You can have dinner with six people from history, living or dead...

[First Speaker]

...who do you choose? Here are my choices:

1. Duke Ellington. He would make the conversation sparkle, and maybe give us a little music towards the end of the evening.

2. Lord Byron. No particular reason why--for Chrissakes, he's *Lord Byron*.

3. Dorothy Parker. A few wisecracks to lighten the mood. Love to see her in this company.

4. Dr Samuel Johnson. He could contribute to any dinner.

5. Oscar Wilde. As Harold Bloom put it, Wilde gets everything right.

6. H. L. Mencken. It wouldn't get boring with him there, in this company.

[Upthevibe]

1. Kick.......

Kicking while I think about this one. I LOVE threads like this!

[Chipper Chat]

2. Martin Luther King

Oscar Hammerstein
Karen Carpenter
David Hogg
Molly Ivens
Crazy Horse
Bette Davis

[PJMcK]

3. Okay, I'll play

1. George Gershwin. His life was cut short just as he was beginning to really mature as a composer. You know he wouldn't resist playing a medley of his songs!

2. William Shakespeare. Much of his life and work is shrouded in uncertainty. I'd love to know if he really wrote all of the works attributed to him. Since he was such a showman and entrepreneur, I'm sure he'd have much to share.

3. Jennifer Rubin. As a political commentator, she's makes insightful observations with a sharp wit. Although she's traditionally been a conservative, her voice has been a beacon of clarity during the last 5 years.

4. Dr. Carl Sagan. Incredibly brilliant and articulate. He'd have so many observations that I think I could spend many evenings with him while learning more than my small brain could handle!

5. Harry Truman. A very modest and interesting man who found himself athwart history. The biographies I've read make him sound like a great conversationalist and I'm sure he'd take a turn at the piano, (but he'd play badly!).

6. Tom Wolfe. A bit stuffy, perhaps, but he had amazing observations about people and events. Plus, he'd raise the level of attire.

[Aristus]

30. I'll save you the trouble of deciphering Shakespeare's Warwickshire patois.

Yes, Shakespeare wrote the works attributed to him. There is no shadowy conspiracy, no 'real' author who's genius has been cruelly denied by history.

"Did Shakespeare Write Shakespeare?" is a tired, threadbare, shopworn old parlor game that never made any sense in the first place.

Still, have him over for dinner. Excellent choice. He was a gifted man.

[-misanthroptimist]

4. My list:

1. Mark Twain

2. Albert Einstein

3. Eratosthenes

4. The first person to discover how to make bread.

5. Isaac Newton

6. Barack Obama

[hlthe2b]

5. Surprised lists thus far leave out one...

Whether religious, agnostic (pretty much me) or atheist (assuming you can accept the stories are based on an individual human in history), I'd think a lot of people would like to sit down and converse with:

Jesus (not because of religious issues specifically, but to discuss the way in which he is perceived, worshipped, exploited today. Who wouldn't like to know, no matter ones' current beliefs?... )

Mark Twain, of course. I smile at the very thought

Amelia Earhart (I'm a sucker for unsolved mysteries and famous women "FIRSTS" )

Eleanor Roosevelt (I'd never want the conversation to end)

Aristotle along with his mentor, Plato (why not? Philosopher/Scientist/Proponent of ''Logic in Argument. I'd do my best--against the odds-- to "keep up" )

John Locke (English philosopher/physicist credited during Age of Enlightenment with social contract theory and as "the Father of Liberalism" His philosophy figured prominently in our Declaration of Independence)

[Harker]

12. I rode an Amtrak train from Denver to Chicago in 1991.

The steward was a dead ringer for Samuel Clemens, curly white hair and bushy moustache, vest and pocket watch.

I said, "I'm sure you hear this all the time..." and he jumped in, "yep, they call me Mark Train.". I still smile when I think of it.

