Outliving Michael centers on Steven Reigns’s friendship with Michael Church, who died of AIDS in 2000. It explores their intergenerational bond, mentorship in navigating gay life, life as an artist, and the lasting imprint of connection. This deeply personal collection addresses grief, influence, friendship, and the magic of certain people who change our lives. A memorial memoir hybrid of poetry, it shares the adventures of two gay men moving through the 1990s. We lost an entire generation of gay men to AIDS. These men played many roles—lover, sibling, parent, and also friend. Reigns charts such a friendship, preserving the intimacy and tenderness of a bond that continues to echo long after one life has ended.