For River to discover himself in Rimbaud’s life and Miller’s prose was simultaneously self-aggrandizing and self-pitying. Tellingly, he was more interested in Miller’s book than in Rimbaud’s actual writing: he responded to Rimbaud not as a poet, but as a symbol.

Mostly, she tried to get on with her life, even as she carried around her loss and her horror. The lesson she took from River’s death was to be more selfish: since life is fleeting, don’t waste it with the wrong people.

The human spirit is a mysterious thing: traumas that flatten some people bounce off of others.

That’s the end of the drugs,” he promised. “I don’t want to go down to the place that’s so dark it’ll annihilate me.

River mostly contributed backing vocals and handclaps, although he may have played some guitar on “Rock Out with Your Cock Out.

The human spirit is a mysterious thing: traumas that flatten some people bounce off of others. Pain and hope get tangled into uncuttable Gordian knots.

In 2008, Van Sant finally made Milk, his award-winning Harvey Milk biopic. Sean Penn starred instead of Robin Williams, while the role of Cleve Jones, which Van Sant had earmarked for River, was taken by Emile Hirsch, who was just eight years old when River died.

Every child starts out loving animals, identifying with them. But early on, adults start sending them contradictory messages. They’ll give a kid a stuffed animal to hug and love and sleep with. But at the same time, they’re serving them animals for dinner every night. It’s crazy, if you think about it. But when you’re young, you just accept what grown-ups tell you as the truth.

We’re all worth it, man,” River said with a beatific smile. “We’re all worth millions of planets and stars and galaxies and universes.

When it was Hearts turn, she related a vision she had: that River hadn't wanted to be born, preferring to stay with God in heaven. God had convinced him to go, and they haggled over how long, settling on twenty-three years.