SAN LUIS VALLEY– Former SLV residents Ann and Terry Marshall’s newly published memoir, A Rendezvous to Remember, “is an extended road trip, a rollicking adventure, and, above all, a love story you’ll never forget,” So writes Hope Edelman, the New York Times #1 best-selling author of Motherless Daughters.

The seeds for this adventure-turned-love-story sprouted after high school seniors Terry Marshall (Center) and Ann Garretson (Alamosa) won paid trips to represent Colorado at the national Ford Teenage Press conference 60-plus years ago—then became best friends as journalism students at the University of Colorado.

Their long careers as writers, activists, and international travellers included two stints in Terry’s hometown of Center, where he served as Head Start director, and Ann as Saguache County Medical Center deputy director, among other jobs.

Most recently, the couple turned their attention to nonfiction story telling, starting with A Rendezvous to Remember, which documents their rocky road to marriage. (See sidebar.)

The Midwest Book Review says of their memoir, “The story transcends personal autobiography alone, charting the course of not just two disparate lives, but a nation.”

Samantha Vérant, author of Seven Letters from Paris, notes, “Garretson and Marshall reach right into the heart of this beautifully written memoir. This is a story about what it means to be human . . . The dueling narrative is stunning, surprising, and inspiring. I sobbed at the end, knowing the right choices were made, and I applaud the authors for their honesty.”

The memoir in brief:

Idealists caught in love triangle

In the early 1960s, Ann Garretson sparks an airmail romance with her brother’s best friend, Jack Sigg, a West Point graduate stationed in Germany guarding the Czech-German border during the Cold War.

Ann and Jack’s correspondence heats up, and they hatch a rendezvous in Germany for the summer of 1964 to seal their budding love. She hopes to return as his fiancée.

But wait . . . Even though Ann’s best friend at the university, Terry Marshall, helps her plan the European escapade, in the final weeks before her trip, they realize they are more than just friends. In June, Terry bids a wistful goodbye. A month later, he decides he can’t live without her.

After Jack and Ann take a whirlwind “grand tour” of Europe in his Corvette Sting Ray, Ann receives this proposal—by mail from Terry: “Marry me. This summer.” His letter throws all three of their lives into turmoil.

Jack offers the military life Ann knows as an army brat. He anticipates duty in the Vietnam War—and ultimately a distinguished career. Terry, a conscientious objector, will leave for the Peace Corps at summer’s end—unless the draft board intervenes and sends him to jail.

Ann’s dilemma: she loves both men.