Name: That’s What Friends Are For with Wade Rouse
Start: 2026-03-03T18:30:00-05:00
Location: Schuler Books (Grand Rapids)

$That\u2019s What Friends Are For with Wade Rouse$

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to call your friends and tell them all about this new book! Join us for an evening with bestselling author Wade Rouse (who you may know as Viola Shipman) to celebrate That’s What Friends Are For.
This event will be Golden Girls themed, and caftans are encouraged!
Please note that this event will include a combination of seating and standing. All attendees with accessibility needs will be guaranteed a seat, otherwise, seating is first-come-first-serve.
We love seeing who is planning to join us! Tickets are required to attend this event. Your ticket includes a purchase of That’s What Friends Are For, which will be available for pickup at the event. Grab your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/wade-rouse-sbgr
About the Book:
"By turns hilarious, tender, and devastating, Rouse's novel explores what it means to be the sandwich generation of gays today -- caught between those who paved the way for equality, those who are too young to credit them, and a world that seems increasingly hostile." --Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
In this poignant and hilarious story inspired by TV's beloved The Golden Girls, bestselling author Wade Rouse celebrates love, aging, finding your people, and the art of impeccably timed one-liners.
Theodore Copeland has created a fabulous life in the desert oasis of Palm Springs, where he shares a fabulous pink mid-century home with three fabulous friends: Barry, a former actor still clinging to his youth, his hair, and the memory of the dream role that killed his career; Ron, an uprooted Christian from the Midwest with a big heart but no one to give it to; Sid, who, after coming out late in life, has never found love. Teddy is the caustic, unspoken leader of "The Golden Gays"--the foursome's monthly drag tribute to The Golden Girls. Despite their foibles and bickering, they have turned their golden years into a golden era.
But the harmony of their desert enclave becomes a carousel of emotional baggage when Teddy's estranged sister, Trudy, shows up on their doorstep, her dramatic teenage granddaughter in tow. While Teddy keeps Trudy at arm's length, she manages to wheedle her way into the lives of the Golden Gays, until the real reason for her visit is revealed and the secrets they've all been keeping from each other unravel faster than a hastily stitched hemline.
A novel that gives thanks to "old" friends, That's What Friends Are For proves that while family may be the tie that binds, it's the chosen family that truly keeps us together.
About the Author:
Wade Rouse is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of five memoirs and twelve novels. His novels, written under the pseudonym Viola Shipman, which he uses to honor his late grandmother, have been selected as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show as well as Michigan Notable Books of the Year, and featured in the Washington Post. Wade lives in Michigan and California and hosts Wine & Words with Wade, a literary happy hour, on Facebook every Thursday.