I entered education at an age where most would be retiring from it. I entered education when most are leaving this career in droves. Many of those starting out as teachers are in their early twenties. Too often in our culture, we promote wunderkinds and those who are successful in whatever field they are in when they are under thirty But what can be said of those who find their niche, their purpose, their calling later in life? Do they not bring a diverse wealth of experience to a job that they would not have had when they were younger?
One of my favorite children’s authors and illustrators, William Steig, did not begin writing children’s books until he was sixty-one. He would go on to write more than thirty until he died at the age of ninety-five. With his third book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Steig would win the Caldecott Medal. In his acceptance speech, William Steig said:
Art, including juvenile literature, has the power to make any spot on earth the living center of the universe, and unlike science, which often gives us the illusion of understanding things we really do not understand, it helps us to know life in a way that still keeps before us the mystery of things. It enhances the sense of wonder. And wonder is respect for life. Art also stimulates the adventurousness and the playfulness that keep us moving in a lively way and that lead us to useful discovery.
Books for children are something I take seriously. I am hopeful that more and more the work I do for children, as well as the work I do for adults, will approach the condition of art. I believe that what this award and this ceremony represent is our mutual striving in the same direction, and I feel encouraged by the faith you have expressed in me in honoring my book with the Caldecott Medal.
Kenneth Grahame did not write The Wind in the Willows until he was forty-nine, Richard Adams did not write Watership Down until he was fifty-three, or J.R.R. Tolkien who was forty-five when he wrote The Hobbit. Charles Darwin didn’t publish On The Origin of the Species until he was fifty. Julia Childs also published her first cookbook at fifty. Daniel Defoe didn’t write Robinson Crusoe until he was sixty.
Claude Monet didn’t really begin seriously painting until he was in his forties. Yagoi Kusama didn’t have a survey of work until she was sixty. Louise Bourgeois didn’t create her famous sculpture Maman until she was eighty-nine. Grandma Moses wasn’t discovered until she was eighty.
May we allow for our journey to unfold in its own time, to trust that a late bloomer is still someone who blooms. May we understand that people are capable of great things at any stage of their lives.
The Japanese artist Hokusai once said, “All I have done before the age of 70 is not worth bothering with. At 75, I’ll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish, and insects. When I am 80, you will see real progress.”
Yes! Thank you for this. I went back to school part time to finish my Bachelors degree when I was 34. I had stopped my earlier college education which was begun when I was 18 in 1964 as it all seemed irrelevant given the state of the world at that time. So, I had a baby and went back to school. I thought it was the perfect time to continue my education as, I thought, babies sleep all the time. I got my bachelors, continued on to get an MSW, (Master of Social Work) and then completed the requirements to become a licensed clinical psychotherapist at the age of 42. I also taught social work to undergraduate students at a state college. I taught both day students as well as night students. The difference in the students was profound. The day students (most of them 18-20 years old) had their energy and interest torn between dating and having fun and their studies (guess which suffered most….) whereas the night students generally had considerable responsibilities and obligations as parents, as partners, and employees but nevertheless worked very hard at their studies and never complained about the many writing assignments. I know that at 42 I brought life experience as well as education to the treatment room—life experience that I could not have had at 24. Thank you for giving numerous examples and shining a light on all the people who began and succeeded in their field at an advanced age.
This is encouraging! Our culture is obsessed with youthfulness – all the "40 under 40" lists – but there's a lot to be said for being a late bloomer.