On a limb with Claudia

If you had a chance to speak with the dead, who would you pick? Usually ghost whisperers end up talking to the ghosts who happen to be around – the nasty woman who lives on the corner, the plumber who died in the basement, etc.

But what if you could pick?

In honor of All Soul’s Day, here’s my list of dead people I’d like to have a conversation with.

Thursday Thirteen #7

1. Marilyn Monroe:

Like a lot of women, I’ve always felt strong affinity to Marilyn. I’d love to sit down with her for a chat. What was it like to be loved so intensely by Joe Di Maggio? What was Los Angeles like when she lived there? Did her scalp peel and burn with the hair treatments? How was it to grow old with her beauty? More than anything, I’d love to uncover the heart of a dragon that hid behind her rabbit exterior.

2. Darby Crash:

You probably don’t know Darby. He was someone who had a huge impact on my life. (I even still wear three earrings in my left ear because of Darby.) I was devastated when he killed himself. I’d love to chat about the friends we had in common and the way the world changed.

3. Jean Paul Sartre:

My father used to say that I was a decent person until I read Sartre. I took it as a compliment. Sartre changed my life. I would love to tour the catacombs with Sartre. I’d love to know how he could be so different in thought and mind yet so brave with his difference.

4. James Dean:

James Dean and I share a birthday. I’d sit down with a pack of cigarettes and talk to him about life as an Aquarian.

5. Napoleon Hill:

Napoleon Hill single handedly launched the self-help movement with his Think and Grow Rich. An amazing person, he postulated many of the ideas we take for granted now – finding people of like mind, “thoughts are things”, goal setting, working to define your values. More than anything he defined riches as monetary and personal – family, children and love. Gosh, if I had a chance to talk to Napoleon Hill? Let’s just say, I’d have a lot to ask.

6. Joseph Smith:

You may not know this, but I’m terrified of Mormons. Yes, it’s an irrational fear. I’m just not sure what Stephen Covey, Robert Allen and the like are up to. Anyway, I am simply fascinated by Joseph Smith. Who was this guy? What gave him the power and conviction to start his own thing? What’s up with the alien theories? Book? Breast plate? Sword?

7. Timothy Mc Veigh:

Maybe it’s true. Tim and Terry (they use to call them “T&T” at the SuperMax) decided to blow up a FBI building in Oklahoma. But what if it isn’t true? What if information was repressed by the government? What if he was really just a good soldier? We’ll never know. If I had a chance to talk to Tim Mc Veigh, I’d just listen to what he had to say.

8. Glenn Miller:

Only forty years old when he died, his music distinctive music lingers sixty years after his disappearance. My Aunt Betty, Uncle Izzy, Aunt Audrey and my father saw him once at the Venice Beach Pavillion and danced until dawn. Brave enough to create and promote his original sound, he was brave enough to travel with the United States Military in World War II. I’d ask Glenn Miller about the music and the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. I’d ask him about World War II. Maybe he’d even play for me!

9. Saint Francis de Assisi:

Francis was an amazing human being. His faith unstoppable he launched the order of the Franciscans. On September 22, 1224, a six-winged angel on a cross appeared and gave Francis the stigmata – the five wounds of Christ. And Francis thought that was cool. Go figure. He was also a champion for the environment. Amazing guy. I would want to hear about everything – the angel, the stigmata, his garden, birds, his trip to convert the sultan…. everything.

10. Lao Tzu:

A humble monk, he authored the Tao Te Ching when requested by a sentry. He lived well past the age of 160 in the forth century B.C. The Tao Te Ching is pertinent and interesting more than two thousand years later. My guess is that Lao Tzu wouldn’t speak to me. Maybe we could meditate together or just hang out over a pot of tea.

11. J. Robert Oppenheimer:

Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Manhattan project and is called the father of the atom bomb. If you ever get a chance to speak to someone who was involved with the project, ask about Dr. Oppenheimer. He was fearlessly cheerful, he is said to have held the project, and all of the genius scientists, together by sheer force of personality. This is a man who changed the world July 16,1945 when the first atomic bomb exploded in the desert of New Mexico. There’s so much to ask about that time and what has happened since that time. How did he feel about the bombing of Japan? What would he make of the cold war?

12. Madame C. J. Walker:

Madame Walker was the first self-made black woman millionaire. This is an amazing woman. She picked cotton as a child, was orphaned at seven years old, widowed at twenty and started a hair empire in 1907. She believed that money was not an end to itself and believed in philanthropy. She employed thousands of black women to sell her hair products. If I had a chance to speak with Madame Walker, I would ask her how she kept going when her gender, her race, her class, everything was stacked against her. I asked Liz from Los Angelista if she’d like to go. She said, “I’d love to speak with her. I’d like to ask her how she managed her business so well in a time when black women didn’t get much respect. It’d be interesting to find out from her what she thinks of the current state of black women’s hair.” Yay! It’s a date!

13. All those guys (Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, Moses):

You know, I think if I got these guys together? They would probably get along quite well. That’s what I’d do, by the way. I get them together, put on a pot of tea, and chat. Who knows? Maybe we’d have a miracle-go-round. How ’bout if we let Lao Tsu keep score? (Yes, yes, that’s sacrilegious. I thought it was kind of funny.)

Four brave men.

Four brave leaders.

What would they say to each other?

>>>>

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.