The first sign of Eric Dane’s ALS wasn’t dramatic. It was a sushi dinner with his kids on January 7, 2024, when his right hand tingled, his fingers went numb, and the chopsticks stopped working. In his posthumous memoir“My Book of Days,”Dane writes that he brushed it off as a nerve thing from texting until it happened again three weeks later, worse. Nine months of appointments followed before a UCSF neurologist, Dr. Mark Terrelonge, gave him the diagnosis.
He kept the news private for roughly a year, continuing to film“Euphoria”before announcing his ALS diagnosis publicly in 2025 in an interview with Diane Sawyer. Dane died February 19 at 53, and his final episodes aired posthumously, with his first appearance back hitting screens on April 19.
The memoir excerpts also share the deeply personal moments: his youngest daughter Georgia and a friend saving him from drowning on vacation, and a call with estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart where he told her“I can’t swim, Rebecca,”leaving them both in tears.“My Book of Days”arrives November 3. Will you be reading it?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.