Party Guests


      The Concept:

      I don't remember where the idea for this game came from.  And, actually, it's more of an intellectual exercise or a discussion-provoker than a real game.  It is not a competition and there are no wrong answers.  Nonetheless, it's a fun exercise to share with family and friends.  The idea is fairly simple -- to assemble a list of names.  Imagine that you could invite anybody you wanted to a gathering -- a dinner, a cocktail party, or whatever.  These guests can be anyone -- famous people, living or dead, from any place or time in history.  You just put together a list of the people that you would most enjoy talking to, or would enjoy hearing talk to each other.

      I remember watching a video during a college course on Criminal Law.  The video was of a gathering of famous individuals, including judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, police chiefs, reporters, and others, who were being led by a moderator in a discussion about various legal issues.  I loved the debate and the wide range of ideas by so many intelligent minds.  And, I always thought it would have been fun -- and challenging -- to be the moderator.  In a way, that is how I view the scenario described in this game: I am the moderator and I can direct the conversation and debate among all of these interesting party guests that I have chosen.  Of course, I would also enjoy talking to them individually as well.

      For some people, coming up with a list of guests is difficult.  One option is to limit each person's list to a certain number -- 5 or 10 seem to be easy to work with.  Of course, you can just go crazy and invite as many guests as you want.  Another option is to limit the guests to one particular category of people.  Examples of this might include, Actors, Military Leaders, U.S. Presidents, Athletes, etc.  I've actually found that playing this way first -- that is, choosing people in specific categories -- can help you develop your overall list.

      I have "played this game" with several people, often while traveling, and I always find it interesting to hear the variety of guests that they choose.  I also enjoy the discussions that this can lead to.  These discussions often start with questions such as:

      "What do you think Orville and Wilbur Wright would say to Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride?"

      "Imagine hearing a discussion about tactics by Andrew Jackson, George Patton and Norman Schwarzkopf?"

      "What advice would William Shakespeare give to a modern romance novelist like Nicholas Sparks?"

      "Can you imagine the conversations about architecture between Leonardo DaVinci, Thomas Jefferson and Frank Lloyd Wright?"

      "Wouldn't it be interesting to hear Lance Armstrong, Bruce Lee, Jesse Owens and Mickey Mantle discuss their training philosophies and their views on the role of sports in society?"


      So, with that in mind, below are a few of my lists that have come up in conversations with friends.  The final list is my "Ultimate Guest List" of 50 people that I think it would be most interesting to have at one large group discussion (moderated by Yours Truly, of course).  Just imagine the discussions you would hear...


      Some of my guest lists:
      Select a category to jump to it, or scroll down to view them all.


Guest Categories:


U.S. Presidents
  • Woodrow Wilson
  • Franklin Roosevelt
  • Dwight Eisenhower
  • Ronald Reagan

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World Leaders

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Inventors/Scientists
  • Charles Darwin
  • Wilbur & Orville Wright
  • Bill Gates
  • Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Carl Sagan

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Military Leaders
  • Chester Nimitz
  • George Patton
  • Erwin Rommel
  • Chuck Yeager
  • Billy Mitchell

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Industrialists
  • Henry Ford
  • Andrew Carnegie
  • John Davison Rockefeller
  • Cornelius Vanderbilt
  • Bill Gates

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Explorers
  • Christopher Columbus
  • Ferdinand Magellan
  • Robert de LaSalle
  • Henry Hudson
  • John Fremont
  • Meriwether Lewis
  • William Clark
  • Jacques Cousteau
  • Ernest Shackelton
  • Neil Armstrong

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Aviators
  • Orville Wright
  • Wilbur Wright
  • Charles Lindbergh
  • Amelia Earhart
  • Howard Hughes
  • Jimmie Doolittle
  • Chuck Yeager
  • Neil Armstrong
  • Sally Ride

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Athletes
  • Lance Armstrong
  • Jim Thorpe
  • Jesse Owens
  • Jim Craig
  • Roger Staubach
  • Bruce Lee
  • Mickey Mantle
  • Michael Jordan

