Who would you invite to your dinner party? Why not write and let us know who and why!
This from Mike Botten………
Roger Whittaker. I have been a lifelong fan of Roger Whittaker’s music. He’s retired now, but he performed from 1962 through to 2013. I loved his style of folky ballads. He wrote many of his own songs, and some are very thought-provoking. One such song is “The Other Side”, which tells the story of a man apparently dying and being guided to “the other side” but upon reaching the entrance his guide was informed it wasn’t yet his time and she guided him back, where he awoke from his dream – interesting I would love to talk to him about his life and much of his music.
Tony Benn. Whilst I don’t always necessarily agree with all of his politics, I admire him because he was a principled man. Oddly enough, it has been argued that his political views have more to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ, than Karl Marx. Benn’s mother was a noted theologian who had had great influence on his early life, telling him bible stories about the prophets and the kings and he was persuaded that he should support the prophets, who taught righteousness over the kings, who had power. He had his occasional ‘moments’ though, such as a time when he stated “If people don’t agree with me, I haven’t made my argument well enough”. Fair enough, but it completely ignores that fact that he might simply be wrong! He had a great sense of humour and I think he would be a most interesting character.
Billy Connolly. What can I say! Billy has been making me laugh almost to the point of bursting for many years. His style of relating real life in a humourous way, rather than simply telling jokes, suits my sense of humour. Billy had a very poor beginning in life. He is a very complex character, with a great zest for life, but still carrying an enormous burden from his childhood. When he talks to the people he meets on his filmed “world tours” he manages to convey such passion to and about them. He can make even the most mundane people and places sound interesting. He is a bit of a rebel and I admire that spirit within him; He is also a very fine actor (in my humble opinion) and he is the sole reason I decided to take up the Banjo. Like him, I just like the sound it makes! Hopefully he would bring his banjo with him and he could teach me to play better!
Tracy Edwards. Tracy skippered the first all-female crew in the (then) Whitbread round-the-world yacht race in 1989. She wasn’t born a sailor by any means; following the death of her father and subsequent relocation to Wales when she was young, she began to get into trouble, ending up stealing cars, and suchlike. She was expelled from school at sixteen and decided to get away from home. She got herself a job as a stewardess on a yacht in Greece. Later, she was invited to form part of a small crew, sailing a yacht from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean for the winter. On that voyage, she discovered a symmetry with the boat and the sea, which led to her love of sailing. I met Tracy on a cruise some years ago when she was giving a series of lectures. I was captivated by her motivational spirit and her incredible resilience.
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