Dear Jessica Brennan,
Dad and I often play the Dinner Guest game. It is comprised of 3 questions.
- What historical figure would you like to have dinner with?
- Who would you like to have dinner with, who has died in your lifetime?
- Who would you like to have dinner with, who is still alive?
Some of the answers over the years have remained similar; often they change, and then change back. From David Letterman to Gandhi. Freddie Mercury to Bob Newhart. There are so many interesting people, and mulling over the choices inspires interesting conversations and lively debate.
Here are my current selections.
What historical figure would you like to have dinner with?
To me, this is an obvious one. As interesting as many historical figures could be, (who wouldn’t want to dine with Confucius?) – for me though, it would have to be Jesus. I mean, seriously. What on earth is going on with all the Jesus people? I think Jesus would be an interesting dinner-mate but really it might feel more like an interrogation from His perspective. So much murder and abuse has happened in His family’s name. So many convenient revisions to His words, to warrant acts of malice toward humanity. Guns and wars and discrimination. I would want to hear about what was actually said on the mount, in the fishing boats and by the sea, rather than this crazy-infused, twisted game of telephone we are being subjected to in our current culture. I don’t know if Jesus and I would get along if I’m honest, and I think being honest with Jesus likely would make sense. I think He might find me a bit tedious, but nonetheless, I would enjoy having some loaves and fishes with Him. (I put a capital H on him and his to placate those who feel that the son of an almighty creator might take issue with lowercase letters).
Who would you like to have dinner with, who has died in your lifetime?
This is a very difficult category, given the number of accomplished individuals who have passed away in my short time on this planet. The great gig in the sky is getting more and more robust almost daily. Looking back though, I think of people like George Michael, Princess Diana, Anthony Bourdain, Philip Seymour Hoffman and more. The stories they could tell would be life-changing I’m sure. But still, my choice is clear, and belongs to just one man, Canadian legend, Leonard Cohen. Never afraid to explore words and music, emotion, spirituality and life, he had a huge impact on me in high school as I read his poetry, and then throughout my life as I started to at least partly understand what he was saying. I am a writer today, largely because of his words. I cried when Leonard Cohen died. I cried for the loss of him, but also for how grateful I was that we walked the earth at the same time. I imagine that Leonard and I would likely get along well. His gentle sense of humour would meet my own with a willingness to banter, and his fatherly patience would endure my bottomless curiosity which I bet would make for a very warm and amusing time for us both.
Who would you like to have dinner with, who is still alive?
This one may surprise you, or Dear Jessica, it may not. I mean think of who is still alive. Paul McCartney, Barack Obama (and Michelle Obama!), Jack Nicholson and so many others. I have met a lot of celebrities – actors, athletes and rock stars, and I really don’t have the gushing-gene, but right now, if I had my choice, I choose Canadian, Daniel Levy. I choose him for so many reasons.
1) The warmth he can’t hide. Kindness is just rare and high on my list for dinner guests.
2) The way he can take a silly scene and by meeting the viewer exactly where they are, teach a life-lesson in a way that they will never forget.
What? I was laughing and now I’m crying? What just happened?
Mostly though,
3) Daniel Levy brings us stories that make us part of the family. In a time that we all feel so defensive and disconnected, Daniel and his friends making Schitt’s Creek, have let us escape to a safe, sweet, albeit zany, place – The Rosebud Motel. I’m sure one day he will be a legend, but right now he’s living life in real time and it is fun to benefit from his ongoing work.
I expect the only way Dan Levy and I would ever end up at a dinner table together would be a) by accident or b) if I won one of those charity contests where the poor celebrities have to sit awkwardly with a stranger for 2 hours, sneaking glimpses at the time and making small talk. In either case, I think we would be good.
As a writer, I have been affected by all three of my dinner guest selections. The twisting of the words of Jesus have shown me how simple, identical sentences can be read and used by people in a variety of different ways – for good and evil. The words of Leonard Cohen taught me how to say things in a way that not only conjure up provocative images (ex. A thousand kisses deep) but also how to put sounds together that are pleasing to the ear (ex. Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove), and Daniel Levy has taught me that when all the descriptive words and sounds come together in their perfect simplicity or wonderful complexity, if you can’t breathe life and vulnerability into your writing, just stop typing. (ex. So tonight there will be a surprise and there will be tears, even if they’re just my own).
My Dear Jessica, (and of course my gentle readers), who are you having over for dinner?
Love,
Mum xo
