Latest news with #ComeSeeMeintheGoodLight
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Andrea Gibson, Poet and Subject of Doc ‘Come See Me in the Good Light,' Dies at 49
Andrea Gibson, a celebrated poet and performance artist who through their verse explored gender identity, politics and their 4-year battle with terminal ovarian cancer, died Monday at age 49. Gibson's death was announced on social media by their wife, Megan Falley. Gibson and Falley are the main subjects of the documentary Come See Me in the Good Light, winner of the Festival Favorite Award this year at the Sundance Film Festival and scheduled to air this fall on Apple TV+. More from The Hollywood Reporter David Gergen, Adviser to Four Presidents, Dies at 83 Dave Flebotte, 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Tulsa King' Writer-Producer, Dies at 65 Tom Neuwirth, Cinematographer on 'Cagney & Lacey,' Dies at 78 '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. 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 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.' Linda Williams Stay was 'awestruck' when her son, Aiden, took her to hear Gibson perform at a bar in San Francisco a decade ago. Their poetry was electrifying, lighting up the room with laughter, tears and love. Gibson's poetry became a shared interest for the mother and son, and eventually helped Stay better understand her son when he came out as transgender. 'My son this morning, when he called, we just sobbed together,' Stay said. 'He says, 'Mom, Andrea saved my life.'' 'I know,' she responded. Gibson's poetry later helped Stay cope with a cancer diagnosis of her own, which brought her son back home to St. George, Utah, to help take care of her. They were delighted when Gibson accepted their invitation to perform at an event celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in southern Utah. 'It was truly life-changing for our community down there, and even for our allies,' Stay said. 'I hope that they got a glimpse of the magnitude of their impact for queer kids in small communities that they gave so much hope to.' Gibson was born in Maine and moved to Colorado in the late 1990s, where they 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. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Monday that Gibson was 'truly one of a kind' and had 'a unique ability to connect with the vast and diverse poetry lovers of Colorado.' In a 2017 essay published in Out magazine, Gibson remembered coming out at age 20 while studying creative writing at Saint Joseph's College of Maine, a Catholic school. Identifying as genderqueer, Gibson wrote that they didn't feel like a boy or a girl and cited a line of their poetry: 'I am happiest on the road/ When I'm not here or there — but in-between.' Comedian Tig Notaro, an executive producer on the documentary and Gibson's friend of 25 years, shared on Instagram how the two came up together as performers in Colorado. Hearing Gibson perform for the first time was like witnessing the 'pure essence of an old-school genuine rock star,' and their words have guided Notaro through life ever since, she said. 'The final past few days of Andrea's life were so painful to witness, but simultaneously one of the most beautiful experiences of all of our lives,' Notaro said. 'Surrounded by real human connection unfolding in the most unlikely ways during one of the most devastating losses has given me a gift that I will never be able to put into meaningful words.' Gibson's illness inspired many 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.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter From 'Party in the U.S.A.' to 'Born in the U.S.A.': 20 of America's Most Patriotic (and Un-Patriotic) Musical Offerings Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Annet McCroskey, CEO of Artistic Endeavors, Dies at 51
Annet McCroskey, a talent manager, producer and CEO at Artistic Endeavors, died Friday in Los Angeles after being hospitalized in early June with 'a sudden and devastating medical emergency,' her family announced. She was 51. 'Annet spent her life pouring her endless energy into others — as a storyteller, nurturing talent, building dreams and offering quiet strength to everyone around her,' they wrote. 'She leaves behind a legacy of love, generosity and unshakable faith in people's potential.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Andrea Gibson, Poet and Subject of Doc 'Come See Me in the Good Light,' Dies at 49 David Gergen, Adviser to Four Presidents, Dies at 83 Dave Flebotte, 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Tulsa King' Writer-Producer, Dies at 65 McCroskey received the Heller Award for manager of the year in 2013 and served from 2013-15 as president of the Talent Managers Association, where she was a longtime board member. A producer on films including Locating Silver Lake (2018), starring Josh Peck, Finn Wittrock, Audrey Peebles and Zelda Williams, she also partnered with Rise Flix to create a platform for the next generation of independent filmmakers. She has several films with clients in development. Born on Sept. 26, 1973, McCroskey grew up in Germany and moved to California in the early 1990s, when she attended college and