Shirley Rorvik’s son Tim was a man’s man. More than six feet tall, he had served as a U.S. Marine in the first Gulf War.

So when Tim Rorvik came out as gay to his mother in 1991, she was floored.

Shirley Rorvik, a devout Presbyterian, didn’t accept it at first.

“I thought, ‘Tim is mixed up,’ he’s wrong,” Rorvik said. “I had been raised that gay people were strange, different. I honestly thought they were perverts. He was very patient with me and said, ‘Mom, this is who I am.’”

Rorvik eventually grew to accept him, even if she didn’t fully understand his life.

Her story of love and understanding with her son was the motivation behind her new novel, “Jack’s Carousel.”

Jack, a traditional man, must face an uncomfortable reality when he lives with his grandson Scott, who comes out to his grandfather shortly after they begin living together.

Rorvik, 70, said she thought Jack and Scott’s tale was a more common one than many people think about. She said it is up to the families and friends of gay people to show support. She had seen too much of the opposite.

“My son would bring his friends over,” Rorvik said. “I saw in their faces pain and suffering and fear and loneliness. Those men had been rejected by their families. They were Christians and they turned their backs on these men.”

A longtime nonfiction writer, Rorvik ventured into the world of the novel after a class at Flathead Valley Community College sparked her interest. Before the class, she wasn’t the most literary of writers.

“The class was Introduction to Novel Genres,” Rorvik said. “I didn’t know what a genre was before the class.”

She knows now. 

Her novel, published last November but only hitting the scene this April, is on shelves in local bookstores as well as in Missoula. 

As a longtime member of the Authors of the Flathead, Rorvik has been encouraged by the helpful network of authors in the area.

“We do help each other,” she said. “It’s kind of an unwritten rule that we want to offer everyone encouragement and constructive criticism.”

Some of the authors have encouraged a sequel to “Jack’s Carousel.”

Rorvik’s novel is inspired not only by her relationship with her son but also her longtime love of carousels. As a child in Helena, she would sneak away from home to watch circus workers set up tents, handle elephants and set up the ride.

“The carousel becomes almost like a secondary character in the novel,” she said.

Rorvik’s faith is her guiding factor, but she doesn’t let it overwhelm her.

“My faith is very strong, but I don’t preach at people,” Rorvik said. “I try to live a decent, moral life. I don’t believe I have the knowledge, the experience or the personality to try and convert people to my religion.”

While it took a while for her to accept Tim’s sexual orientation, the whole Rorvik family – including Tim’s brother Rick and Shirley’s husband, Chuck – now embrace Tim and his partner as part of their own family. She said she had not received any negative feedback for being a Christian supporting gay rights, but said she will be prepared when it inevitably happens.

Although there is a religious backbone running through the novel, Rorvik said it’s an approachable book for those who might not otherwise pick a book with that subject matter.

“I was trying to reach a broad audience without excluding people who would never pick up a Christian book,” she said. 

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.