Thanksgiving is over and hopefully you had a nice celebration with your family.
But now after recovering from Thanksgiving, who’d you invite to dinner if you could invite any five people you wanted? Narrowing it down, let’s say they have to be alive too. Here in this part of Mexico the weather is getting nicer by the day. The evenings are a pleasant blend of dry and cool, perfect for eating dinner outside on a patio with friends.
So, if you were going to have five living people over for dinner who would they be? I know who I’d invite. Here’s the list, in no particular order, I’d like to meet them for dinner separately or in a group setting: Christoper Hitchens, Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Gilbert, Alain de Botton, and Seth Godin. There’re other people I’d like to invite too, but for now these are for the first dinner party.
Why these particular people? Well, I’ve heard all of them speak publicly and enjoyed listening to what they had to say. Most have written interesting books and are keen observers of people.
Christopher Hitchens Christopher Hitchens is one of the top intellectuals and debaters trodding the planet. I’ve written about him here. He has cancer and may not make it another five years (but I’d have included him on my list anyway).
Michelle Obama Michelle is the invitee I know the least about. But I’ve seen her speak and her background and current situation are fascinating. She attended Princeton and Harvard Law and practiced law afterwards. Then of course there’s that whole White House thing. Plus since she’s not a politician, she can be unguarded and open.
Elizabeth Gilbert Honestly, at first I’d dismissed Elizabeth a few years ago; ignorantly thinking her popular “Eat,Pray, Love” was a chick lit book. Then I saw her speak on TED and in a PBS series and I changed my mind. Then I read the book too and liked it.
Alain de Botton Alain is a sharp observer of modern life. Last year he was invited to spend a week at a desk watching, chatting with and writing about passengers in London’s Heathrow airport. His observations were even turned into a book so if he can convert a week in an airport into a book he’s got to be pretty clever.
Seth Godin Seth is an entrepreneur and blogger, blogging about marketing and the way ideas spread. He’s blogged daily for years and it’s still interesting and current. It’s one of the blogs I never miss. He also has 12 best sellers that have been translated into 33 languages. Here’s a talk he gave last year at TED.
Next, what sort of food would I serve? I don’t know. I’d check with everyone to find what they each preferred and figure out something delicious everyone would like. I guess I’d have to feed the secret service guys too.
But really I’m most interested in the conversations that would happen.