Background
Patterson was born in Hertfordshire. The son of a banker, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of London in 1966. He had a sister, Carol, and a brother Colin.
At Bletchingdon Park
John and Valerie at dateline
Valerie with John Cleese at a Dateline promotional event
John, Valerie and John's light aircraft
Patterson was born in Hertfordshire. The son of a banker, he earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of London in 1966. He had a sister, Carol, and a brother Colin.
He attended Bishop's Stortford Boys College.
The Guardian called him "history"s most successful Cupid," while The Times characterized Dateline as "probably the largest, longest established and most successful computer dating service in the world."
He founded Dateline in 1966 after a trip to Harvard University, where he had seen a computer used to match partners at a freshman"s ball. The company was highly successful, quickly becoming "the world"s biggest and most enduring introduction service." Dateline relied heavily on advertising, taking out the first full-page ads for a dating service in newspaper and magazines during the early 1970s, and becoming well-known for its catchphrase, "You too can find love." Patterson also published a monthly magazine titled Singles, and in 1975 he launched a travel agency, Singles Holidays. While these ventures eventually folded, Dateline continued to operate throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
During the 1990s, some estimates suggested that the company matched more than 40,000 prospective couples a year, approximately 2,000 of whom ended up getting married.
Patterson met his first wife, Valerie (writer Sandy Nye) through Dateline. They had three children Alison, Elizabeth and Jonathan.
Patterson was an avid aviator, purchasing his first plane in 1972, and winning the Sunday Times" Beaujolais Wine Race two years running in his single seater light aircraft. He subsequently had two more children, Giles and James with his former secretary, Kim Sellick.
He restored the English vinyard, Hambledon, Hampshire, building a new winery and replanting. He lived in Palladian mansion, Bletchingdon Park, and subsequently Chesterton Manor, Chesterton, both in Oxfordshire.
He struggled with alcoholism later in life, and died of a heart attack in 1997. After Patterson"s death, Dateline was sold to the Columbus Publishing Group in 1998, for £1.45 million.
