Later Bloomer by Debra Eve

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Edith Wharton: Beyond Downton Abbey

“True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.” ~Edith Wharton

I count Downton Abbey my one marital costume drama triumph.

I’m not sure how I convinced my English hubby to watch the first episode. It doesn’t matter, because it’ll never work again.

But I thank Julian Fellowes’ superb writing for keeping it going. I had one glorious weekend, seven hours of silk and corsets, with the hubby.

In Downton Abbey, Elizabeth McGovern plays Cora Crawley, Lady Grantham, an American heiress who saves the ancestral home from bankruptcy. In reality, over a hundred American heiresses married into the English peerage during that era. They became veritable historical preservation league.

Late-blooming writer Edith Wharton (1862-1937) knew many of those real-life Cora Crawleys. If she’d been richer or prettier, she might have been one of them. {Read on…}

Was Ben Franklin A Late Bloomer?

This month, while many of us made manifestos and broke resolutions, Ben Franklin (1706-1790), the original American smarty pants and grandaddy of getting things done, had his 306th birthday.

I studied American history but have forgotten much, except for those stories designed to impress a young mind: Washington and the cherry tree; Franklin and the lightning storm.

I’m sorry to report the cherry tree story has been debunked. But Franklin’s achievements still electrify! Like Peter Roget, he was a polymath: printer, statesman, activist, inventor and diplomat. By 26, he was a best-selling author.

Yet if we look at the timing of Ben’s greatest passions and achievements, he might also qualify as a late bloomer. In his 40s, he sold his business and embarked on a life of science and service. In his 70s, he helped birth a nation. {Read on…}