Almost a year before receiving his ALS diagnosis, Eric Dane was having sushi with his daughters when he suddenly struggled to control his chopsticks.
At the time, he had no idea the unsettling episode would become the first clear sign of his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS.
Dane died from ALS at 53 earlier this year. Now, a memoir he wrote while facing the illness is set for publication, offering an intimate account of his addiction, his relationship with Rebecca Gayheart and the early symptoms he initially dismissed.
My Book Of Days: A Memoir of Moments will be published on November 3, 2026. In an excerpt obtained by People, Dane recalled how a meal with his children prompted his first concerns about his health.
While eating sushi, Dane found he could barely “work” the chopsticks in his right hand. He initially attributed the problem to spending too much time texting.
“I’m eating sushi with my kids and suddenly I can’t work the chopsticks with my right hand. My hand tingles, and then my fingers feel numb,” he wrote.
Eric Dane said his first ALS symptoms appeared during a sushi dinner with his daughters, Billie and Georgia
Dane believed it might be “some kind of weird nerve thing,” possibly caused by “texting too much.”
He tried to shake off the sensation, but it returned less than a month later—and this time, the problem was significantly worse.
“Three weeks later, it happens again, only worse. I can’t grip the chopsticks at all,” he recalled.
The recurrence began a nine-month search for an explanation, Dane wrote, before doctors eventually diagnosed him with ALS.
With the memoir’s release only days away, readers will soon hear more about Dane’s life and illness in his own words.
Gayheart told People that Dane was initially reluctant to write about his past addiction and the most difficult parts of his life.
Even so, she said she was “grateful he did,” because the memoir will allow their daughters “the opportunity to know their dad as a human being.”
Dane and Gayheart married in October 2004 and separated in September 2017. In a surprising turn, they called off their divorce in March 2025—just one month before Dane publicly revealed his ALS diagnosis.
Dane initially blamed his difficulty using chopsticks on excessive texting; he is pictured in 2016 with Rebecca Gayheart and their daughters, Georgia and Billie
Dane said the second episode began a nine-month search for answers before he received his ALS diagnosis
The former couple share two daughters, Georgia, 14, and Billie, 16.
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According to the memoir, Gayheart reassured Dane, “I’m not going anywhere,” when she learned about his devastating diagnosis.
Dane wrote that he called Gayheart after the appointment that confirmed his fears. “It’s what we feared,” he told her, according to the excerpt published by People.
The Grey’s Anatomy star wrote: ‘I don’t remember a single word I said after that,’ and added that Gayheart was ‘wailing on the other end of the phone.’
‘My sobs make my body shudder, and I hear her words pouring out amid her tears, ‘I’m here, we’ll fight this together, I’m not going anywhere,” the author shared.
The former power couple wed in October 2004, separated in September 2017, and shockingly called off their divorce in March 2025
Dane said he turned his focus to being strong for the girls, declaring: ‘I’m going to take this on. I’m going to fight. I’m going to show my girls how to walk through this life with grace and dignity, no matter what. I am going to FIGHT.
‘This has become my purpose. My reason. This is now my job.’
Elsewhere in the forthcoming literary effort, the late actor discussed the demise of his marriage to Gayheart – which he said was due in part to his substance abuse struggles.
‘My work hours, my addiction complications, the times I’m away, the times I’m here but not here,’ he listed as reasons for the fallout.
He said they ‘all weigh on Rebecca, smother her, disappoint her, infuriate her. I get it, I see it, I don’t fight it.’
Dane’s memoir, My Book Of Days: A Memoir in Moments, will be released less than a year after his death
However, he noted that, ‘We’ve since stayed close, co-parenting, going on vacations as a family, spending time together and now we talk every day.’
Gayheart wrote in a December 2025 essay published by The Cut that her love for Dane was no longer romantic, but ‘familial.’
‘We had a really lovely marriage for a long time – we were married for 15 years – we created two beautiful girls,’ she wrote.
‘But also, lots of s**t went crazy in our relationship, and it wasn’t good. We separated, but we never got a divorce; we were about to and then we didn’t. We haven’t lived in the same home for eight years; he’s dated other people, I’ve dated someone.’
‘It’s a very complicated relationship, one that’s confusing for people,’ she acknowledged.
‘Our love may not be romantic, but it’s familial love. Eric knows that I am always going to want the best for him. That I’m going to do my best to do right by him. And I know he would do the same for me.’
