09/08/2026
Week 3: Beyond the Closet
MY DREAM DINNER PARTY
Three dinner guests. Any time in history.
Dolly Parton. Pamela Churchill Harriman. Julia Child.
I full disclosure, I recorded this video the day before Dolly died… what a coincidence. I bet she’s on a lot of folks’ dream dinner party list now. But from one small town girl with big dreams to another, Dolly’s always been on my list.
Pamela because I’m fascinated by her power and influence - and as a fellow woman behind the scenes but never in the elected seat, I know what it’s like to be “in the room where it happened” - though in a much smaller scale and in another age and time. Those of us who have spent time in politics in the last 30 years stand on the shoulders of women like her who were in the room when women weren’t even allowed in the building.
And Julia? Because we’d have an absolute blast.
Her larger-than-life laugh and joie de vivre remind me of my grandmother Leona. Neither ever met a stranger and both were always up for an adventure… in the kitchen and out.
Influence, humor, history, politics, food and a good bottle of Sancerre. Sounds like my kind of evening.
Who’s at YOUR table?
Three seats. No rules.
Jennifer Ransom Dolly Parton