Shooting Star: The Amazing Life of Ann Marston

Child model. International archery champion. Beauty pageant queen. Detroit rock band promoter. Ann Marston accomplished all of these things and more during her all-too-short life.In “Shooting Star: The Amazing Life of Ann Marston” author Alana Paluszewski tells the story of this former Miss Michigan from Wyandotte who refused to allow debilitating diabetes and blindness to get in the way of her goals. Paluszewski uses Ann's personal diaries, family albums, interviews and other primary research to share Ann's untold biography. Ann was a child prodigy and formidable contender in the sport of archery at a very young age, consistently breaking records in her competitive groups. She was a charming model and successful entertainer despite having Type 1 (juvenile) Diabetes. She acquired early fame by appearing in a Pathe’ newsreel, on Ed Sullivan’s “Talk of the Town,” “Captain Kangaroo”, and dozens of other top shows in America and abroad. Her professional performing career included co-starring with many celebrities including Dick Van Dyke, Roy Rogers, Andy Griffith, and Johnny Carson. She was cover girl on “Sports Illustrated” in 1955 at age 17 while still in high school. She was subsequently inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the Archery Hall of Fame.Ann Marston expanded her repertoire by competing in the 1960 Miss America pageant and winning the preliminary talent competition with her archery ability. She appeared on dozens of television shows, sports exhibitions, and rodeos. She made a television pilot and a Paramount movie short that was shown nationally in 1962. She traveled the United States and England along with her parents, billed as the first professional female archer. The act highlighted her beauty and talent, and had audiences enthralled from coast to coast. Ann’s personal friends included Fred Bear, Emmett Kelly, Jr. and Joe DiMaggio. Ann performed before President John F. Kennedy a few weeks before he was assassinated.Her career took a new direction when she met the Dave Clark Five and the Beatles in Detroit. She began managing local garage bands during Detroit’s rock and roll music revolution in the mid-1960s. Her clients included rock groups Tea, Julia, and the fathers of the Punk and Hard Rock music movement, The Motor City Five. MC5 band members Dennis Thompson, Wayne Kramer, and Michael Davis attribute her management as a driving force in their future success. Sadly, diabetes took her sight at the age of 29 but she continued working in spite of blindness.Ann Marston was a famous and talented woman in spite of a domineering mother and critical illness. She died suddenly of a stroke at age 32 but continues to be a role model to young women and an inspiration to everyone who wishes to overcome devastating circumstances. Read more