co-founded a cultural Kumeyaay children's summer program on the Viejas Indian Reservation. While attending the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles, she became the assistant director of a 'Young Peoples Program,' where her passion for developing new talent began. She started in production at Neverland Films and later helped her husband start a clothing company. After becoming a mom, she taught acting at The Young Actors Studio and The Studio for Young Actors, and in 2004, she began managing child actors under the name Little Stars Management. The company became Artistic Endeavors in late 2007. During her two-decade career, McCroskey held leadership and advisory roles with organizations including the Entertainment Community Fund's Looking Ahead Program for young performers at SAG, the Sundance Institute, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Film Independent, Women in Film (in Los Angeles and New York) and the Hollywood Radio & TV Society. Survivors include her husband, Aaron; her sons, Angelo and Aidan; and her Arabian horse, Luna. A celebration of life is set for July 24 in Los Angeles. Best of The Hollywood Reporter From 'Party in the U.S.A.' to 'Born in the U.S.A.': 20 of America's Most Patriotic (and Un-Patriotic) Musical Offerings Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Atlantic
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Atlantic
The Dying Poet Who Knew How to Live
When the poet Andrea Gibson learned two years ago that their ovarian cancer was incurable, the news marked a turning point; Gibson would often say it led to some of the most joyous moments of their life. Before the terminal prognosis, they were always afraid. They had severe anxiety and chronic panic attacks; they were petrified of the ocean; they couldn't bring themselves to eat nuts on a plane, in case they turned out to have developed a new allergy and might suffocate in flight. For years, they'd lived in constant fear that everything would come crashing down. Then, of course, it did. And just at the moment when patients are frequently pushed to start 'battling' cancer, Gibson finally learned to stop fighting. In an interview last year with the website Freethink, they remembered telling themself: 'I will allow this.' When Gibson died on Monday, at age 49, those closest to the poet consoled mourning fans by sharing some of Gibson's last words: 'I fucking loved my life.' Accepting their illness and their mortality had transformed Gibson. 'You tap into the brevity of something,' they'd told Freethink, 'and all of a sudden everything becomes more special.' The idea that facing death can shake you into living life was not, Gibson understood, a new one. But it is particularly fitting for a poet. In verse, brevity is paramount. 'Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful,' the writer Rita Dove once argued. A handful of short lines can capture near-universal emotions and grand existential truths not in spite of their spareness but because of it. Even before their diagnosis, Gibson, the poet laureate of Colorado and the author of seven books, knew this. In Come See Me in the Good Light, a documentary following them and their partner, Megan Falley, that will stream on Apple TV+ this fall, Gibson jokes that their publisher accused them of rearranging the same words over and over in their poems. And certain terms— moon, snow, shotgun, laces, kite —do show up frequently, shuffled around in new variations. (One poem is called ' The Moon Is a Kite.') But the imagery conveys what it needs to, and sometimes it gives you 'goosebumps' (another favorite word). Gibson didn't need much to paint a world—just a small number of apt metaphors, cast in plain but tender language. Potential weaknesses, in Gibson's poetry, had a way of becoming strengths. The simplicity of their writing made it easy to connect with. Metaphors repeated from one poem to the next placed their work in a shared universe, one in which all the specific fragments of pain or beauty experienced over years felt intrinsically linked. Their verse sometimes risked seeming cloying or sentimental because of how unselfconsciously it concerned love: feeling it, cultivating it, spreading it, protecting it. Much of the time, though, that earnestness felt honest and well earned. When they wrote about burning with righteous indignation on behalf of suicidal queer kids or finding a sense of home in their partner, a reader could sense the intensity of their feeling and the depth of their affection. And in writing about love again and again, Gibson ended up adopting a rarer theme in poetry: kindness. Two of their other much-used words are soft and gentle —states toward which they seemed to aspire. Nearly every poem is an exercise in empathy, summoning generosity even in response to cruelty. In one poem, Gibson imagines what they would say now to the man who assaulted them when they were 13. They picture how guilt might poison the life he's built for himself; how he might wonder who he could be if he hadn't made that awful decision so many years ago. 'Everyone can / see who they were supposed to be,' they wrote. 