48 & 61
Momofuku Ando: one useful invention at 48, another at 61
A familiar everyday problem became the starting point for two major product milestones.
Read the story & try a next step →The next-chapter collection · 26 stories
Good things can begin later.
26 stories of work, creativity, movement and discovery after 40—including remarkable chapters in people’s eighties and nineties. There is no single timetable for a meaningful life.
Explore the milestone, the work behind it and a small next step for your own life. Each story includes sources and room for your own definition of success. The ages describe a featured moment: starting, doing the work and receiving recognition can happen years apart.
New stories for your next chapter
An invention at 48. A landmark novel at 56. A first spaceflight at 82. Find a life that makes you curious about your own possibilities.
82
Wally Funk at 82: a long-held ambition can still have a next chapter
A first trip to space followed a lifetime of flying, instruction and determination.
Read the story & try a next step →80s
Bill Traylor in his eighties: a life can find a new visual language
Drawing became a powerful way to record memories and observations late in Traylor’s life.
Read the story & try a next step →50
Katalin Karikó at 50: sustained research can open a new possibility
A collaborative discovery in midlife helped make a later medical advance possible.
Read the story & try a next step →40s & 84
Tu Youyou: a research breakthrough after 40, a Nobel Prize at 84
Careful reading, experimentation and teamwork contributed to an important malaria treatment.
Read the story & try a next step →56
Toni Morrison at 56: your strongest work may still be ahead
A major novel in her fifties grew from an already substantial writing life.
Read the story & try a next step →60s & 70s
José Saramago: a remarkable writing chapter in his sixties and seventies
A long working life preceded the novels and recognition that brought him an international readership.
Read the story & try a next step →70s
Louise Bourgeois in her seventies: an established practice can reach new people
A major retrospective brought wider attention to work developed over decades.
Read the story & try a next step →More lives to take inspiration from
Explore the earlier 18 profiles, including Vera Wang, Julia Child, Grandma Moses and Alma Thomas.
40
Vera Wang at 40: a new business can grow from an old skill
A change of direction does not erase the experience that came before it. Wang brought years of fashion work into a business of her own.
Read the story & try a next step →45
Samuel L. Jackson at 45: the years before a breakthrough count
A widely recognized role can arrive well into a working life. The preparation before the spotlight is part of the story.
Read the story & try a next step →66
Frank McCourt at 66: there may be a story in the life you have lived
After decades in the classroom, a retired teacher found a new audience for his voice. His first book arrived at 66.
Read the story & try a next step →70s
Harriet Doerr in her seventies: return to learning, then see what follows
An unfinished education became the beginning of another chapter. Doerr’s first novel and a major literary award arrived in her seventies.
Read the story & try a next step →89
Carmen Herrera at 89: the work had value before the first sale
Herrera spent decades developing her art before the market paid attention. Her first sale at 89 was recognition of an already substantial creative life.
Read the story & try a next step →84
Iris Apfel at 84: your taste can keep opening doors
A museum exhibition introduced a much wider audience to a woman who had spent decades developing her own eye for design.
Read the story & try a next step →95 & 98
Nola Ochs at 95 and 98: curiosity does not need a graduation deadline
A bachelor’s degree at 95 was followed by a master’s at 98. Ochs’s story offers an expansive view of what being a student can mean.
Read the story & try a next step →56
Ernestine Shepherd at 56: being a beginner can change your next chapter
Shepherd’s fitness story began with her sister and an aerobics class. A much larger athletic journey grew from that first shared step.
Read the story & try a next step →92
Harriette Thompson at 92: a personal challenge can serve a larger purpose
Her remarkable finish line also represented years of fundraising. The useful question is what meaningful cause might give your own plans direction.
Read the story & try a next step →72
Mary Delany at 72: a small material can begin a remarkable body of work
Paper, observation and a new technique became the foundation of Delany’s celebrated botanical collages in her seventies.
Read the story & try a next step →73
Peter Mark Roget at 73: an old interest can become something useful
The thesaurus bearing his name was published at 73, after a substantial career in medicine and science.
Read the story & try a next step →50
Charles Darwin at 50: important work can take a long time to take shape
A landmark book appeared in midlife after years of observation and study. The long development belongs in the story.
Read the story & try a next step →49
Julia Child: a new craft became a public career after 40
A first major cookbook in midlife can remind us that learning and public recognition do not have to happen on the same timetable.
Read the story & try a next step →52
Ray Kroc at 52: experience can help you recognize an opportunity
A midlife business turning point can come from noticing what works and understanding how your existing skills could contribute.
Read the story & try a next step →65
Laura Ingalls Wilder at 65: a lifetime can become material
Writing later in life can begin with experiences you have already accumulated and a willingness to reshape them for a reader.
Read the story & try a next step →80
Grandma Moses at 80: your next creative chapter can still begin
Anna Mary Robertson Moses had her first solo exhibition at 80. The more useful invitation in her story is to make something with the life and materials you already have.
Read the story & try a next step →80s
Alma Thomas: an extraordinary artistic chapter in her eighties
After decades teaching art, Alma Thomas devoted more time to painting in retirement and achieved major recognition in her eighties.
Read the story & try a next step →97
John Goodenough: a breakthrough after 40, recognition at 97
An important discovery and the award that recognizes it can be separated by decades. Curiosity has a longer timeline than a career checklist.
Read the story & try a next step →What would a good next chapter mean to you?
A friendship, a creative practice, a useful business, a new skill or more time for what you enjoy. Choose a version that fits your values and circumstances.
Find your next small plan →