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.”

"Though Andrea desperately wished to have lived a longer life, they could not have possibly lived a fuller one," Gibson's family said.

Andrea Gibson, acclaimed poet and performance artist, died on July 14 at age 49, following a diagnosis with ovarian cancer. The Poet Laureate of Colorado published seven poetry collections, and was the subject of the 2025 documentary ‘Come See Me in the Good Light.