'It's the readiest grief in the world.' To write about kindness in the 21st century is, perhaps, to risk sounding naive or mealy—more concerned with peace than with justice, more set on everyone getting along than on recognizing brutality and inequality. But Gibson wasn't afraid to do the latter either. They wrote with fury about climate change, political failures, religious bigotry, anti-trans violence. They also sought a more universal kind of love; they wondered what pain their ideological opponents had experienced; they wrestled with how to do all this without betraying their political convictions. In ' MAGA Hat in the Chemo Room,' which they performed for NPR, Gibson described their reaction to a fellow patient who kept his Trump hat on during chemotherapy. At first, they were outraged. His apparel felt like an intrusion: Gibson wanted to feel 'that everyone is rooting for me to survive,' and they suspected that a MAGA supporter might not root for the nonbinary poet beside him. But anger gives way to a sense of recognition—they had both felt angst long before the chemo started, and they certainly have it now; Gibson doesn't want to arrive one day to find the MAGA guy's chair empty. This kind of mutual support should feel more attainable in less dire situations, Gibson said, but outside the room, 'everyone thinks they have so much time to kill.' Facing down death injected Gibson's love poems with urgency; it gave their sense of whimsy and wonder the highest possible stakes. I know that they felt it made them more openhearted, more attuned to life's peculiar beauties. But I keep thinking about one poem, 'Tincture,' which at first I assumed they'd written post-diagnosis—until I realized it was published in 2018. 'Imagine, when a human dies, / the soul misses the body,' they wrote, going on to list the oddities and pains and pleasures of living in a corporeal form. 'The soul misses every single day / the body was sick, the now it forced, the here / it built from the fever. Fever is how the body prays, / how it burns and begs for another average day.'
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Celebrated poet Andrea Gibson dies at 49
Andrea Gibson, a celebrated poet and performance artist who through their verse explored gender identity, politics and their 4-year battle with terminal ovarian cancer, died Monday (July 14, 2025) at age 49. Gibson's death was announced on social media by their wife, Megan Falley. Gibson and Falley are the main subjects of the documentary 'Come See Me in the Good Light,' winner of the Festival Favorite Award this year at the Sundance Film Festival and scheduled to air this fall on Apple TV+. '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. 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 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.' Linda Williams Stay was 'awestruck' when her son, Aiden, took her to hear Gibson perform at a bar in San Francisco a decade ago. Their poetry was electrifying, lighting up the room with laughter, tears and love. Gibson's poetry became a shared interest for the mother and son, and eventually helped Stay better understand her son when he came out as transgender. 'My son this morning, when he called, we just sobbed together," Stay said. "He says, 'Mom, Andrea saved my life.'" 'I know,' she responded. Gibson's poetry later helped Stay cope with a cancer diagnosis of her own, which brought her son back home to St. George, Utah, to help take care of her. They were delighted when Gibson accepted their invitation to perform at an event celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in southern Utah. 'It was truly life-changing for our community down there, and even for our allies," Stay said. 'I hope that they got a glimpse of the magnitude of their impact for queer kids in small communities that they gave so much hope to.' Early years Gibson was born in Maine and moved to Colorado in the late 1990s, where they 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.' Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Monday that Gibson was 'truly one of a kind' and had 'a unique ability to connect with the vast and diverse poetry lovers of Colorado.' In a 2017 essay published in Out magazine, Gibson remembered coming out at age 20 while studying creative writing at Saint Joseph's College of Maine, a Catholic school. Identifying as genderqueer, Gibson wrote that they didn't feel like a boy or a girl and cited a line of their poetry: 'I am happiest on the road/ When I'm not here or there — but in-between.' Comedian Tig Notaro, an executive producer on the documentary and Gibson's friend of 25 years, shared on Instagram how the two came up together as performers in Colorado. Hearing Gibson perform for the first time was like witnessing the 'pure essence of an old-school genuine rock star,' and their words have guided Notaro through life ever since, she said. 'The final past few days of Andrea's life were so painful to witness, but simultaneously one of the most beautiful experiences of all of our lives,' Notaro said. 'Surrounded by real human connection unfolding in the most unlikely ways during one of the most devastating losses has given me a gift that I will never be able to put into meaningful words." Gibson's illness inspired many 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.'
