Monday, November 24, 2008

From Car Mechanic to Nobel Winner

Unemployed again and bearing in mind the political situation we were undergoing, without the faintest possibility of finding a job, I decided to devote myself to literature: it was about time to find out what I was worth as a writer.

We were talking the other day about folks who begin writing late in life. The Portuguese Nobel laureate José Saramago is among them, as he started writing seriously in his 50's. Before that he worked, among other things, as a car mechanic and metal-worker. (You can find a fascinating account of his life on the Nobel site.)

Saramago, now 86 and recovered from a respiratory infection that threatened to end his life, is interviewed in the Guardian.

2 comments:

Martin Bradley said...

Excellent Sharon thank you for this - it made my day!! Perhaps I should move to the Algarve.

Burhan said...

mr spock has aged well...