Note to self, Julie and any other late bloomers out there. It wasn’t easy to track down well-known writers who didn’t pick up the quill/pen/typewriter/keyboard until later in life. But, I did learn the following.
Daniel Defoe was approximately 59 when he wrote “Robinson Crusoe.” This brings me a small degree of comfort, although apparently Defoe was a journalist and spy before becoming an author, which has to come in handy.
However, Wallace Stevens – a favorite poet of mine – spent most of his professional life employed by a Connecticut insurance company. He was well into his 40s when his first collection of poems (including my personal favorite, “The Emporer of Ice Cream”) was published. Let be be finale of seem … the only emporer is the emporer of ice cream.
Which brings me to a third example, albeit not one related to writing. The gentleman who founded the Hare Krishna movement was 70 when he did so.
The Letter T 