In Brief:
- Rebecca Gayheart discussed late husband Eric Dane's memoir "My Book of Days," released after his Feb. 19 death from ALS.
- Dane, 53, wrote about his ALS fight, addiction and family, leaving final advice for daughters Billie and Georgia.
- Gayheart says grief "has no straight line" and sees hummingbirds, dragonflies and songs as signs from Dane.
Eric Dane: Rebecca Gayheart believes her late husband is still close. Eric Dane died in February. Soon after, she visited a medium.
The medium told her Dane would reach the family as a hummingbird, a spider or a dragonfly.
Now she finds those creatures all around her home and yard. Sometimes a song Dane loved starts playing when she turns on her car. Her phone is not even connected.
Gayheart and the couple's teenage daughters see these moments as hellos from him.
A Memoir Written to the End
Dane died Feb. 19 at age 53. The cause was complications from ALS. The disease is short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It attacks the nervous system.
He revealed his diagnosis less than a year earlier. He kept working. He appeared on NBC's "Brilliant Minds."
He also returned as Cal Jacobs in Season 3 of "Euphoria." He became an advocate for people living with ALS.
Now his memoir, "My Book of Days," is on shelves. It is published by The Open Field. The book is deeply personal.
It covers his fight with ALS. It also looks back at his early career, his addiction and his family.
Dane left advice and final wishes for his daughters. Billie is 16. Georgia is 14. He also writes about the steady support of Gayheart. He calls her his best friend.
The couple married in 2004. They separated in 2018. They never signed divorce papers. After his diagnosis, Gayheart withdrew the divorce filing.
In a 2025 essay, she wrote that their love may not be romantic, but it is the love of family.
In an interview ahead of the release, Gayheart shared her hope for the book. She wants fans to see Dane beyond McSteamy. That was the heartthrob role he played on "Grey's Anatomy."
Gayheart says Dane was a complicated man. She says everyone is. A person can look polished and perfect on the outside. Inside, they may feel very different.
The Call That Changed Everything
Gayheart still remembers waiting for the news in 2024. Dane was in San Francisco. He was meeting a neurologist to get his results. She felt sure it was not ALS.
She was wrong. She says she was shocked and heartbroken. One of her daughters was home when the call came. Gayheart stepped into her closet for privacy and shut the door.
She says it is hard to describe that moment. She knew what an ALS diagnosis meant. She knew where it led.
Dane fills the memoir with life lessons for his girls. He closes the book with a simple charge. Fight, girls, and hold your heads high.
Learning That Grief Has No Straight Line
About nine months have passed. The family has learned something hard. Grief does not move in a straight line.
Gayheart says some days bring anger. Some days bring sadness. Some days she misses him and feels furious that she cannot talk to him.
The hardest part is parenthood. She and Dane raised their daughters together. Now the girls are growing up.
They are having firsts, disappointments, heartbreaks and wins. Gayheart wants to call Eric and tell him everything. She can't. That hurts the most.
Reading His Words on a Plane
Gayheart first read the memoir on a flight home. She had been in Belize filming "The Ocean Between Them." She says the trip was full of tears.
Dane spent the last year of his life working on the book. His writing partner was Alan Eisenstock.
Dane told his story through the days that mattered most. As his health declined, the work became harder. They kept going until the end.
Gayheart had agreed to talk about the book publicly if Dane died before its release.
Taking on that role came as a big surprise. She says no one in the family imagined losing him before the book was done.
Now his words will sit on bookstore displays and reader's shelves. Dane cannot celebrate. Gayheart says he would be very happy with the result.
She says the book carries one message for everyone. Don't wait. Life is precious. It is easy to forget that. Take the chances.
Do the things. Be a good friend, sibling, parent or spouse. She says it speaks to people facing a terminal illness.
It also speaks to anyone who is not making the most of each day.
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