“Beer” used here as shorthand for a casual, relaxed conversation. Alcohol is not mandatory.
I often read a book or listen to a song and wish I could call up the creator and have a chat with him/her. Imagine if you could - some magical genie/robot/deity allowed you one hour to hang with a favorite artist, living or dead.
Keep in mind, this is a bit different from asking who your favorite creator is. I loved, say, The Catcher in the Rye, but I wouldn’t want to meet Salinger himself (coincidence: Holden actually talks about wanting to call up his favorite writers). There are plenty of creative types whose work is best admired separate from their personalities. It’s more a question of who you think, from their output, would be a really interesting person to just have a chat with.
For myself, I’d go with Kurt Vonnegut. Too late now (:() but reading his books almost feels like having a conversation with a hyper-intelligent, dark, funny friend.
Probably not the reasons most people will come up with, but I’ll play:
I’ve mentioned once or twice here that Pete Beagle (The Last Unicorn and others) is a childhood friend of my father’s. I’ve actually had the pleasure of talking to him once, but it was an odd circumstance. So I’d love the change to sit down and have a beer with him…both for his creative works AND talking about my Dad when he was growing up.
I’m looking forward to his current tour coming to South Florida, because there’s a really good chance this will actually happen.
I think Mark Roach (Stiff, Gulp, etc…) would be fun too. Great sense of humor, a desire to know more about the world.
David Mann. Few people outside the "biker"community are familiar with his work but in that world he is DaVinci. His work hangs in the garage of most everyone that has or wants to throw a leg over and put their face in the wind. They put you there in your heart if not in your memories.
I’d throw up a link but don’t know how to make it a double click on my phone. But a Google search of David Mann will reveal some marvelous glimpses into the “biker” lifestyle.
Alice Cooper seems like a cool guy to hang around with. I know he longer drinks, but you said alcohol isn’t mandatory. So maybe some iced tea or lemonade after a round of golf.
I was just saying to the hubby the other day that I would love to have a beer with Dave Grohl. He seems like the coolest guy ever, and the stories he must have…
Dave, Jimmy Fallon, and Helen Mirren.
I only met him once, and for a very brief period, but… Tom Wolfe charmed me enough to make me want to spend more time with him.
Beyond that, well, judging a writer’s personality from his or her work can be problematic. Few writers ever made me laugh as much as P.G.Wodehouse, but by most accounts, Wodehouse in person was on the dull side, and hated being with fans who expected him to be witty. I’d probably irritate the hell out of him.
David Sedaris. Saw him on a book tour, afterwards he had a book signing and the wife and I had a brief, but enjoyable talk as he was signing our books.
