# Late Bloomers: Those who master something they started later in life. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 21, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901 "2008-11-21T20:34:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/1 "2008-11-21T20:34:46Z")
I found out recently that Vincent Van Gogh didn’t start drawing until he was 27 years old! It’s quite obvious, looking at the first couple of years of his drawings, that he was an amateur who succeeded at mastering his art. That totally blows my mind. I always thought that drawing, like language, was the kind of thing you had to master early on to have any hope in doing well at. I’m reminded of the movie _Patch Adams_, where he goes to medical school and is chastised for starting at such a late age. His retort was "Babe Ruth was 40 when he started playing for the Yankees.“the student responded “That’s not true.” Then Robin Williams says 'Yeah I know, but I needed a good example and couldn’t think of one.” It’s in that spirit that I post this thread. Can anyone else here provide some further examples of “late bloomers” performing astonishingly well at what they started? ---
**Author:** ![Megatool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Megatool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Megatool)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/2 "2008-11-21T21:10:16Z")
I believe I read Paul Newman didn’t start racing until he was 40 or so. ---
**Author:** ![mauxlicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@mauxlicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mauxlicious)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/3 "2008-11-21T21:22:39Z")
Sources vary but Cervantes was at least in his mid fifties when he wrote the first part of Don Quixote. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/4 "2008-11-21T21:37:39Z")
Kandinsky didn’t start drawing until he was 30. Michener got his first book published when he was 40. You might find this article from The New Yorker interesting: [“Late Bloomers: Why Do We Equate Genuis With Precocity?”](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/20/081020fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all) ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/5 "2008-11-22T02:16:26Z")
Julia Child didn’t start cooking until her mid 40s. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/6 "2008-11-22T10:14:59Z")
I sure hope I’m a late bloomer because I haven’t found my mojo yet 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/7 "2008-11-22T13:28:00Z")
British author Mary Wesley published two children’s novels in her fifties before becoming a hugely successful adult novelist in her seventies. In the last twenty years of her life she sold three million books including twenty best sellers. ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/8 "2008-11-22T16:29:49Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I sure hope I’m a late bloomer because I haven’t found my mojo yet 😃 Yeah, I was gonna say… I’m 55 and haven’t exactly mastered anything :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/9 "2008-11-22T16:47:16Z")
E. Annie Proulx (_The shipping News, Brokeback Mountain_) didn’t publish until she was in her 50s, her first novel came out when she was 58. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/10 "2008-11-22T18:23:38Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > I’m reminded of the movie _Patch Adams_, where he goes to medical school and is chastised for starting at such a late age. His retort was "Babe Ruth was 40 when he started playing for the Yankees.“the student responded “That’s not true.” Then Robin Williams says 'Yeah I know, but I needed a good example and couldn’t think of one.” Heh. Patch Adams lives in my neighborhood. I see him at the Post Office, etc., sometimes. He’s retired now, and still wears loud clothes. I’m a late bloomer; I put out my first album at age 45, though I’m by no means any sort of master. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/11 "2008-11-22T20:13:12Z")
Larry Hughes started archery at age 27 and shot the World Record in the American Round two years later. Noted archery expert (and master archer himself) Robert Elmer considered Hughes to be the greatest target archer of all time. Note that in Hughes’ time, bows were still wooden longbows Robin Hood would’ve known, without sights or risers or arrow rests, shooting wooden arrows fletched by feathers. After WWII archery was completely transformed by the adoption of synthetic materials, sights, clickers, stabilisers, machined arrows etc. massively increasing the accuracy (or lowering the challenge if you like) of hitting far away targets with bown’arra. Modern experts agree that getting good with “stickbows” typically takes double…triple the time and effort compared to high tech gear. Climbing to world record status with the former in two years is mind-boggling. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/12 "2008-11-22T21:37:41Z")
Oliver Cromwell had no discernible military experience until he reached the age of 43. One might argue that he subsequently performed astonishingly well at soldiery, albeit not in a nice way. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/13 "2008-11-22T21:41:59Z")
[Grandma Moses](http://www.notablebiographies.com/Mo-Ni/Moses-Grandma.html)started painting at 76. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/14 "2008-11-22T22:56:17Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > Heh. Patch Adams lives in my neighborhood. I see him at the Post Office, etc., sometimes. He’s retired now, and still wears loud clothes. > I’m a late bloomer; I put out my first album at age 45, though I’m by no means any sort of master. One of his students was our doctor for a while. I never managed to be sick on the days she wore the clown suit - sigh. Collecting rejection slips for my first novel - 43. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/15 "2008-11-22T23:09:13Z")
Here’s a list of late bloomers: > **[Late bloomer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_bloomer)** > > A late bloomer is a person whose talents or capabilities are not visible to others until later than usual. The term is used metaphorically to describe a child or adolescent who develops slower than others in their age group, but eventually catches up and in some cases overtakes their peers, or an adult whose talent or genius in a particular field only appears later in life than is normal – in some cases only in old age. > There are many theories of the way in which children develop, proposed by a... ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/16 "2008-11-23T08:07:05Z")
He’s not famous, but my late grandfather learned how to use a computer when he was 80+ years old, and became quite skilled at scanning & printing photographs for his business. He always loved to tinker with technology. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/17 "2008-11-23T12:43:22Z")
> [@mauxlicious](#): > > Sources vary but Cervantes was at least in his mid fifties when he wrote the first part of Don Quixote. OK, but did he write earlier? Short stories? Editorials? > [@Toxylon](#): > > Climbing to world record status with the former in two years is mind-boggling. I can attest. I think it took me three years just to get my archery merit badge. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/18 "2008-11-23T15:49:54Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Julia Child didn’t start cooking until her mid 40s. That should be qualified that Child didn’t start a career as a promoter of cooking until her forties, arguably with the publication of _Mastering the Art of French Cooking_ (although she taught some private classes before this). Julia started _trying_ to cook after she and Paul were married and moved to France, and by all accounts (including her own) she started out as as a really awful cook, and even in her heyday could not really be described as a great chef by any means; she never worked in a professional capacity in a commercial kitchen, was not inventive or revolutionary except insofar as adapting old methods to new appliances and instruments, and in general simply studied, followed, and relayed the traditional methods of European _haute cuisine_; her main achievement was introducing fine cooking to an American audience by dint of her skill, humor, and distinctive personality. Gene Hackman was in his late twenties when he started acting professionally, and was (along with fellow Pasadena Playhouse alumnus Dustin Hoffman) judged “Least Likely to Succeed” by other members. Stick it to them, Hack. My favorite late bloomer is perhaps Richard Adams, author of _Watership Down_. This first novel was published when he was fifty-two. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/19 "2008-11-23T16:25:22Z")
> [@Megatool](#): > > I believe I read Paul Newman didn’t start racing until he was 40 or so. Paul Newman was born in 1925 and had a role in _Tales of Tomorrow_ in 1952. [source](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000056/) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901/20 "2008-11-23T17:00:48Z")
Khadaji, you need to read the post more carefully. Megatool was talking about when Paul Newman started racing, not when he started acting. He entered his first professional racing event at about 47: > **[Paul Newman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Newman)** > > Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Silver Bear, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. > Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Newman showed an interest in theater as a ch... If we’re going to mention actors who got into sports at a late age, the obvious choice would be Geena Davis, who didn’t even try archery until she was in her late thirties and within a few years was good enough that she came close to making the Olympic team. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-bloomers-those-who-master-something-they-started-later-in-life/473901.md?page=2)