[PJMcK]

13. Great story! (n/t)

[Harker]

16. It's great when people live the life they want to live! n/t

[Fla Dem]

6. Here goes:

1. Sojourner Truth

2. Amelia Mary Earhart

3. Florence Nightingale

4. Hillary Clinton

5. Elizabeth Warren

6. Orpah Winfrey


Now if they didn't have to be historical, my Mom and her mother, My Grandmother.

[PJMcK]

15. Lady's night!

May I please come by for dessert?

I had the same thought about my ancestors. I'd love to talk with my great-grandparents who emigrated to the U.S. before WWI; they died when I was about 3 or 4 but I have a few fond memories. I'd love to have dinner with my late mother especially if she were the cook!

Alas, all we have of some people are memories.

[Fla Dem]

35. Yes, please join us! Chocolate Lava Cake!

Last edited Wed Mar 24, 2021, 06:24 PM - Edit history (1)

There are so many things I would love to talk to my Mom and Grandmother about their lives. Unfortunately I didn't have the awareness or perhaps I was too involved in my own life while they were still with us.

Dessert!

[brush]

7. Here are mine.

Last edited Wed Mar 24, 2021, 06:37 PM - Edit history (4)

Muhammed Ali. No need to explain why.

MLK and LBJ: Would want to hear about their negotiations, specifically how Martin got LBJ to do what was best for the country and African Americans, considering he was from a southern state. To me it wasn't that far a stretch as LBJ had been a teacher in the Texas hlll country where he taught Mexican American kids before he ran for Congress and got the area electricity.

FDR. Would want to hear how he arrived, as a wealthy man from a wealthy family, at being such a champion for regular Joes and Janes. And frankly, I'd like to hear how he wrestled with his conscience in having to exclude Black Americans from his New Deal programs in order to get the dixiecrats to vote for them.

Sarah Vaughan/Ella Fitzgerald/Billie Holiday. Just for being "the devine one"/Ella having a bell for a voice/for being Lady Day, and maybe they might grace us with song.

Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. Where did they get the guts to descend upon the California legislature, armed, while declaring they would no longer kowtow to the brutality of the white, racist cops in Oakland. Also would want to hear how Newton self-destructed and went against everything we thought he stood for.

Nelson Mandela. No need to explain why he's on this list either.

Malcolm, Oprah, Obama, Megan Rapinoe, Michael Eric Dyson...ok, ok. I know I have to stop.

[redstatebluegirl]

8. My choices

1. Marie Curie
2. Eleanor Roosevelt
3. Molly Ivins
4. Warren Buffet
5. Malcolm X
6. Barbara Jordan

[Cartoonist]

9. I had dinner with one of my idols.

He was a writer. I discovered something about him that really put me off.

John Lennon - I'm sure I would bore him
Abe Lincoln - We're both from Illinois
Galileo - Let's talk religion
Raymond Chandler - One of many writers that could be on this list
Humphrey Bogart - He can bring Lauren
Neil deGrasse Tyson - The smartest man alive today

[PJMcK]

17. Good choices!

I chose Dr. Carl Sagan in place of Dr. Tyson. I might challenge you on the "smartest man alive" as I can think of a small handful of men and women who are at least as brilliant as Dr. Tyson. Regardless, you know he'd be an awesome conversationalist!

When I was young, we lived in Illinois and they were happy and formative years for me. So you'll forgive me if I point out that although the great State of Illinois claims to be The Land of Lincoln, Honest Abe was actually born in Kentucky.

Galileo! Great choice. I'd like to hear a lot more from him than just religion but I get you point.

I met Lauren Bacall briefly over about 6 months when she was performing in my clients' musical on Broadway. Quite a lady with a dastardly sense of humor. One time that I talked with her was at a wake for John Lennon that Leonard Bernstein held at his apartment in the Dakota where Lennon lived. Heady times for a young musician.

[Harker]

23. He could drop off Lauren as far as I'm concerned. n/t

[Polly Hennessey]

10. Ok, here goes.

Emily and Charlotte Bronte (how did you two have the insight to create men such as Heathcliff and Rochester).

