Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis, to publish book on caregiving
As Bruce Willis continues to battle frontotemporal dementia, his wife has a book on the way that will serve as a guide to caregiving.
The book from Emma Heming Willis is set for a 2025 release through Maria Shriver’s publishing imprint, The Open Field, which is part of Penguin Random House. She will combine personal stories with interviews and advice from experts in the book, which does not yet have a title.
“Dementia not only affects your loved one but can shake a whole family’s foundation, and self, if you allow it,” she said in a statement on Monday. “Identifying the right resources to educate and enlighten myself has been powerful and has allowed me the space to continue to move forward in the most positive way so that I can be the best mother, wife, daughter, friend, and care partner. I want to be able to share that with the next person who finds themselves here.”
Shriver said she is “so proud” of the way that Willis is “using her voice to help others,” adding, “Caregivers are unsung heroes in our society — they need guidance, support, knowledge, along with community and a roadmap.”
The “Die Hard” star stepped away from acting in 2022 after being diagnosed with aphasia, which his family said was impacting his cognitive abilities. A year later, they shared that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. “Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces,” the family said in 2023.
Emma Heming Willis told Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper that it’s “imperative” for caregivers to have the resources and information they need. “I know between my experience and other care partners that I have spoken to; our stories are unfortunately similar,” she said. “We left that (doctor’s) office with close to no resources or support and with a diagnosis that I could hardly pronounce.”
Emma Heming Willis has been married to Bruce Willis since 2009. On his birthday in 2023, she shared on Instagram that although she was “feeling the grief and sadness,” the “silver lining or the flip side is that I’m so lucky to feel your warmth and love that is directed to my husband and our family.”
In August, Willis also posted a PSA for her fellow caregivers on Instagram, writing, “When we are not looking after ourselves, we are no good to the people we love who we want to show up for and take care of.”
