David Lynch Dead at 78

David Lynch, whose blueprint for "The Art Life" was followed by an untold amount of artists, is dead. He was 78.

“It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch,” a statement attributed to his family, shared Thursday, read. “We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”

It’s impossible to overstate the daunting breadth, not to mention unparalleled vision, of Lynch’s often duplicated, never replicated filmography. As a director, more specifically a singular one whose uniquely inspiring worldview erupted from every frame of every film he ever helmed, the Missoula-born artist was generous enough to give the world the following feature-length experiences: Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, The Straight Story, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire.

In 1990, Twin Peaks, a series Lynch co-created with Mark Frost, premiered on ABC. Though it initially ran for just two seasons, it stands as a landmark in American pop culture, with its influence extending deep into the more daring and expansive side of today’s offerings in the TV space. Surprisingly, Lynch revived Twin Peaks in 2017 thanks to Showtime, resulting in the 18-episode continuation, The Return.

Lynch’s work, ultimately impossible to emulate with any degree of believability, was so one-of-one, so truly unmatched on every conceivable level, that one need only mention his name to conjure an entire of universe of emotions. “Lynchian” has thus become a frequently utilized descriptor for work attempting to tap into a similar, or at the very least adjacent, dissection of the human experience.

In August 2024, Lynch confirmed in an update to X that he had been diagnosed with emphysema after “many years of smoking.” In his statement, the filmmaker—whose larger art-forward universe also included numerous solo art exhibitions, multiple studio albums, and more—expressed a characteristic defiance toward the concept of retirement.

“I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco - the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them - but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is emphysema,” Lynch said at the time. “I have now quit smoking for over two years. Recently I had many tests and the good news is that I am in excellent shape except for emphysema. I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire.”

Through the David Lynch Foundation, Lynch worked to bring the benefits of living a Transcendental Meditation-informed life to all. The effort folded in effortlessly to Lynch's medium-spanning artistic palette, as consciousness was a key target of exploration in much of his work.

Lynch was also known for a series of scene-stealing appearances in the works of other artists, including Louis C.K. and Steven Spielberg. In 2022, he appeared as John Ford in the latter filmmaker's Oscar-nominated The Fabelmans, itself a semi-autobiographical entry in Spielberg's own filmography.

RIP to unquestionably one of the best to ever do it, and no doubt one of this writer's most towering influences.