People are fascinating to me. The way we think and function in this world, reason or lack of reason for action. Humanity is an infinite curiosity. In many ways we are like the Hobbits in Gandalf’s eyes, “Hobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch (J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring).”
Up to this point in my life I have had the privilege of meeting many amazing people that have done incredible things. I’ve even met a few famous people along the way, authors, astronauts, pro wrestlers, politicians and an Oscar Nominated actor. It doesn’t really matter to me if someone is famous, to me they are all just people that are recognized by more people than most others.
Over the next couple of post I am going to give you a list of twenty “famous” people I would like to meet and talk with for a while. The list is in no particular order I just sat down a few weeks ago and wrote out some people I think would be interesting. I don’t carry the same worldview as many of them, that’s okay I think we could still be friends because I really enjoy people that don’t see everything the way I do — it keeps me growing and humble.
I’ll give you a sentence or two as to why I would like to meet them and down in the comments you can tell me someone you would like to meet and why.
Without further ado…
Isaquis Queivoz Dos Santos – It is unlikely that many, if anyone that reads this will have heard of this power house of a man, but he is one of the top sprint canoeist in the world. He paddles for Brazil and speaks only Portuguese, so I would need to meet a translator as well. If you know my love of canoeing you will understand why Dos Santos is on my list.
Ellen DeGeneres – Ellen makes the list because I think she is one of the funniest people on the planet. I love being around people that laugh easily and help others do the same. She is a genuinely kind hearted person as well. Kind and funny is a great combination.
Malcolm Gladwell – I would need an extended period of time with Mr. Gladwell. I imagine there would be several cups of tea required for us to cover all the ground we could. I don’t know where the conversation would start but I would love to sit and listen to anything he had to say on any subject.
Eminem – If I am most honest I am not a fan of Hiphop, but I have always found Eminem to be interesting. He is a true rags to riches story and most interesting of all, from what I can tell, he is among the hardest working people in the industry and he is still putting out top level stuff.
Jerry Seinfeld – If I was to order this list Jerry would be in the top three, maybe even number 1. Again I love being around funny people and he is one of the funniest. I had the privilege of seeing Seinfeld live and I was amazed, it didn’t feel like an act. It felt like I was sitting at the kitchen table listening to my funniest friend tell stories for 90 minutes. I made the 4 hour drive home floating. Couple his comedy with his work ethic and sharp mind and you have a person I would love to spend a day riding around in a car and getting coffee with (and I hate coffee).
N.T. Wright – Arguably, among the smartest people on my list. Tom, as his friends call him (humor me I want to be his friend), is a brilliant Jesus scholar from the conservative branch of theology. He thinks at a level well beyond average and yet he can relay those thoughts in a way anyone could understand. Like Gladwell, I don’t know where the conversation would start… I would likely say something along the lines of, “You start talking about Jesus and as things come to me I will ask questions.” There would also be large volumes of tea consumed in this meeting as well.
Al Sharpton – To be honest I don’t know much about Mr. Sharpton. What I do know gets him on my list. He has long been on the front lines of the Civil Rights/Social justice movement and that makes him interesting enough and would definitely be part of the conversation… It was an episode of The Moth Podcast several years ago that put him on my radar. Al Sharpton is a magnificent story teller and communicator. I was wrapped listening to him share a memory from his early days in the Civil Rights movement. I would be thrilled to meet anyone that can speak with that much passion.
Allison Fisher – Like Dos Santos few people will know who Allison Fisher is unless they spend their lives watching “obscure” sports on ESPN. Allison is among the greatest pool players ever. I mean that exactly as I said it, not one of the greatest females, simply one of the greatest ever to play the game. I stumbled across her when I was in college, up late, studying. I was taking a break and flipping through channels when I came across people playing pool. She was playing the number 5 ranked woman in the world and ran the table five straight racks. It was amazing. It would be a lot of fun to play a round of 8-ball with her, but Ms. Fisher would have to let me break so I had a chance to touch the cue ball.
Anne Lamott – Simply put, in the world of writing Anne is my spirit animal. I picked up Bird by Bird and loved it and felt encouraged in my own writing. Then I read excerpts form various books and some of her articles and watched her delightful TED Talk. Her writing will make you laugh and pull at your heart strings at the same time. She makes you want to believe in the potential of humanity. I don’t even need to meet her –– to simply have her read something I wrote and honestly say, “Good job!” would probably make me weak in the knees. Though I would also enjoy sharing a mug of tea with her as well.
Our final entry for part one is again someone I don’t know a lot about, but that makes him even more interesting to me…
Questlove – If you watch The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon you know of Quest, that might be enough for some people to want to meet him, but not me, that’s not even the most interesting thing he has done. In addition to being a drummer and joint frontman for The Roots, Quest is also a record producer and wrote a best selling book on Creativity called, Creative Quest. Much like funny people I love being around creative people.
If any of you ever stumble across this list and want to have lunch reach out I am sure we can make it happen.
For everyone else… What do you think of part 1?