http://youtu.be/mmU2dt2TbU4

This week Elaine Stritch passed on to the great beyond:

The news of Elaine Stritch’s death today has brought out all manner of reminiscences — her iconic take on Sondheim’s “The Ladies Who Lunch,” her later triumphs with the one-woman stage show “At Liberty” or her recent documentary encompassing her career and her recent move out of her beloved New York. Stritch’s acerbic nature and her sharp wit didn’t conceal, at all, her love of performing; indeed, she came to seem like one of Manhattan’s archetypal characters, the hard-edged doyenne with a core of enthusiasm and energy.

For some reason one of the first things I thought was she would have been a grand dinner party guest, not that I throw dinner parties, but it would be a blast to have her at the table. So let’s fill out the guest list.

There’s only one rule for this go ’round, they must be deceased. I’ll offer a couple other possibilities to get us going [Yea or Nays?]: Mark Twain, Caresse Crosby (bra inventor and thoroughly modern millie), Oscar Wilde, Janis Joplin…

Who would you invite?