You may know Alex Honnold, the only person to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan rock cliff without any gear. But did you know that Honnold’s mother, Dierdre Wolownick, is the oldest woman to climb the same mountain (with gear)? Or that she only started training in her 60s?

Melissa Davey, a documentary filmmaker, wanted to share Diedre’s story. Her film Climbing into Life is now available to stream on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube Movies, among others.

In this re-released episode of Your Creative Midlife, I talk with Melissa Davey about Dierdre's story and Melissa’s own journey into filmmaking in mid-life.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

→ How Dierdre trained for her climb to El Capitan

→ How Melissa Davey approached the documentary

→ Why this documentary is different from Melissa’s first film

If you've ever dreamed of pushing yourself beyond your limits or starting a new creative chapter later in life, this episode will inspire you to begin.

About Melissa Davey

Melissa Davey, age 75, retired from a lengthy corporate career in 2016 to pursue her second act and dream of becoming a filmmaker. At age 65, after a day on the set with a famous Director, she decided to take a risk and left her career to jump into the unknown.

Pursuing her dream of becoming a filmmaker became a reality in late 2018 when Melissa completed her first film, Beyond Sixty, a feature-length documentary about women over the age of sixty. During 2019 Melissa’s film was accepted by and screened at 8 film festivals throughout the United States and Canada, winning awards and confirming that it is never too late to learn something new.

Melissa recently completed her second documentary, Climbing into Life, the story of Dierdre Wolownick, the mother of Alex Honnold. The film has been accepted into nineteen film festivals so far and has won numerous awards.

📖 Watch Climbing Into Life

• YouTube TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wShg2R_kuXw
• Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-into-life-Melissa-Davey

📖 Resources Mentioned

• Learn more about Dierdre: https://www.instagram.com/dierdre_wolownick_honnold/
• Learn more about Melissa Davey: https://melissadavey.com/climbing-into-life/
• Listen to Betsy’s earlier interview with Melissa Davey: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-dismiss-your-dreams-melissa-davey-on-becoming/id1556317668?i=1000552662832
• Learn more about Alex Honnold: https://www.alexhonnold.com/#bio

Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. And see more about Betsy Bush and her guests at www.yourcreativemidlife.com. Are you on your own artistic or creative journey? We want to know about you! Please contact us through the website. Dare to follow your muse!