Cleopatra (what was your secret for enticing two men such as Julius Caesar and Marc Antony).

Elizabeth I ( how did you manage to control an Empire).

Alexander the Great (were you as gorgeous as they say you were)?

Benjamin Franklin (I have a feeling you would be a great dinner companion).

Brad Pitt (because...oh, heck, just because).

[PJMcK]

36. I think I know Cleopatra's secret

No, it's not what you think!

Power attracts power. Cleopatra would know this. They were all trying to build their empires.

Or maybe she was just the most beautiful woman in the world and knew how to charm the gentlemen from Rome!

[Harker]

11. First of a series...

Last edited Wed Mar 24, 2021, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)

1. Stan Brakhage.
2. Franz Joseph Haydn.
3. Queen Victoria.
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan.
5. Stephen Jay Gould.
6. Groucho Marx.

[PJMcK]

37. Stephen Jay Gould!

I didn't think of him. Good choice.

[Harker]

38. Any good dinner party needs a little

punctuated equilibrium! I had a hard time leaving off my friend Bob Bakker, who would also enjoy talking with SJG.

[sanatanadharma]

14. Jesus and five current evangelical influencers/ leaders

Can't fix the past but perhaps can rationalize and correct the present.

[PJMcK]

21. I thought about including Jesus in my list

But as an atheist, I decided to follow the OP regarding actual historical figures.

Regardless of one's faith, however, here are my suggestions for the five other guests.

- Pope Francis
- Tony Perkins
- Joel Osteen
- Mike Huckabee
- Franklin Graham

It would be enlightening to hear Jesus' reactions to these men's beliefs and preachings.

[Harker]

25. Perkins was great in "Fear Strikes Out" and "Psycho". n/t

[PJMcK]

32. Screech, screech, screech!!!

You're a funny one, Harker!

I meant this dude:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Perkins_(politician)

[Harker]

33. I'm trying...

at least that's what my wife tells me every day.

[demmiblue]

18. Girl's night of the living!

Megan Rapinoe

Rachel Maddow

Aisha Tyler

Kristen Johnston

Mindy Kaling

Betty White

Honorary guest: Dr. Fauci (he is allowed at our girl's night... we all want the tea)

[lpbk2713]

19. Hemingway

Willie Nelson

D D Eisenhower

T A Edison

John Ford (Director)

Kate Hepburn

I'm sure they could all keep me spellbound.

[Coventina]

20. I've had religion on my brain lately, even though I'm not religious.

1. Jesus
2. The Buddha
3. Confucius
4. Muhammad
5. Starhawk (only one still living - well, here on earth, anyway)
6. Akbar the Great

[Harker]

26. I could send Groucho over for coffee... n/t

[Harker]

22. When Mencken has had dessert, send him over to my place

for beer and a couple cigars, would you please?

[Aristus]

24. Mine:

1. Julius Caesar.
2. Ben Franklin.
3. Voltaire.
4. Oscar Wilde.
5. Eleanor of Acquitaine.
6. Dorothy Parker.

[Harker]

27. Put on extra coffee for Voltaire! n/t

[Aristus]

28. Definitely.

And four dry martinis for Dorothy Parker...

[Harker]

29. If the house is a-rockin', don't bother knockin'. n/t

[Aristus]

31. HA!

[Tikki]

34. These:

Charles Darwin

Charles Dickens

Dolly Parton USA current singer, actress, author, business owner, philanthropist

Cyril Rioli Tiwi Island/Australian current activist, retired AFL

Anton Garber Germany current artist, activist, musician (synth), model

Rhys Darby New Zealand current comedian, actor, author, director

Tikki

[Upthevibe]

39. First Speaker...Here are mine (I cheated just a little)....

Barack & Michelle Obama
Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt
Mahatma Gandhi
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jesus
John Lennon

[Harker]

40. Just a little.

I thought about sneaking in the rest of the Marx Brothers and Double Trouble.