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Musicians
  • Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Irving Berlin
  • Cole Porter
  • Ella Fitzgerald
  • Louis Armstrong
  • Lionel Richie
  • Ray Charles
  • Eric Clapton
  • Patsy Cline
  • Buddy Holly

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Artists
  • Michelangelo
  • Claude Monet
  • Auguste Rodin
  • Leonardo DaVinci
  • Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Ansel Adams
  • Walt Disney
  • Steven Spielberg
  • John Ford
  • Frank Capra

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Writers
  • William Shakespeare
  • Mark Twain
  • Jules Verne
  • Jack London
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Louis L'Amour
  • Michael Crichton
  • Nicholas Sparks
  • Tom Clancy
  • Ian Fleming

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Actors
  • Jimmy Stewart
  • Cary Grant
  • John Wayne
  • Sidney Poitier
  • Clint Eastwood
  • Harrison Ford
  • Kevin Spacey
  • Tom Hanks
  • Scott Glenn
  • Richard Dreyfuss

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Actresses
  • Lauren Bacall
  • Doris Day
  • Donna Read
  • Myrna Loy
  • Judy Holiday
  • Ingrid Bergman
  • Katharine Hepburn
  • Ashley Judd
  • Jodie Foster
  • Emma Thompson

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Ultimate 50-Guest List
  • Orville Wright
  • Howard Hughes
  • Chuck Yeager
  • Neil Armstrong
  • Jesse Owens
  • Bruce Lee
  • Lance Armstrong
  • Ray Charles
  • Patsy Cline
  • Buddy Holly
  • Michelangelo
  • Claude Monet
  • Walt Disney
  • Steven Spielberg
  • John Ford
  • William Shakespeare
  • Mark Twain
  • Louis L'Amour
  • Michael Crichton
  • Jimmy Stewart
  • Cary Grant
  • Sidney Poitier
  • Tom Hanks
  • Lauren Bacall
  • Doris Day

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      Some things I've learned from this game:

      1.   It is fascinating, and often surprising, to hear the different groups of interesting people that my friends and family have come up with during this game.  I did not anticipate these insights but I have frequently learned quite a bit more about my friends and family simply by hearing the lists of people they would choose as guests.

      2.   Other than in the categories of Musicians and Actresses, there are very few women on my lists.  Perhaps that is simply because fewer women have achieved success, until recently anyway, in many of these fields.  And even then, the few that have been successful may not have been widely recognized for their achievements.  Or perhaps it is just because I am a man and, therefore, I identify more with men.  But then again, when I ask women to choose their guests even they choose very few women.  Anyway, it was just something that I noticed.

      3.   I don't know enough about world history.  I noticed this while selecting my list of Military Leaders.  My selections were almost entirely American and primarily from the Revolutionary, First and Second World Wars.  Then, one day I happened to search the internet using the terms "greatest military leaders" and I found a site that listed arguably the 50 greatest military leaders in history.  As I perused the site I read names like Charlemagne, Alexander the Great, Julius Ceasar and Richard the Lionhearted.  I have certainly heard of all of these men and I am familiar with some aspects of their lives and accomplishments.  But why did their names not make my own list of Military Leaders?  Simple: I know about them but I don't know ENOUGH about them.  I also became aware of how limited my knowledge was about important people in many other categories as well (artists, industrialists and inventors, to name a few).  So, this Party Guest game has developed into a method of recognizing my limited knowledge in certain areas and it has become a kind of blueprint for the areas on which to focus my reading and study.

      4.   I have always enjoyed reading biographies.  This list has brought to mind many people that I find interesting and fascinating, and it has reminded me that I wish I knew more about many of them.  It has helped me focus on people about whom I would like to learn more.  Whether I read their biographies or just research them on the internet, I will definitely be studying more about these fascinating people.  Without these lists, I'm not sure that I would have ever formed such a clearly defined collection of people to learn more about.  And without that clarity, I may never have found the time to learn more about any of them.

      So, enjoy this game.  Play it with your family and friends.  Let it stimulate your thought and discussion.  And, if you'd like to share any of your lists, or your ideas about the game itself, please feel free to e-mail me.



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