Shelby Wagner is the author of two books with the title, "Learning to Dance in the Rain." The subtitle to the first is "Dealing With Grief, Moving On and Online Dating." It was published in 2018 by Xulon, has a word count of 22,000 words and is 105 pages. ad nd is now only available from the author and a few third-party sellers on Amazon. During 2020 and the quarantines due to Covid-19, Wagner updated the book and published the second edition, "Learning to Dance in the Rain II - Surviving Grief, Internet Dating and Romance Scams." Published by Xlibris, it was released January 27, 2021, with a word count of 53,000 in 166 pages. The second edition was reviewed by Kirkus and featured on this website.
Shelby's credentials include the following, BA (1963) and BMus (2987) from Oakland University, Rochester, MI; and an MA (1967) from Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
Wagner has 23 years' experience teaching in the classroom and over 60 years experience as church organist/choir director and private piano/organ/voice teacher. Hobbies include playing piano for local community events and in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Two days after graduating as a member of Oakland University's Charter Class, Shelby began her teaching career with a class of 39 first graders. She believes her first book, "All I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned Teaching First Grade," would have been a bestseller if she had only written it. It was quite an experience! Taking over a class of any grade eight weeks before the end of the school year is a challenge, but Shelby's class of 39 first graders was something indescribable. Her third day on the job, she passed her principal in the hallway as she returned from lunchroom duty. He smiled a friendlky smile and asked how things were going. To her dismay, Shelby burst into tears! The kindly principal said he would "catch her later," as she disappeared into the nearest bathroom. As Shelby persevered, she was granted a reprieve when she came down with the measles and missed the last two weeks of school. It is funny how the memories come and go over the years, but this is one Shelby will never forget and she shares it occasionally and always adds, "Everyone should have to teach first grade for at least one year!"
Other highlights of Shelby's leadership roles.
• She helped to write the Standards for Rochester Schools' K-12 Social Studies Curriculum (1968-1970).
• She helped to write the Standards for Oxford Schools' K-12 Music Curriculum (1999-2000).
• As Sunday School Superintendent, she conducted Training Workshops for Sunday School Teachers at Auburn Hills United Presbyterian Church and held monthly meetings with Department Superintendents. She also created a floor plan for remodeling a former church sanctuary and two basement areas into individual classrooms, meeting areas, a nursery, a library and the church secretary's office, which she presented to the Elders who unanimously approved the project and its funding.
• With her husband, she started a website design and development business. Together they built over forty small business websites.
• As church secretary and music teacher, she prepared and printed program bulletins for numerous school and church concerts, plays and all church worship services.
• With her husband, she organized the Parrottsville (TN) Business Association and prepared its formal and legal Constitution, Purpose and Mission Statement. She served as its President several times. Its greatest accomplishment was the creation of a telephone directory for Parrottsville which was very well received and appreciated by the community. Wagner wrote articles about the club for inclusion in the local newspaper.
Membership in Professional Organizations
• American Orff-Schulwerk Association, was the sole member of a committee responsible for inviting facilitators and keeping tract of their responses for the Detroit Convention in 1988 or 1989. (I was the only member at the time who knew how to use a computer.)
• Music Teachers National Association.
• Association of Professional Piano Instructors.
• A current member of the Sturgis Writers' Mill, Sturgis, MI.
“A lively guide for late-in-life singles.”
– Kirkus Reviews
SELF-HELP
LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN II
BY Shelby Wagner • POSTED ON Dec. 10, 2020
After the death of her husband, a woman learns to navigate grief, independence, and online dating in this memoir/self-help book.
In 2000, Wagner and her husband, Bob, moved from Michigan into their “retirement dream home” in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains. Only six years later, Bob was diagnosed with cancer, and after 10 years of difficult treatments, the author was a widow, alone in the house that she and her spouse had built together. She moved back to Michigan to be closer to other members of her family and was faced with the prospect of reinventing her life without her beloved partner—a task that required courage, soul-searching, and getting to know herself again as an individual. As she contemplated dating in her 70s, she formulated strategies that she decided she wanted to share with others her age seeking romance and intimacy. In this book, she begins by exploring what she sees as the differences in men’s and women’s thought patterns and then progresses to explaining the nuts and bolts of dating websites. As a result, the story of Wagner’s second act quickly transforms into an intimate self-help resource for elders determined to survive and thrive. She peppers her warm, personal narrative with lists of useful questions and suggestions for those who may be emerging from long-term relationships and need help rediscovering themselves. It also explains a dating world that’s very different from the one that Wagner’s target audience navigated decades ago. She approaches her readers with understanding and empathy, offering gleanings from a variety of references. Even the shyest widow or widower is likely to be engaged by her approach to online dating, which defines email, texting, and online chat and provides exhaustive pointers for avoiding scammers. Her willingness to reveal her own experiences of being swindled by prospective “dates” is appealingly frank, as well, although it does work against the hopeful attitude she tries to cultivate elsewhere.
A lively guide for late-in-life singles.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2021
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