Which writers made their debut at an advanced age?

I am 73.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Turned 50 last year.

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Youngin'.

Oh to have been doing this when I was only 50!

Which proves chronology is not destiny.

www.donaldmichaelplatt.com

Every bio of an author that I read, first thing I scan for -- how old when first published. Great thread, WM!

This is not an author who made a debut but is still writing: Phyllis Whitney. She's 104 and is working on her autobiography.

I think that this thread ought to become a sticky. Or, a list created of author, age and title/s, and then placed as a sticky.

In our youth-obsessed culture (which flies in the face of the major aging of the populations throughout most of the industrialised countries), this is very encouraging, supportive and necessary information.

Sticky...!

George Dell wrote his first novel, The Earth Abideth (CBS mini-series, Seasons of Love) at age 37 but it wasn't published until he was 85. His second published novel, Dance Unto the Lord, written at age 70, was published after his death at age 91. Both published by Ohio State University Press, same as "And Ladies of the Club". Puma

I could be wrong, in that he might not have been in his 50's, but wasn't Tolkein quite up there when Lord of the Rings was published?

Willowmound said:

A bit of quick research tells me he was 45 when The Hobbit was published.

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Hey, 60 is the new 45.

maestrowork said:

I am 73.

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Liar, liar, chocolate pants on fire!

Australian writer, Elizabeth Jolley. Apparently she started writing in her 20's but didn't gain notice until her 50's. She died last year.

I am Padma Narayanaswamy an Indian writer . Nice to read such posts . I am a late starter .
I would like to be known as a writer. such posts makes me more optimistic
padma

Penelope Fitzgerald published her first book at 58, her first novel at 60, & won the Booker at 62.

Hey, there Willow. Have you told your father yet? If so, what does he plan to do?

L. M. Boston (Lucy Maria Boston), who wrote the Green Knowe series and a dozen other books for children and adults, wrote her first book in her 60s. She lived to be 98.
She also handstitched an elaborate patchwork quilt every year, even after her sight failed so that she needed assistance threading the needle.
-Barbara

To add...

there's a 93 year old writer who has just published her first novel in the UK. She's published by one of the big publishers too, and I'll get back with her name when my writing students finish with my 'Writer's News'. That's where I first read about her.