Morgan Freeman was 50 when he got his big acting break. Julia Childs was the same age when she scored her own cooking show. And Raymond Chandler had his first detective novel published at the grand old age of 51. These are the positive “it’s never too late!” stories regularly wheeled out to inspire us when we realise that, contrary to what we’d like to believe, it’s looking highly doubtful we’ll make it onto any “30 under 30”, “40 under 40”, or even “50 under 50” lists.
Now, there’s a new – and arguably even more remarkable – example to add to the pantheon. At the age of 90, the first ever Black astronaut candidate has finally made it into space. Ex-air force captain Ed Dwight, selected but then ultimately passed over by Nasa in 1963, became the oldest person to reach the edge of space on 19 May, courtesy of a Blue Origin flight.
