I wonder if it is too late to do so now that I am in my fifties.

Perhaps not. I'm in my thirties, and I recently took up piano, and it's proving to be rather easier than I expected. I expected to have to spend twice as long as a child would spend to learn the same amount, but that appears not to be the case. Something about having already learned other stuff, apparently, makes it go quicker. I started in December, and I'm already playing pieces with chords, and beginning to play with a key signature, which typically comes much more than two months in for a young piano student, OSIAT. And I'm only practicing about fifteen minutes a day, average.

YMMV, but give it a shot. What have you got to lose?