Kent Rasmussen’s Late-Blooming Tale of Mark Twain
In his late 40s, Kent Rasmussen looked upon the dark night of the soul. He obsessively read Mark Twain to raise his spirits. Now he’s one of the world’s foremost Twain authorities.
Writers
J.K. Rowling observed, “There’s always room for a story that can transport people to another place.” Perhaps that’s why writers constitute Later Bloomer’s largest category. Our books and stories can become healing gifts to ourselves and to the future.
When Truth Is Truly Stranger Than Fiction
Two of Anne R. Allen’s novels play off real-life episodes. One involves a Hollywood scandal and the other, her first publishing experience with an erotica company trying to go mainstream. I interview her over at Write It Sideways.
Shirley S. Allen: Beyond Publish or Perish
After her children left home, Shirley Allen became a college professor. In her 80s, she started writing fiction, including the first-class cozy mystery, Academic Body.
Frank McCourt: How a Brooklyn High School Teacher Published “Angela’s Ashes” at Age 66
Frank McCourt taught English in New York high schools for 27 years before writing his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Angela’s Ashes, at age 66. “I refused to settle for a one-act existence.”
Claire Cook: A Passport to Reinvention from the Late-Blooming Author of Must Love Dogs
At 50, after several careers, Claire Cook attended the premiere of Must Love Dogs, an adaptation of her second book. Here’s her advice on beginning again.
Do You Know How Tuscany Got Its Name?
They were called the Etruscans, and modern-day Tuscany derives its name from them. Late bloomer Elisabeth Storrs brings them to life in a luminous novel titled “The Wedding Shroud.”