There is something incredibly cheering about an 81-year-old winning the Booker Prize. Not a lifetime achievement award, but Britain’s biggest literary accolade. M John Harrison’s The End of Everything has belatedly brought one of science fiction’s great outsiders into the literary establishment. Harrison has spent decades producing challenging, genre-defying fiction, beginning with New Worlds magazine in the Sixties. Long admired by fellow writers, now, at 81, he’s won the actual Booker. How wonderful is that? And he’s far from alone. There are so many people out there who, whether through choice or – too often – necessity because of being made redundant, have rediscovered their creative juices in their third act of life.
In my own friendship circle, there is the brilliant watercolourist, Gerard Stamp, 71, who spent 25 years in advertising before pursuing painting full-time. His exquisite architectural pictures, particularly of Venice, recently prompted The Spectator to ask “when will the art world acknowledge this master?” I cannot afford to buy one of his paintings, as his work is now being sold for thousands of pounds. He has his first major exhibition currently in London – and a new coffee table book out. Then there’s Rosie Arnold, another multi-talented advertising veteran, whose recent first few exhibitions, displaying her stunning paintings and sculpture, have all come in her sixties. Take my university friend, Genevieve Marenghi, who after a career in newspaper publishing, had her wonderful debut novel No Oil Painting, about an older woman’s reverse art heist, published at 59. She persevered after years of rejection and bad luck.
As for myself, I switched to being a teacher – on a £12k bursary for that first PGCE year. I wasn’t going to include my own change, but then realised that there is a whole new world of creativity I draw on daily that is so different to writing and editing for a living.
Famously, Carmen Herrera, the Cuban-American artist, sold her first painting at 89 and enjoyed a major New York retrospective at 101. The artist Grandma Moses began painting seriously aged 77. The soul singer Charles Bradley released his debut album at 62, having worked as a chef and James Brown impersonator. Such different journeys, but one defiant message: it isn’t over until you decide it’s over. We really must rethink our attitudes to the over-50s.
I know far too many talented, energetic and experienced people being laid off in their late fifties. People with decades of knowledge, imagination and judgement, suddenly treated as though they’ve reached their sell-by date because they’re “too expensive” at the very moment they might have most to contribute. What a waste. We worship youth and obsess over dreadful “30 under 30” lists. Where are the “60 over 60” lists? Why do we assume creativity and ambition have an expiry date?
Let’s not romanticise this. Reinvention is easier with savings, a supportive partner or a decent pension. Creativity requires time and sometimes money. Not everyone can afford to pursue a dream: Gerard made “zero income” for three years. But, everyone deserves the opportunity. This makes the steady erosion of creative education especially depressing. Astonishingly, 36 per cent of English secondary schools entered no pupils for GCSE Music or Drama – and a staggering 83 per cent for Dance.
So, pick up that paintbrush or open the laptop. Dust off the guitar. Write the first paragraph or join a choir or pottery class. You may make something terrible, then make something better. You may never win the Booker or sell a painting. But you might discover a talent, a passion, or even: an entirely new life.
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