Who from the past would you like to meet ?

Some people might say they'd like to meet Capablanca or some other great chess player. Many of the really good players I've known are nearly non-verbal.

You may say Abe Lincoln, Henry James or Thomas Edison. Those are good choices, but I'd like to meet my paternal grandfather for whom I am named. He died before I was born.

All the people I've met who knew him have great stories about him. He started delivering coal and ice in the family business when he was 9 or 10 and eventually ran the company.

I met an old nun once who was a little kid when grandpa was delivering coal with a horse and wagon. They had to feed and water the horses at the end of the day, and they were tired from delivering coal all day. Of course the neighborhood kids were interested in the horses, so he showed them how to take care of the horses and said "not everyone can do this. You have to be very careful." Pretty soon the kids were feeding and watering the horses for them.

I once rented an apartment from a guy who golfed with grandpa when he was in chiropractic school. Since I have the same name, he asked if I was any relation. When I told him I was a grandson, he couldn't stop telling me stories about what a great guy grandpa was. He treated me like I was his grandson.

Grandpa ran the coal and ice business during the depression, and he would give away coal rather than let people freeze in the winter.

That's my story, do you have one?

No story, but I would have liked to have met Kathe Kollwitz, Luis Bunuel, Simone De Bouvoir, and Jaques Derrida

Ed... I like your story. Mine is similar... sort of.

I would like to meet my husband's father. He died March 1981 before I met my husband in January 1982.

I have heard many stories about my father-in-law. All of which lead me to believe the man was a god! Seriously though... he had an amazing sense of humor and was very handy with tools.

Shortly after I met my would-be husband, he took home to Alabama to meet his mom, sister and brother. That was fun. His mother did not like me... immediately. The most memorable thing about that trip was the day Charlie took me to the cemetary where his father was buried. As we stood there together at the gravesite... Charlie told his dad... hey Dad, this is Becky. She's the one. We were both crying.

As I learned more about my husband and his relationship with his father... I found out my husband was called Tom until he was 12... my husband is the first born but he's not a junior. He and his dad have the same first name... different middle names. Anyway, my husband declared at 12 years old that he would no longer be Tom... he would be Charlie... like his dad.

The story I remember most fondly is how this man decided in 1967 to get out of southern California. He bought an old school bus. He spent the next year outfitting it with a kitchen, a bathroom, sleeping area, living area... then in 1968 he packed up his family and they went on a fantastic road trip across the United States. Toward the beginning of the school year in 1968, he found a job in Alabama. They bought a house... most of his family is still there today...

Many years later, I met his brother, Johnny. Johnny took a shine to me right off... he has a wicked sense of humor and is handy with tools... I imagined Johnny was a lot like my father-in-law. I imagine my father-in-law would have liked me.

Great story! Your father-in-law would have loved you! I'm Edmund Jerome like my grandfather, my dad was Edmund Michael. Different middle names so there were no juniors!

Thanks, Ed. You know... I do believe this post could have had a life under "General Discussion" without the chess.com powers-that-be moving it to "Off-Topic"... just sayin'... lol.

I have no story.   Enjoyed one above.  I'd like to meet a group of people Our founding fathers.  Interesting to get ther take on todays world and their solutions to our issues.

your Grandpa's name was Electric Pawn?]

LOL

Actually, he was GasLanternPawn!

He sounds like a great guy

Chopin and Richard Feynman.

Easy.  The Missing Link, that person who was the stepping stone from ape to human.

Gen Patton

Are you going to tell me that this person does not exist, that there is no one beast-man, that humans slowly evolved over millions of years and the transition from monkey to man cannot be traced to one single point in time and place?  Since this whole concept of visiting people from the past is a ridiculous fantasy, I say there is such a person. 

@electricpawn and Blac B: I really liked your nice stories!

This is a really nice topic. People from the past I would like to meet:

Arthur Schopenhauer (my favourite author, I have read every book he wrote several times)

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (his book "The Brothers Karamazov" is fantastic)

Michel de Montaigne (another favourite author, he wrote the "Essais" )

Rory Gallagher (favourite guitar player, imho one of the best guitar players ever)

and of course I would like to meet my favourite chess players:

David Bronstein, Paul Keres and Bent Larsen

 Fair enough. 

Marylin Monroe!

I really enjoy Dostoyevsky's work. The Brothers K is among the greatest accomplishments in world literture. If you meet him, just remember: you never know what's in another man's mind.

Capablanca? Or, maybe Bogart and Bergman in Casablanca?