Choosing the Guests for My Perfect Dinner Party Was No Simple Task

A writing prompt

Image: Wikimedia Commons

When it comes to writing prompts, I expect to see them early and often from that troublemaker Pierce McIntyre. I was surprised, however, to see one the other day from Mark Holburn, and what a prompt it was. The question seemed simple enough: what three VIP guests would you invite to dinner? You can see his original article below:

Dinner for Three

I say simple, but the more I thought about it, the more a simple answer proved elusive. It vexes me; I’m terribly vexed. Part of the problem has been the caveat he threw in:

One guest must be alive and kicking.
One guest must not be alive or kicking (in other words, dead)
One guest must be a fictional character (from a book, film, etc.)

Questions of this type usually ask you for three people from history (all dead) or three living musicians or something similar. Narrowing each category to one attendee makes this far more challenging. I have managed to come up with answers to each, but like…