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Lisa Marie Presley's posthumous memoir From Here to the Great Unknown is making headlines after People shared the first excerpt from the book as part of its cover story on the late American singer. Lisa Marie was the only child of singer and actor Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley and mother to actress Riley Keough, who has the task of completing the memoir after she died in 2023. The book reflects Lisa Marie's early life, offering a rare glimpse into her formative years alongside her iconic father, Elvis Presley.
"Wherever possible, I wrote it exactly as she said it," Riley wrote in the memoir, referring to how she tried to be as accurate as possible when transcribing the tapes, which included Lisa Marie's memories. "In other cases, I've edited my mother's words for clarity or to get at what I know was the root of what she was trying to convey. What mattered most to me was feeling like the end result sounded like her, that I could instantly recognize her in the pages, and I can."
As reported by People, the book, scheduled for release on October 8 by Random House, delves into various aspects of Lisa Marie's life, including her relationship with Elvis, her romantic endeavors, the experience of motherhood, the tragic loss of her son Benjamin, the birth of her granddaughter Tupelo, and more.
"The tapes are an incredible portrait of the force of nature that she was," Riley says. "Depending on the day and her mood, she can sound locked-in or distracted, vulnerable and open or annoyed and closed off, hopeful, angry, everything. You hear her in all her complications."
Find below the excerpt from Lisa Marie Presley's posthumous memoir From Here to the Great Unknown
'Going to his shows was my favorite thing in the world. I was so proud of him. He would take me by the hand and bring me out onstage, then get walked to wherever his place was on the stage, and I would be taken from him and brought to wherever I was going to be sitting in the audience. Usually with [Elvis' father] Vernon.
The electricity of those shows. There's nothing I've felt that's been even close to that feeling, ever. Electrifying is such a generic word, but it really is what it felt like. I loved watching him perform. I had certain songs that I liked — "Hurt," and "How Great Thou Art." I would ask him to sing those songs for me and he would always say yes.
I did not, however, like having the limelight shone on me or being asked to stand up in front of everybody. In Vegas, during his residency, he introduced Vernon, then looked toward me and I remember thinking, Oh God oh God please don't.
"Lisa, stand up!"
It's not that I wasn't proud or that I didn't love him. I just liked the limelight on him, loved it on him. It was not something that came to me inherently. I absolutely abhorred it.
But in other less public ways, I loved basking in his fame with him.
In Los Angeles I went to school at John Thomas Dye, up in the hills of Bel Air. I still sometimes drive by it just to remember the day my dad came to a parent-teacher conference. I knew he was coming, and I couldn't wait. I could feel the teachers' nervousness and excitement, too. My little student friends were so excited that I got even more excited — everybody was just running around crazy.
Then my dad showed up. He got out of the car and he had on a respectable outfit — black pants and some kind of blouse — but he was also wearing a big, majestic belt with buckles and jewels and chains, as well as sunglasses. He was smoking a cigar. I met him at the car, and I walked up the walkway with him, and I just remember that feeling of walking next to him, holding his hand.'
Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2024 by Riley Keough
Oprah Winfrey's interview with Riley Keough
"An Oprah Special: The Presleys—Elvis, Lisa Marie, and Riley" will air on CBS on October 8th, 2024 at 8 PM ET and be available to stream on Paramount+. The interview marks Keough's first in-depth interview since her mother's death. Keough wil discuss her mother's memoir, and the highs and lows of being a part of the Presley family.
“Riley shares what the writing process was like and stories and remembrances of her mother," shares CBS. "Also featured are never-before-seen family photos and home videos, as well as selections of Lisa Marie’s audio recordings, including memories of her father, about whom Lisa Marie begins the book by writing: ‘I felt my father could change the weather. He was a god to me. A chosen human being.’"