The Perfect Age is Yours

Just in case you think you're too young and not yet ready for success, or too old and well past any hope of outstanding achievement, bear in mind:

Vincent Van Gogh died at 37, having created countless drawings and 900 paintings, among them “Starry Night" and "Sunflowers." Pablo Picasso, whose very name is synonymous with art worldwide, worked steadily until his death at 92.  

Rudyard Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature at 42. Doris Lessing was awarded the same prize at 88. 

David Stuart, dedicated to deciphering pre-Columbian Mayan hieroglyphics, became a MacArthur Fellow at 18. Matthew Carter, busy inventing typefaces, became a MacArthur Fellow at 72.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his “Symphony No. 1 in E Flat Major” when he was only 8. Composer Aaron Copland was on a sixth musical career when he died at 88. 

Jack Kerouac was 29 when he completed his hit novel, On the Road. Russian writer Leo Tolstoy gave up his lifelong earnings and inherited wealth and died on the road at 82.

Guitarist Jimi Hendrix was an international superstar when he died at 27. Still an international superstar, lead Rolling Stone singer Mick Jagger turns 70 this year.