Lee Dixon has worked mostly within the building trades since 1976 as a self-employed contractor, and as a truck driver based in the Texas Panhandle. He retrained as a freelance journalist in the 1990s and eventually worked as a full-time journalist, photographer and editor for a community newspaper before returning to trade work in 2001. He is a keen motorcycle enthusiast, enjoys experimenting with various art forms and loves music and dancing. Lee has five adult children, 10 grandchildren and lives in Nelson, New Zealand, with his wife Maxine.