When a 26-year-old Matt Paxton helped an elderly lady from church downsize her large house, he didn’t know it would be a transformative experience. But he decided that what he wanted to do with his life after that was help people simplify their lives by realizing the value of their memory. Paxton is the host of the popular Emmy-nominated PBS show “Legacy List,” and a thirteen-year veteran of “Hoarders” on A&E. The expert on home organization now has a new book, “Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff.” Matt Paxton joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom to share his insider knowledge of hoarding, decluttering, and the true meaning of stuff.
Paxton has been a decluttering and organization expert for over twenty years. As with so many good and finally-possible ideas, Paxton’s book concept got his full attention during the pandemic. “I kept getting the same questions over and over and over, and I thought, ‘Gosh, if this many people are asking me these questions, I probably need to get it down on paper,’” said Paxton, “And I thought, ‘Gosh, I’m never going to have time like this again.’”
No stranger to the extremes of clutter, Paxton has seen it all. “I had a guy that had an airplane he had reassembled in his basement, and he liked to dry out his clothes, his shirts, on the wing. And he said, ‘Nothing dries a shirt like an airplane wing,” Paxton recounted.
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