Wife to Read Poem at Sold-Out Portland Tribute

Megan Falley will read the poem "Love Letter From the Afterlife" to a sold-out crowd at the State Theatre in Portland on Nov. 12. The reading serves as the closing act for a tribute event titled "Andrea Gibson's 'Love Letter From the Afterlife.'" The performance honors the poet who died from ovarian cancer on July 14, 2025.

Gibson was born and raised in Calais, Maine, and graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Standish in 1997 with an English degree. Falley described Gibson as an outdoor child who often played in the woods near their home. "Andrea really loved where they grew up," Falley said. "They grew up playing in the woods. … They told me stories about never wanting to come home, even in the winter snowstorms. They would huddle by the exhaust from the dryer of their house to get warm so they could continue to play."

The event features a screening of Gibson’s 2024 performance at the Paramount Theater in Denver. The film includes a live score written by Blake Neely and performed by the five-piece Goosebumps Orchestra. Singer-songwriter Chris Pureka, a longtime friend of Gibson, will also perform. Neely previously composed the music for the 2025 Oscar-nominated documentary "Come See Me in the Good Light," which follows Gibson’s battle with cancer.

Falley stated that continuing to share Gibson’s work is important. "It feels like really privileged, fortunate and important work to be doing, to continue to elevate Andrea’s voice and message," she said. The couple visited Calais a few weeks before Gibson received their cancer diagnosis four years prior to their death. Falley recalled that Gibson was in considerable pain during that trip but felt a strong pull to return home.

"I thought it was so beautiful when I went and I totally understood their love for it and could appreciate the time travel of being shown around the map of their life," Falley said. Gibson’s family, including their parents and sister, still reside in Maine. Gibson was a standout basketball player in high school and college, scoring a game-high 20 points in a 1993 Class C championship game for Calais High School.

Falley continues to manage Gibson’s Substack newsletter, Things That Don’t Suck, from the couple's home in Longmont, Colorado. She shared that they watched a recording of the Denver performance in May 2025, just months before Gibson died. "It was definitely an emotional time. Their health was really declining and they were sort of tapped into what they were leaving, and leaving behind," Falley said. She added that Gibson felt they had accomplished their goals with the show and the documentary.