About A Rendezvous to Remember

A provocative true story of an idealistic young woman, her two lovers, and the fateful decision that would forever change the course of their lives

Frustrated with the dating scene, Ann Garretson decided she couldn’t leave love to chance. So she set her sights on “The One”: her pen pal, Lieutenant Jack Sigg, a tank commander on the German-Czech border. In 1964, she skipped her college commencement to tour Europe with him, hoping to return as his fiancée. But a month into their rendezvous, her best friend, Terry, proposed marriage—by mail—throwing everyone into turmoil.

Jack offered the military life Ann had grown up with. Terry, a conscientious objector, would leave for the Peace Corps at summer’s end, unless the draft board intervened and sent him to jail. Her dilemma: she loved them both.

Ann had to make an agonizing choice—a choice made all that much harder by her meddling parents, Terry’s passionate pleas, and Jack’s irresistible charm.

A Rendezvous to Remember is an intimate portrayal of relationships in the early sixties, written by a young woman finding her way in a changing world and by the man she ultimately married. Provocative and delightfully uncensored, this coming-of-age memoir is a tribute to the enduring power of love.

Praise

“It is the 1960s. . . . The authors’ vivid descriptions transport the reader to picturesque settings in the American Southwest and Europe. [They] artfully tell their story through the letters written between Ann and her suitors. . . . An unflinching, personal excursion into the decade.”—US Review of Books (RECOMMENDED)

“The story transcends personal autobiography alone, charting the course of not just two disparate lives, but a nation. . . . Highly recommended reading for anyone who has wondered what coming of age in America in the 1960s was really like.”—Midwest Book Review

“Let Ann and Terry Marshall take you on a tour across landscapes and time. You’ll be richer for the experience. A Rendezvous to Remember is an extended road trip, a rollicking adventure, and, above all, a love story you’ll never forget.”—Hope Edelman, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Motherless Daughters

“Garretson and Marshall reach right into the heart in this beautifully written memoir, pulling on every emotion. This is a story about what it means to be human—to struggle with love and what we truly want out of life—especially when being pulled in two different directions. Humorous and heartbreaking, 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.”—Samantha Vérant, author of Seven Letters from Paris

“A Rendezvous to Remember is a story of swiftly changing times on two continents, from the American military bases in Cold War West Germany to the mountain switchbacks of Colorado. But most of all, it is a love story—better yet, two of them—told with sly humor, crackling dialogue, and deep humanity.”—Greg Blake Miller, director of Olympian Creative and author of Decemberlands

“An intimate and compelling examination of a shared life, particularly since a third party shares that life. Ann Garretson Marshall is not only crazy in love with her co-writer, Terry Marshall, but as well with the dashing Lieutenant Jack Sigg. Their story takes place in the first half of the ’60s, in reality an extension of the ’50s, an era little explored. . . . A provocative memoir of a time of debilitating ‘innocence’ ruptured.”—Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, author of Lament for a Silver-Eyed Woman and Girls of Tender Age: A Memoir

Awards

International Book Awards, Best Cover Design Non-Fiction, Finalist
Best Book Awards, Best Cover Design Non-Fiction, Finalist

About the Authors

Terry and Ann Marshall taught English in the Philippines as Peace Corps volunteers and later served as Peace Corps country co-directors in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu. Back in the States, they worked side by side as community organizers and activists in Colorado. They live in Las Vegas, Nevada. READ MORE

© Chris G. Pffum