The Five Friends Blog Series: Dinner Guests
Five best-selling authors, Speaker Hall of Fame recipients, internationally-acclaimed business consultants and best buddies give their insights on business and life.
Randy Pennington:
The list of leaders I would love to speak with is a mile long – Lincoln, Ghandi, King … even Hitler. My first choice for dinner is the Five Friends plus “Hoss” Bledsoe. My fantasy dinner list is all about the fun, the music, and the conversation about living life. Here they are.
- Willie Nelson: He’s written some of the best songs ever. Plus he’s from Texas and will bring the brownies.
- Johnny Cash: The Man in Black was there at the beginning of rock n’ roll. He’s one of the most interesting voices of the past century.
- Kris Kristofferson: You know about the songs, but this guy’s life is so interesting. A college athlete Rhodes scholar helicopter pilot who writes country songs. It would be amazing.
- Waylon Jennings: His country songs are legend, but Waylon also played with Buddy Holly. He wrote about life lived and loved to the fullest.
- Lyle Lovett: Maybe one of the coolest dudes ever. I would love to see him interact with the other guests at this dinner, and I’m sure someone would ask what it was like to be married to Julia Roberts.
Larry Winget
While I would love to have a chat with Jesus, Elvis, George Patton, Benjamin Franklin and a host of others, I’m not sure how they would be as dinner guests. I’m picky about the people I eat with. So I am going to pick every one of the Five Friends plus our buddy, John Bledsoe.
We read everything, see movies, watch TV, go to plays and concerts, love music, travel, great food, whiskey and wine and some of us even love a good cigar. Some of the best times of my life are with these guys either individually or as a group. So for dinner guests, I pick my buddies.
Joe Calloway
- I think Abraham Lincoln was the most fascinating and possibly greatest leader in the history of America.
- Ursula Burns is the CEO of Xerox, and one of the most interesting, innovative people in business today.
- Peggy Noonan is a brilliant commentator on politics and culture.
- Maya Angelou was one of the most insightful, soulful thinkers of our time.
- Marilyn Monroe was a smart, serious actress who was an American cultural phenomenon. And…..I’d love to see her talking with Abraham Lincoln.
Mark Sanborn
- I am a humble follower, so Christ would be my first dinner guest.
- C.S. Lewis was not only a great apologist of the faith, but a highly learned scholar.
- G.K. Chesterton was a larger than life journalist who said, “The world will never lack for wonders, only wonder.”
- I heard Ray Bradbury lecture once. While known for his science fiction and fantasy writing, he had an insatiable imagination.
- Paul Newman was not only one of the greatest actors of our time, but a class act with many interests including philanthropy and auto racing.
Scott McKain
Larry’s choice is the best — there’s nothing better than dinner with your best friends. Here are five other folks I’d like to break bread with:
- Nelson Mandela: How did you endure such hatred and remain so positive about and committed to your goal?
- Margaret Thatcher: When was the toughest time for you to hold firm in your policies and convictions, as the “iron lady”?
- Harry Truman: Looking back, is there anything you would’ve done differently about dropping the bomb?
- Martin Luther King: It’s easy to forget that you were only 39 years old when you were killed. How did you accomplish so much at such an early age?
- Grady Nutt: You were my mentor and had such incredible insights on the world. What would you say about the state of our nation today?
I noticed that only one of you picked Jesus, nobody choose Einstien, or Telsa. Hemingway would have been a good choice also.
Larry, you took the easy way out….you could (and probably already have many times) do dinner with your friends at any time. I think I would join Mr. Pennington and his guests-music and laughter abounding!
Thanks Julie. It sure didn’t seem like the easy way out. For me, it came down to dinner. I eat with people I enjoy. People who love food and conversation and laughter. I like the synergy of a good group over great food. Picking people you admire is fun and as I clearly stated, there are many I would love to chat with. If the question had been The Five People You Want To Talk To or Interview, then my answer would have been different. But there is still no one I would rather have dinner with than my buddies. For me, the pick was about me: me having a good time with people I enjoy. So I picked my buddies. I can learn from all of those other people though their lives, their writing, their songs and the books that have been written about them.