Success after 40 (Vanity)

vanity ^ | unpublished | me

[Bon mots]

Success after the age of 40.

I need help.
I am writing an article about people who have attained their real success after the age of 40. These days we are always hearing of the wunderkind who starts an Internet company and makes zillions by the time he's 12 years old (or 25). Michael Dell, Shawn Fanning (well almost), Bill Gates and other techies/entrepreneurs all made millions by the time they were 25. We all love these rags-to-riches stories, and this seems to foster the belief that if you haven't done it by 40, you never will. I am writing about people who had their great success at or beyond middle age.

There are and were plenty of people who were otherwise regarded as failures until they were inspired to action after their fortieth birthday. I will list some here.

Grandma Moses.
Grandma Moses was nobody until she was 80. She retired from a long and hard-working life as a farmer. Then one day, she picked up a piece of wood, a paintbrush and some paint... and the rest is history. Her artwork hangs in museums across America and she is celebrated as a great artist in the folk style.

"Colonel" Harland Sanders Started the KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) chain of restaurants when he was 65 years old.

Ray Kroc
Was a milk-shake machine salesman when he was 52. Hardly anyone's ideal job and not much of a career. Until the day he started McDonald's restaurants. The rest is history.

Sam Walton
Started Wal-Mart at or about his 40^th birthday. His first successful store was basically taken away from him by his landlord's son. His landlord refused to renew his lease once he saw how much money Sam was making on that spot, and he leased it to his son instead who opened a business doing just what Sam was doing. Sam got depressed at first, but then got busy. Very busy. He proceeded to build the world's largest shopping location and a huge fortune.

So folks, this is my kernel of a story. I need help with more such inspirational stories of people who were fairly unsuccessful (financially speaking) until middle age or so. I know that there are many more such examples, and would like to have more than just a handful of paradigms.

Even a name will help, I can find the rest!

Thanks!

[Paul Heinzman]

Henry Miller was 40 when he wrote *Tropic of Cancer*

[Hildy]

I married the man of my dreams when I was 38 and our marriage is perfect. Does that count?

[Bon mots]

Henry Miller was 40 when he wrote *Tropic of Cancer*

Yes! Thanks!

[xrp]

Go buy this book

[Bon mots]

I married the man of my dreams when I was 38 and our marriage is perfect. Does that count?

Sorry, you're way too young.
Come back when you're bigger kid!
;-)

(Success isn't only measured in dollar$ and cents.)

[b9]

That's the best of all.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

"In 1994, George Foreman once again went for the world championship, after Michael Moorer had beaten Holyfield for the IBF and WBA titles. Foreman was trailing badly on all scorecards when he suddenly knocked out Moorer in the 10th round on November 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada. With this, Foreman broke two records: He became, at the age of 45, the oldest fighter ever to win the world Heavyweight crown, and, 20 years after losing his world title for the first time, he broke the record for the fighter with the most time in between one world championship run and the next."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Foreman

[DH]

The most successful people who made it after 40 are the "little people"...not the "big" people.

Like myself, many others have sacrificed most of their younger years to try to bring a business to life and subsequent success. The size of the business is not necessarily the definition of success. It is the fact that someone poured their heart and soul into what they thought would come to fruition and generate them a comfortable living for the rest of their lives...and to actually that.

That's success! Rich people getting richer is not.

[Old Professer]

Kirk Kerkorian comes to mind; his true success began with the sale of his small charter airline service at age 52.

[HungarianGypsy]

Phew! I'm 32. I don't have to consider myself a failure yet, because I didn't finish writing my book yet.

[posterchild]

Wally 'Famous' Amos

[wizr]

Many of us have been successful by finding a life that we love. Getting away from the "grind" and finding a more peaceful life has been my treasure.

[patton]

Ulysses S. Grant

[DH]

Correction: and to actually that.

and to actually watch that happen.

[Hildy]

I'm 47 now.

[Bon mots]

Go buy this book

Thanks!
So my list now expands to include:

1. Harvey Tauman
2. Alex Haley
3. Morgan Freeman
4. Judy George
5. Henry Ford
6. George Foreman
7. Mary Kay Ash
8. Ian Fleming
9. K.T. Oslin
10. King Camp Gillette
11. Jean Nidetch
12. Margaret Rudkin
13. Abraham Lincoln
14. Harry Truman
15. John Glenn
16. Maggie Kuhn
17. Mother Jones
18. Mother Teresa

[new cruelty]

Louis Kahn

[Grampa Dave]

How old was Ronald Reagan when he got in politics?

[Richard Kimball]

Ronald Reagan was in his fifties when he started his real career as a politican. Vince Lombardi was 45 when he took the head coaching job with the Green Bay Packers. George Patton was 60 when he took over command of the 2nd Armored Division, and all of his noted work came after that. Teddy Roosevelt, the youngest man ever to hold the office of President, was 43 when he took office. Michelangelo was about forty when he did his celebrated sculpture of Moses, and continued working until his death when he was 89. Leonardo da Vinci was in his forties when he did the Last Supper and his fifties when he completed the Mona Lisa. Claude Monet was in his sixties when he did his "Water Lilies" paintings. Neil Armstrong was 16 days from his 40th birthday when he stepped on the moon (born on August 5, 1930, stepped on moon July 20, 1969).

There are a zillion more examples.