Ranch Legacy

It's the early 1970s in northern Wyoming ranch country ... not exactly an accommodating time and place for a gay man.

But that's exactly the situation third-generation rancher Jim Gustafsson faces as he fears the end of his ranch's legacy―he is struggling to come to terms with the fact that his only son, David, is gay, but also with his son's requirement that his partner, Howard, moves in to stay and work with them on Arrowhead Ranch.

Gustafsson and his neighbors have always expected cowboys to be manly men who love to perform the hard, physical labor of herding, feeding, watering, doctoring, branding, calving, and castrating cattle. They have also expected them to love only women.

David and Howard must prove they are willing and able to do the hard work, but face the even harder task of confronting prevailing prejudices of those around them.

Ranch Legacy is the debut novel by Earle Kirkbride, who turns 95 years old on its release date. The story follows two families that cope in unpredictable ways with the predictable challenges of LGBTQ+ issues and ranch life in the 1970s in the rugged West.