Overcoming Adversity

John Muir: Father of Steampunk?

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We remember John Muir for his fierce devotion to nature, not the wacky clockwork machines he refused to patent because he wanted everyone to benefit. Like many late bloomers, he possessed wide-ranging passions.

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Don Mittelstaedt Makes His Movie — At 92!

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From World War II battlefields to freezing Bering Sea research to Pan Am World Airways glamor, Don Mittelstaedt has shot it all. His life reads like a movie and at age 92, he’s made one!

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Edgar Rice Burroughs: From Pencil Sharpener to Media Mogul

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Edgar Rice Burroughs was a rich kid turned serial business failure — until he discovered pulp fiction and created a wild man named Tarzan.

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A Short Tribute to Author William Gay

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William Gay was the son of a sharecropper. He grew up a blue-collar worker, barely making a living, writing at night. At age 55, after countless rejections, he got published.

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Marija Gimbutas: Unearthing the Beauty of a Woman

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Marija Gimbutas, whose work figured in rise of modern goddess worship, was no feminist. Yet in the end, she unearthed a worldview our modern brains still can’t fathom.

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Edith Wharton: Beyond Downton Abbey

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Edith Wharton published her first book at age 35, a decorating guide for the rich. A quarter century later, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer.

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Was Ben Franklin A Late Bloomer?

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Franklin’s achievements still electrify. He was a printer, statesman, activist, inventor and diplomat. By 26, he was a best-selling author. So could he also be a late bloomer?

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Veteran Don Mittelstaedt: Still Blooming at 92!

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He’s blind in one eye and finds walking difficult, but WWII photographer Don Mittelstaedt embraced new technology and made a documentary at age 92.

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Book Review: Myth-Busting About Uncertainty

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If we dare to create, fear and uncertainty become bedfellows. So how does a late bloomer (or anyone) work through those emotions and thrive?

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Book Review: Is Talent Overrated?

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Does talent even exist? Can it be acquired? Geoff Colvin explores these provocative questions in his book, which I review for late bloomers.

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Sharon Penman Takes On William Shakespeare

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Why, with that name, did Penman considered anything other than writing? A dastardly deed derailed her, but she finally bested Shakespeare!

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P.D. James: From Civil Servant to Literary Royalty

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PD James retired from the Home Office after writing eight successful mysteries. Today, at age 90, she’s a baroness and still going strong!

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Happy Birthday, J.K. Rowling!

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The first Harry Potter book only had a 1000-copy run. J.K. Rowling spent a year hawking it while getting a teaching certificate. And then magic happened…

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6 Late-Blooming Athletes To Get You Going

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Six people who found their inner athlete after age 50! Featuring two bodybuilders, a boxer, kayaker, marathoner and mountain climber.

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Mrs. Benz Borrows The Car

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The next time you see a Mercedes on the highway, think of Bertha Benz, the daring gal who took the very first test drive at age 39!

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Penelope Fitzgerald: Saved By A Sinking Houseboat

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Fitzgerald may be Britain’s most famous unknown writer. She started writing in her late 50s and won the Booker Prize at age 63.

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Happy Birthday, Susan Boyle!

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Susan Boyles turned 50 on April 1, 2011. Here’s a tribute to her beautiful voice and inspiring story, some of which might surprise you.

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How The F-Bomb Changed David Seidler’s Destiny

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For fifty years, Seidler wanted to tell the story of fellow stutterer King George VI. A bout with cancer finally gave him the impetus.

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How James Michener Derailed My Career

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Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries. ~James Michener As an archaeology grad student, I decided to reread one of my favorite novels, The Source, to judge its accuracy. The story takes place in Israel, on a mound (also known as a tel) formed by millennia of habitation. As each artifact comes to light, [...]

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Movies, Misfortune And The Making Of Roget’s Thesaurus

Peter Mark Roget

“The man is not wholly evil – he has a Thesaurus in his cabin.”  (Captain Hook as described by J. M. Barrie in Peter Pan) At  14, he went to university and by age 19 he’d earned his medical degree. (You might call him a Georgian-era Doogie Howser.) He went on to teach physiology at the University of London, [...]

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