Who's Makes the Cut?

Sunday is my birthday. And this year it will be just my family and me sitting around the great mahogany table in my dining room enjoying my wonderful Christmas dinner. I wouldn't have it any other way. I like them, they like me. We laugh, we cry, we hit each other with wooden spoons, it all works out.

But what if I had to have it another way? What if someone forced me to pick 7 birthday dinner companions - all living, no family - to join me for dinner on my 51st birthday? Who would I, should I, pick?

They would have to be interesting conversationalists certainly. People who would keep me enthralled with their keen intellect, their droll humor. There would have to be quick repartee, incisive observations, lively banter. I would want big-time raconteurs as well as politeness and decorum. Would they all be Hollywood celebrities? Relative unknowns? Authors? Musicians? Political leaders? Academics? Sports figures? Beautiful women? Would I see Bill Clinton next to me? Or Bill Gates? Would I choose Salma Hayek over Oprah Winfrey or Oprah over Salma (Tough choice. But if we limit things to just conversation probably Oprah.) Tom and Ray Magliozzi would be fun, but so would Ellen DeGeneres. Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken, or B.J. Surhoff? David McCullough, David Hackett Fischer, or Doris Kearns Goodwin? Anne-Sophie Mutter, Marin Alsop, or James Levine? The most important criterion though, is that all my guests would have to be people I find interesting and entertaining. After all, it's my birthday celebration they're coming to.

I'll ponder this question of the moment and post the apocryphal invite list on Sunday. Any and all suggestions welcome.

Who would you invite to your 51st birthday dinner?
K-