# Invite 4 current or historical people to dinner, all of whom went to your high school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594 "2016-04-08T20:15:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/21 "2016-04-09T02:32:17Z")
Apparently Denise Richards went to (but did not graduate from) my high school so I’d prefer to just have dinner with her. I was going to stock the other three seats with the few other minor television actresses my school produced but they’re all in an unfortunate spot (for this experiment) where they’re well on in years but not deceased to bring back in their prime as “historic”. So it’d be me, Denise Richards and three old women talking about their bit roles from the 70s and early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/22 "2016-04-09T02:37:44Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Believe me, I am not threadshitting when I say there aren’t four people from the entire 35-odd years my high school existed who would be worth throwing a dinner party for. It was built after World War II for the newly emerging suburbs, and closed when the baby boomer generation grew up and moved away. . . . I think the whole dinner thing is just a pretense to talk about people who went to your high school. Go with the executive and sitcom guy–no one really cares, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/23 "2016-04-09T04:34:27Z")
We only had two. One, Bryan Hughes, is running for state senate after serving as a rep for Lord knows how many years. He was (maybe still is?) a best friend of my ex-fiancé. Class of '88, despite what the wiki says. The other is recent country singing star, Kacey Musgraves. She graduated in '06. Other than that, Miranda Lambert is from one town over, as was Sissy Spacek in the other direction. However, I’m sure I’m missing some sports stars. Meh. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/24 "2016-04-09T04:46:30Z")
My high school has only been around since 1976. As large as it is (~4500 students), in a large city (San Jose), I’ve never heard of any of the people in the “notable alumni” list on the school’s Wikipedia page. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/25 "2016-04-09T09:06:06Z")
No one interesting went to my old school, so can I switch to my brother’s instead? It dates back to the late 1200s… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/26 "2016-04-09T10:03:26Z")
The only two who are particularly notable internationally are musician Neil Young and actress Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny in early James Bond films). Canadians might know actor Don McKellar, actress Fiona Reid, and journalist Beverly Thomson, all of whom went to my high school; but let’s keep things simple and well-known: For a four-person dinner, Neil Young, Lois Maxwell, my sister, and me. The conversation would be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/27 "2016-04-09T12:44:02Z")
Jack Nicklaus, Beverly D’Angelo, Wendy (Thomas), and George Smoot. We’d have nothing whatsoever in common to discuss, though. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/28 "2016-04-09T17:47:41Z")
There are only two non-politicians on the Notable People list for my home town who would have gone to high school there. One is stage magician Tom Mullica, ten years younger than me and I never heard of his family. The other is Magdalen Redman, a baseball player from the League-or-their-own era, and I knew her family. Another would be John Van Hengel, noted for founding the first Food Bank in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/29 "2016-04-09T19:10:12Z")
I’m may be the most famous person to graduate from my high school, and that’s a relatively low bar. Maybe my aunt, who was a concert pianist might be known. IIRC, a graduate won a Golden Globe this year in some technical capacity. It was a small high school in a rural area. Plenty had successful lives, but no one had the type of career that anyone would recognize their name. I’d probably invite a few of my classmates. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/30 "2016-04-09T20:09:56Z")
I’d invite: Governor Ben Cayetano [Ben Cayetano - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cayetano) and three classmates Judge Eleanor Oducayen Associate Justice Simeon Acoba - virtual ‘Loco Moco’ for Ed ‘Skippa’ Diaz (He wen’ pass on awreddy but still da’ kine). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/31 "2016-04-09T20:24:39Z")
I normally shy away from these kind of "What if?"s. In this case, I think I’m stuck at two: A Congresscritter and a Miss America. The first I’ve already spent time with and I guess I could do a little bit of catching up, but then there’s not much else to talk about. The 2nd? Pluh-eez, I think my fish is sick and I can’t make it. See why? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/32 "2016-04-09T21:17:01Z")
Wiki has a long list of notable alumni from my HS: [List of Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alumni_of_Central_High_School_%28Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania%29). Here are four I would like to invite. The first three came to my mind unbidden (#1 was an actual classmate of mine): James DePriest (Orchestra conductor, Oregon Symphony, among others) Noam Chomsky (no comment needed) Charles Goren (early bridge player, guru, writer) Louis J. Mordell (world class mathematician who announced while still in HS that he would become a professor of mathematics at Cambridge–and did) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/33 "2016-04-09T21:24:13Z")
I actually attended 3 different high schools, one was in the 7th grade, a large public school, no idea if anyone from there would have a recognizable name. Another public school in the 10th grade, no one I know of, but maybe somebody known to the public in all the time it’s been around. The final school was really small, I don’t know of anyone from there that would qualify. Even now I think they only have about 100 students each year. ETA: Holy crap! Daniel Snyder, asshole owner of the Washington Redskins graduated for Charles W. Woodward High School, where I attended 7th grade. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/34 "2016-04-10T02:49:39Z")
My hick ass little public high school has existed for 46 years, and probably about 5000 students have passed through. As far as I know, not a single one of them is the least bit famous. An _American Idol_ semi-finalist was from my home town but I’m pretty sure she went to the parochial school two towns over. ---
**Author:** ![Goofus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@Goofus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goofus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/35 "2016-04-10T03:00:56Z")
Wow, this mental image of three reality TV game show contestants waiting for Robin Zander to show up for dinner is really depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/36 "2016-04-10T03:02:30Z")
My high school has no one well known that has graduated from it. Three men played for the NFL but none of them did particularly well. (that’s not to say it isn’t great they got to play pro ball and having three pro ball players during a 20 year period from a tiny little school in the middle of nowhere is pretty darn good. ) I think one of them only made it off the practice team one season. The other two did a little better, with one being first or second string for a couple of seasons. None of them are people I would want to have dinner with. One of them I would rather go hungry than eat a meal with him. There was a famous baseball player from my kids’ high school. He still holds a few records as far as I recall. The high school baseball team would host a fundraising dinner with him as key note speaker every year. I thought it was lovely of him to come back and help the boys earn money for equipment they wouldn’t otherwise have. he would be the only notable to have graduated from that high school. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/37 "2016-04-10T04:02:46Z")
My high school has tons of doctors, lawyers, executives, scientists and professionals, but few who are famous. And the famous ones are mostly people I wouldn’t want to dine with. Among our famous alumni: Bill Condon, director of “Gods and Monsters” Columnist Pete Hammill Mike Walczewski, announcer at Madison Square Garden Anthony Fauci, AIDS doctor Lou DiBella, HBO boxing promoter Character actor John MacGiver Crossword editor Eugene Maleska Federal prosecutor Pat Fitzgerald ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/38 "2016-04-10T04:29:43Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > My hick ass little public high school has existed for 46 years, and probably about 5000 students have passed through. As far as I know, not a single one of them is the least bit famous. An _American Idol_ semi-finalist was from my home town but I’m pretty sure she went to the parochial school two towns over. Yep. My graduating class had 74 people in it. Odds of famous people going to a school that houses 400 kids are not too good. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/39 "2016-04-10T07:45:12Z")
Yeah, I would be stuck with a bunch of football players and a couple of country & western singers. No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594/40 "2016-04-10T14:35:35Z")
Surprisingly, my dinner guests would have much to discuss, and maybe even have a little jam session after dinner. Desiree Bassett Rivers Cuomo Peter Tork Tim Page (music critic, not the Vietnam guy) who is my actual bud in real life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/invite-4-current-or-historical-people-to-dinner-all-of-whom-went-to-your-high-school/751594.md?page=3)