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Andrea Gibson, poet and the subject of an award-winning documentary, dies at 49
LOS ANGELES - Andrea Gibson, a poet, activist and subject of the documentary film "Come See Me in the Good Light," died on Monday following a four-year fight with ovarian cancer. They were 49. According to an announcement made on Instagram, Gibson died on Monday at their Longmont, Colorado, home at 4:16 a.m., "surrounded by their wife, Meg, four ex-girlfriends, their mother and father, dozens of friends, and their three beloved dogs." The post also included a quote from Gibson: "Whenever I leave this world, whether it's sixty years from now, I wouldn't want anyone to say I lost some battle. I'll be a winner that day." They were the author of seven poetry books and were well-recognized for their role in the documentary film "Come See Me in the Good Light," which won the Festival Favorite Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The film follows both Gibson and their partner as they come to terms with their terminal cancer diagnosis. "Throughout the Festival, we saw audiences moved by Andrea Gibson's and Megan Falley's journeys in 'Come See Me in the Good Light,'" Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming Kim Yutani said to the fest's website. "Festival goers embraced the humor and heartbreak of this intimate documentary directed by Ryan White, as it speaks to art and love and reminds us what it means to be alive as we face mortality." Tig Notaro, a producer on the film, on Monday reminisced about the impact that Gibson had on poetry in the wake of their death. "As far as poetry went, I really only knew the roses are red type stuff. Then, Andrea Gibson walked on stage," Notaro wrote on Instagram. "Andrea was truly a rock star poet. So many of Andrea's words have quietly guided me through life's twists and turns- I will forever be so grateful." Gibson, born on Aug. 13, 1975, in Calais, Maine, was a two-time winner of the Independent Publisher's award in 2019 and 2021. They were named the ninth Poet Laureate of Colorado in September 2023, and they served until their death. The two-year title honors outstanding Colorado poets and promotes the art form. "Andrea's voice holds a fierce conviction in inspiring others to pursue art and take action toward solving social issues and they personify our Colorado for All spirit," Colorado Governor Jared Polis wrote in a press release upon Gibson's achievement in 2023. "I know Andrea will be a strong advocate for the arts and art education as a way to bring us together, has a strong desire for unity and to bring people together through poetry." On Monday, Polis remembered Gibson as "one of a kind" and an artist who "will be deeply missed." In 2008, Gibson won the first-ever Women of the World Poetry Slam. According to their Academy of American Poets profile, they received its Laureate Fellowship in 2024. "Meg and Heather, the authors of this post, have absolutely no idea how to encapsulate the magnitude and magnificence of a life like Andrea Gibson's," Monday's announcement continued. "So they intend to keep writing, to keep telling Andrea's story, to keep Andrea alive in every way they can. "Andrea would want you to know that they got their wish. In the end, their heart was covered in stretch marks." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
