Your fantasy dinner party with King's alumni
A fantasy dinner party – who would like to come knocking at your door?
We know our alumni are a sociable lot, so we asked you which King’s alumni you would most like to invite to a dinner party. Would it be an amazing story-teller? Or someone whose exploits and achievements you think are mind-boggling?
In this poll, common sense definitely trumps genius: the most popular dinner party guest – by an overwhelming majority of almost 40% of the vote – was Claire Rayner, nurse, campaigner, author and one of Britain’s best-known agony aunts.
A little about your most popular fantasy dinner party guest
Claire Rayner studied nursing at Guy’s Hospital and worked as a midwife, later becoming a nursing Sister. She wrote on nursing issues for The Daily Telegraph and also penned advice columns for other newspapers and magazines. She was probably best known as a TV ‘agony aunt’ in the 1980s and early 1990s. Claire was a campaigner, and advised various UK governments on health, ageing and nursing issues. She died in 2010.
Who else might be at your fantasy dinner party?
Space enthusiast and sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke, poet John Keats and Archbishop Desmond Tutu were also popular choices, but 6% of the votes were shared between some equally impressive alumni - scientist Rosalind Franklin, librettist W S Gilbert, poet and novelist Thomas Hardy, physicist Peter Higgs (of ‘Higgs-Boson’ fame), hospice pioneer Dame Cicely Saunders and novelist Virginia Woolf. All of these alumni would intrigue, entertain and inspire you and your guests.
It all goes to show – studying at King’s has led some amazing people to achieve some extraordinary things.
Looking for more inspiration?
>>Four poets you didn't know were King's alumni (and one you did!)
>>Six stunning story-tellers from King's