Documentary filmmaker Brian Lindstrom has died after a battle with the rare brain disease progressive supranuclear palsy, his wife, Wild author Cheryl Strayed, revealed. Lindstrom was 65.
“Brian Lindstrom died this morning the way he lived — with gentleness and courage, grace and gratitude for his beautiful life,” Strayed wrote in an Instagram post announcing his death. “Our children, Carver and Bobbi, and I held him as he took his last breath and we will hold him forever in our hearts. The only thing more immense than our sorrow that Progressive Supranuclear Palsy took our beloved Brian from us is the endless love we have for him.”
Lindstrom was diagnosed with what Strayed referred to as a “fatal illness” just two weeks prior to his death. Progressive supranuclear palsy is a frontotemporal disorder caused by damage to nerve cells in areas of the brain that control thinking and body movements. PSP has some symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease and affecting walking and balance.
Lindstrom’s work as a documentary filmmaker, Strayed said, focused on telling stories of people who, as Lindstrom said, “society puts an X through.”
“He erased that X with his camera and his astonishing heart,” Strayed wrote. “He made films about incarcerated moms and their kids, about people with mental illness and substance use disorders, about teens living in homeless shelters, foster care and detention centers, about people who were at the bottom and trying to climb up.”
She added, “He showed them to us so we’d see what he saw: that every one of us is deserving of love and respect; mercy and honor. Again and again, he went to the darkness to show us how much light is there. He was of service. He spoke truth to power. He measured his success by asking if his films made an impact — and they did. They saved programs and people; changed lives, policies, and minds. They made people feel seen, heard and believed. They softened the world with their empathy.”
His credits included documentaries Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse (2013) and Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill (2022), his last project, about the late singer-songwriter featuring interviews with Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Graham Nash. Strayed served as an executive producer on both projects and served as an associate and executive producer, respectively, on the screen adaptations of her books Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things.
Strayed praised Lindstrom as a husband and father, writing, “What tremendous luck it was to be his partner for more than thirty years. We loved each other and our kids with deep devotion and true delight. He was a stellar husband. He was the most magnificent dad. He was a man whose every word and deed was driven by kindness, compassion, and generosity. He saw the goodness in everyone. He believed that we are all sacred and redeemable.”
His kids, whom Strayed called his “greatest legacy,” “embody everything good and true about their father.”
“Their extraordinary grace, courage and fortitude during this harrowing time was unfaltering and grounded in the undying love Brian poured into them every day of their lives,” she wrote. “We do not know how we will live without him. We’re utterly bereft. We can only walk this dark path and search for the beauty Brian knew was there. It will be his eternal light that guides us.”
