TWYLA GAIL GIBSON

Passed away at The University of Iowa Health Care Hospital (Iowa City, Iowa, USA) on October 18, 2024, from metastatic breast cancer. She was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on June 30, 1954. Soon after her birth, she was adopted by Edyth (Crabb) Gibson and Frank Gibson. She attended Calgary High School and at the age of 18 moved to Toronto. Her first jobs included arranging flowers at a local grocery and teaching weaving classes. Her academic career began at the age of 27, and over the next 7 years, she completed an undergraduate degree in religious studies at the University of Toronto. During this time, she also worked as a medical underwriter and for Alumni Relations at the University of Toronto. She continued her education at the University of Toronto and earned a Master of Arts degree in 1993 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2000. Her doctoral dissertation focused on Plato's Code and was recognized as outstanding by the College of Education. She joined the faculties at Guelph University and later at the University of Toronto teaching philosophy and education. She was a Senior Fellow in the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology (2005-2006) and a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University (2010 – 2012). In 2012 she joined the faculty of Library Science in the School of Information Science at University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. Her work explored ancient Greek texts and the source texts of religions to document how changes in media (from oral traditions to modern literacy) transform meaning. She retired in 2020 and moved to Iowa City, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her mother and father and younger brother, Keith Gibson. She is survived by her life partner, Mark Volkmann and a host of lifelong friends. While we miss her perspicacity, tenacious brilliance, and infectious laughter, we remain inspired by her generosity of spirit, capacity for forgiveness and tremendous grit living with a long and difficult illness. A memorial is planned for May 31, 2025, at the Oeno Art Gallery, Bloomfield, Ontario, Canada. Interested parties should contact Mark Volkmann for details (volkmannmj@gmail.com).