Famed sci-fi writer Ursula LeGuin is an example of someone who did not start Latin from scratch, but had a little in junior high and high school, then taught herself again in her 70s, with the goal of reading the Aeneid in Latin, which she did, which led to her marvelous novel “Lavinia.”
http://techland.time.com/2009/05/11/an-interview-with-ursula-k-le-guin/