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Maria Shriver is grieving the loss of her friend and collaborator, Eric Dane, who passed away at the age of 53 on February 19.
In her Sunday Paper newsletter, shared on February 21 and reported by Us Weekly, Shriver, an activist aged 70, expressed her sorrow and revealed she had planned to have a meeting with the late Euphoria star just before his untimely death.
Dane, who announced his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) less than a year ago, was in the process of collaborating with Shriver’s publishing imprint, The Open Field, under Penguin Random House, for his forthcoming memoir.
“Eric courageously opened up about his ALS diagnosis over the past year. He was a strong advocate for advancing research and was committed to drawing attention to this devastating neurological condition,” Shriver wrote.
She added, “Our team at The Open Field felt privileged when Eric selected our imprint for his memoir. He intended to write this book to share his journey with the world.”
My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments is scheduled to release later this year. Dane was working alongside Shriver on the project until his death.
“He wrote it so that his family had something to be proud of,” the former first lady of California wrote. “Eric and I were scheduled to have lunch two weeks ago, but he wasn’t feeling well that morning, so we rescheduled for next week. His passing is another powerful reminder that today is all any of us have. Next week isn’t guaranteed.”
According to Penguin Random House, Dane’s ALS diagnosis “caused him to slow down and reflect on the moments that had shaped him. In My Book of Days, Dane shares these reflections and invites readers to do the same with their lives.”
The book’s description adds, “Told through a series of ‘days’ that each illuminate a defining experience or emotional truth, My Book of Days captures everything from the grind of his early years in Hollywood and the hard-won peace of sobriety to the profound clarity that came with his ALS diagnosis.”
Aside from Dane’s posthumous memoir, the actor also recorded his final interview for Netflix’s Famous Last Words series, which was available to stream after his death.
The emotional interview, which was said to be conducted in secret, features Dane speaking directly to his teenage daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14 — whom he shares with wife Rebecca Gayheart — towards the end of the special.