Never Too Late: My Musical Life Story

If I could learn to play the cello well, as I thought I could, I could show by my own example that we all have greater powers than we think; that whatever we want to learn or learn to do, we probably can learn; that our lives and our possibilities are not determined and fixed by what happened to us when we were little, or by what experts say we can or cannot do. Best known for his brilliant insight into the way children learn, John Holt was also an intrepid explorer of adult learning. At the age of forty, with no particular musical background, he took up the cello. His touching and hilarious account of his passionate second career demolished the myth that one must start an instrument (or a sport, or a language) in early childhood, and will inspire any reader who dreams of taking up a new skill. Reviews Very often when I travel adults come to me and longingly say they want to play a musical instrument but are now too old. I always and with great delight refer them to John Holt's book Never Too Late. The beauty of Holt's book is that he himself set his own standards for music making. The reason for playing music is not to compare yourself to anyone but to bring forth what is inside of you. - Yo Yo Ma A deep love of his instrument sparkles on the pages of his life story. - Christian Science Monitor Taps the Walter Mitty dreamer is all of us. - Los Angeles Times