Author Cheryl Strayed announced Friday that her husband, director Brian Lindstrom, has passed away. He was 65 years old.
“Brian Lindstrom passed away this morning, the way he lived his life, with kindness, courage, grace, and gratitude for his beautiful life. Our children, Carver and Bobby, and I held him as he took his last breath. We will forever hold him in our hearts,” she wrote on Instagram.
The “Wild” author revealed that Lindstrom was diagnosed with a “serious and fatal illness” on May 1. In a heartbreaking statement Friday, Lindstrom said he lost his battle with progressive supranuclear palsy.
“How lucky I was to be his partner for over 30 years. We loved each other and our children with deep devotion and true joy. He was an amazing husband,” the 57-year-old author continued, adding that he was “the most amazing father” to their two children, daughter Bobby, 21, and son Carver, 20.
“He was a man whose every word and deed was driven by kindness, compassion, and generosity. He saw goodness in everyone. He believed that we are all sacred and eligible for salvation.”
Strayed also praised her late husband’s work as a director, noting that he told stories of “people who, in his words, ‘society has marked with an X’.”
“He erased that X with his camera and his amazing mind. He made films about incarcerated mothers and their children, about people with mental illness and substance use disorders, about teens in homeless shelters, foster homes and jails, about people who are at rock bottom and trying to climb back up.”
But Strayed wrote that in addition to a successful career in film, Lindstrom’s “greatest legacy” were his two children, who “embodied everything that was good and true about their father.”
“Their extraordinary grace, courage and fortitude during this tragic time was unwavering and based on the undying love that Brian showered on them every day,” she exclaimed.
Strayed concluded, “We don’t know how we can live without him. We are completely lost. All we can do is walk down this dark path and look for the beauty that Brian knew was there. It is his eternal light that guides us.”
When the host of the Mind Over Mountain podcast first announced Lindstrom’s illness, she asked her followers to keep the family “in your thoughts, prayers, light and love.”
She also canceled a writing workshop and a scheduled attendance at Hunter College in order to remain by his side.
Strayed is the author of “Torch,” “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail,” “Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar,” and “Brave Enough.”
Her memoir, Wild, was made into a film in 2014, starring Reese Witherspoon as Strayed.
Tiny Beautiful Things, based on her advice column, was made into a Hulu series starring Kathryn Hahn in 2023, and Wild earned Witherspoon an Academy Award nomination.
Documentary maker Lindstrom is known for directing 2013’s “Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse” and 2022’s “Lost Angel: The Genius of Judy Sill.”
The couple also co-directed the 2019 film “We Are Forbidden.”
They first met in 1995, according to Strayed’s 2022 Facebook post.
Vivian Killilia
“27 years ago today, I met this beautiful man. Literally half a lifetime ago,” Strayed wrote at the time.
“When I was writing ‘Torch,’ he believed in me more than I believed in myself. He’s always, always, always been there for me whenever I needed him. He encourages me. He believes in me.”
“He’s a great person and a great filmmaker,” she added.
“A lot of people ask if we’re jealous of each other or competitive with each other because we’re artists. I always wonder about that because we support each other in every way.”
