Guest blogger Bob Kamman picked up this story last week and the judicial conference slowed down our production line. This is a great story about a former revenue officer who has gone on to bigger (and better?) things with her career. It’s nice to see someone working in tax procedure collecting taxes having a good post-IRS career. Keith
Is there life after IRS? That’s a question that many writers and readers of this blog have likely asked ourselves. No one has a better answer than a 91-year-old former IRS revenue officer from College Park, Georgia.
“Hopefully, somebody who at 55 or 60 has decided, ‘This is all I can do,’ they will realize they have 35 more years to get things together,” Steel said. “Start now. It’s never too late. … Keep your mind open and keep faith in yourself that you can do this thing. All you have to do is step out there.”
That is a quote from her in this article in the Washington Post
“Dorothy Steel was born and raised in Detroit and eventually worked for the federal government as a senior revenue officer for the Internal Revenue Service for decades before retiring on Dec. 7, 1984 — a date she rattles off with impeccable memory,” the Post reports. The article adds, “she bounced around the world as part of her job.” So what has she done lately?
Proved, beyond a doubt, that if you can collect federal taxes you can do anything, even if you are an African-American woman north of 90 years old.
She is a scene-stealing actress in the current box-office blockbuster, “Black Panther.” It’s the 14th-highest grossing movie of all time, and moving up the list. She plays the role of a merchant elder. Acting experience? She started in community theatre for seniors when she was 88. At 89, she got an agent and began getting parts in television shows and commercials.
Steel turned down the chance to audition for “Black Panther” the first time she was asked, because she was not interested in some “comic-strip movie” and she didn’t think she could do an African accent. Her grandson, 26, explained to her that this was not just any comic strip. And she listened to hours of Nelson Mandela speeches on YouTube, to develop the accent. She agreed to the audition, and was asked to join the cast.
Yes, there is life after IRS. Some of us may even be fortunate enough, to have an income at age 91 that is as much as what Dorothy Steel will pay in taxes this year.
Thank you for posting this!