“Andrea Gibson died in their home (in Boulder, Colorado) surrounded by their wife, Meg, four ex-girlfriends, their mother and father, dozens of friends, and their three beloved dogs,” Monday's announcement reads in part.
The film — exploring the couple’s enduring love as Gibson battles cancer — is directed by Ryan White and includes an original song written by Gibson, Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile. During a screening at Sundance in January that left much of the audience in tears, Gibson said they didn't expect to live long enough to see the documentary.
Bareilles shared a photo on social media Monday of herself wearing a gold necklace with the word “Andrea” in cursive. Gibson was “a wonder to behold and be held by,” Bareilles wrote. “This one is forever.”
Tributes poured in Monday from friends, fans and fellow poets who said Gibson's words had changed their lives — and, in some cases, saved them. Many LGBTQ+ fans said Gibson's poetry made them feel loved and helped them learn to love themselves. People with cancer and other terminal illnesses said Gibson made them less afraid of death by reminding them that we never really leave the ones we love.
In a poem Gibson wrote shortly before they died, titled “Love Letter from the Afterlife,” they wrote: “Dying is the opposite of leaving. When I left my body, I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before.”
Gibson was a native of Maine who moved to Colorado in the late 1990s and had served the past two years as the state's poet laureate. Their books included “You Better Be Lightning,” “Take Me With You” and "Lord of the Butterflies." Gibson also won numerous slam poetry competitions and released several spoken word albums, among them “Swarm,” “Truce” and “Yellowbird."
“Renowned for inspiring poetry, advocacy for arts in education, and a unique ability to connect with the vast and diverse poetry lovers of Colorado, Andrea was truly one of a kind and will be deeply missed by personal friends as well as all who were touched by their poetry,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis said in a statement.
In a 2017 essay published in Out magazine, Gibson remembered coming out at age 20 while “studying creative writing at a very Catholic college,” Saint Joseph's College of Maine. Identifying as gender queer, Gibson wrote that they didn't feel like a boy or a girl while growing up and cited a line of their poetry: “I am happiest on the road/ When I’m not here or there—but in-between.”
Gibson's illness inspired numerous poems about mortality, depression, life and what happens next. In the 2021 poem “How the Worst Day of My Life Became My Best,” Gibson declared “When I realized the storm/was inevitable, I made it/my medicine.” Two years later, they wondered: “Will the afterlife be harder if I remember/the people I love, or forget them?"
"Either way, please let me remember.”