People I’d Love to Have Dinner With

I can’t claim originality with regard to today’s topic. That honor goes to Debbie Walsh on Pinterest. Pinterest allows us to capture images but not necessarily reasons. Consequently, I have no idea why she chose the people she did. The range is phenomenal—from Susan B. Anthony to Elvis.

That got me thinking. Who would I want to have dinner with? The first two names that popped into my head are J.R.R. Tolkien (author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) 

and C.S. Lewis (the Narnia Chronicles). J.R.R. (known as Ronald to his family) and C.S. (called Jack) wrote some of the best fantasy novels. Novels that have transported readers to Middle Earth and the world of Narnia. 

Then I wondered what they would think of the modern fantasy novels written by Suzanne Collins and Veronica Roth. What would Ronald and Jack think of the Hunger Games and Divergent?

Wouldn’t that be a fabulous discussion?

The first question I would ask each author is where did the idea for their major opus come from? How long did it take them to develop their worlds? Did they draw maps or sketch out pivotal scenes? Tolkien did, as they appear in his books. What about the others? Or were the scenes just in their heads? More importantly, I want to know why certain characters had to die.

Another question I’d like to ask is how did the success of their books change them. Did it change their families? Their friends?

Who would you like to have dinner with? What would you ask them?