Bionic Woman. picture / supplied
Another highlight was when his television script Father Murphy earned Best Family Drama of the Year award in 1989.
By the late 1990s, Malibu shifted to a more affluent lifestyle, traffic increased and the waves became more crowded.
Prompted by a friend who lived at Wainui, the Dixons came to New Zealand on holiday in 2002. They liked what they saw on the East Coast and moved here in 2003.
"When we arrived here 13 years ago, Wainui looked much like the Malibu we knew and loved and left behind - a curving beach with points of land to the north and south," he says.
Local surfers welcomed them.
"We found ourselves part of a warm, extended family. Gisborne felt like home," Dixon said.
"We fell in love with the place because of the beaches, swimming, surfing, friendly people and semi-rural setting. Gisborne has lost some of its rural character, but not the helpful, friendly people.
David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider, just one of many TV shows Peter Dixon has written episodes for. Photo / File
The couple continued to work, producing Lost At Sea, an account of Rob Hewitt's four days adrift off the Kapiti Coast. The documentary, filmed by Gisborne cameraman Mark Chrisp, was first shown on TV3 and then on the National Geographic channel.
The Waltons. picture / supplied
Dixon is far from retired and says he's still driven by a powerful urge to write.
