Shelly Marshall

When getting to know others for the first time, both professionally and informally, a statement (or accusation) I've often heard is, "You can't possibly have done all that." “A story-teller,” has been whispered behind my back more than once. Yet I've relished living in all those tall tales and wouldn't give them up for the world! My adventures include starting off as a stripper, beginning a "figure art" modeling agency, getting clean and sober in short order, writing best selling books in my field one of which has sold over two million, graduating as the first person in the U.S. (and maybe the world) to earn a combined degree in drugs and alcohol, built and lived in more than one solar home, lived one year off the land without going to a grocery store (my daughter still hasn't forgiven me for that one), worked as a Bonner County deputy in Idaho, learned to speak Russian, began a successful, albeit small, Indy publishing house, became a peer reviewed published researcher, climbed to the top of a Fijian peak for the rare Tangamothia orchid and was celebrated by an entire village for my hardiness, took part in the separation of Mother Russia from the communist party, helped begin an Academy for training drug and alcohol counselors in Moscow, gave birth to a best selling children's author named Karma, and...so... much...more.

Much of me is due to my mother, one of the original feminists who helped propel Ms. Magazine to success. Mom taught me that I could go as far as I desired and instilled in me the message that it is better to distribute walnuts at Halloween than candy. And then there was Dad who taught me it's OK to build castles in the sand, as long as you use mortar. I had a tumultuous childhood filled with addictions, abuse, divorce, chaos, hunger, confusion, and other stuff one might consider unsavory. That past also contained lessons on loyalty, bonding with my brothers, adventure, fun, and varied lessons from a feminist alcoholic Mom and a LAPD father, also alcoholic. It formed a great foundation upon which to build character and create an amazing life-form known as Shelly Marshall.

I like my life-form. A lot. Regardless of my flaws (and believe me, I am troubled by many), I like my thoughts and intentions and how I've learned to behave. My 12 Step program of living by principle remains my most valued possession. I will not be shamed about a spiritual foundation and belief in a Higher Power no matter how seductive it is to join the “enlightened” atheists of today. I feel compassion for the fear exhibited by our youth who need their safe spaces and believe it is only right to ensure equal outcomes regardless of ability or good old fashioned hard work and integrity. Guilt hovers nigh for helping create our troubled Millennials and Gen Zs because I observed our values slipping away and did little to halt the progression toward neo-marxism. Had I been able to mandate that every high school senior read “The Lucifer Principle,” America's slow march toward self-destruction would have been delayed by a generation or more.

Some of the people I've met and worked with, and wish I could have become good friends with are: Betty Ford, Father Joe Martin, Theodore Sturgeon, Father Leo Booth, William Glasser, and Wayne Dyer.

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Some of the people I have not met and not worked with, and wish I could have become good friends with are: Viktor Frankl, Howard Bloom, my great grandmother Anna Gann, Edgar Cayce, Margaret Thatcher, Rosie the Riveter, Glenn Beck, and the author of “Games People Play” who's name I never remember.

And there you go. That is me in a nutShell (my father used to warn me to be careful in the fall when the squirrels gather nuts). Silly, but that was Dad. Once in a while I still hear people say, "You can't possibly have done all that." And maybe not. But if it was not me in all my tall tales, who, then, was it?