The second list is more fun, so it goes first. My first realization is that invented people are way more interesting than real people. There are a couple of really good reasons for that too. Start with the fact that real people would be rooted in their time and knowledge. Having them at dinner would involve a lot of time explaining cell phones and space travel. I don’t want to have to give a history and science lesson before dinner. Plus, they might not ever grasp the enormity of what has happened since they were here. On the other hand, literary figures are free from time and space. They can be imagined to have a sense of what is happening, but they would be, no matter how well developed, creatures of limited nature. Having only been alive in a writer’s, and a reader’s, mind, they would lack the full experience of being human. So, my list would have a little bit of both, and the hope that they could adapt to the world quickly enough to have something to say about it.

My never going to happen, list of dead or literary people I want at a dinner party:

1. Leonardo Di Vinci. If anyone could grasp what had happened since he was here, and have plenty to say about what it meant, and where we could go next, it would be him. Plus, his stories about his life would make after dinner drinks go on for hours.
2. Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha. The Buddha would be my religious figure choice. While Jesus would be interesting, Buddha could actually be entertaining. I would rather talk to someone about paths to enlightenment than argue about meanings of what he is supposed to have said. However, I would love to host a panel discussion—or spend a week on a yacht in the Mediterranean with a great deal of wine—with Buddha and Jesus. I think they would like each other a great deal.
3. Charles Foster Kane, but the young idealistic Kane. My whole reason for putting literary (well, made-up) people on the list. Buddha and Kane could have a moment that might save Kane, and if not Da Vinci and Kane would be a powerhouse drinking duo. But, most of all, the insight of a man to whom anything is possible, in a world where sometimes it’s hard to tell if anything is, or everything is, would be the thing I sought.
4. Douglas Adams. Mostly because I just don’t want him to be dead. But, he was rumored to be a great dinner guest as well. And a little british humour would go a long way at this party. If we are going to be talking about Life, the Universe and Everything, I want him there.
5. Nikola Tesla. A genius, and strange too. He’s the wild card in the mix. Plus, as a bonus pick, he’d bring his good friend Mark Twain. It’s true.

I’ll share my list of people that I would like to get together for dinner, who are actually available for such a meeting, next time.