Lisa Marie Presley only got to spend a few months with her granddaughter before passing away on Jan. 12, 2023, but it was enough time to come up with the most adorable nickname for little Tupelo.
According to an excerpt from her upcoming posthumous memoir, which was exclusively shared by PEOPLE in their weekly cover story, Lisa Marie “would call Tupelo our little light.”
The memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, was written by Lisa Marie and her daughter, Riley Keough (Tupelo’s mom), shortly before her death. It’s set to be published by Pan MacMillan on October 8.
In a recent email interview with PEOPLE, Keough talked about how the memoir came to be and how happy she is to not only continue to share her mother’s life story with the world, but also with Tupelo.
“This is one of the biggest privileges of the whole thing,” she said. “Not everyone has a book to read about their grandparents. That’s unique to our family. And it’s really a gift.”
Now that the book is ready to be published, Riley can’t wait for her daughter to read it for herself.
Keough used old tapes recorded by her mother to finish the memoir
In order to finish the memoir, which was only partially completed at the time of Lisa Marie’s death, Riley says she listened to and watched tapes of memories her mother had recorded over the years.
She described the tapes as “an incredible portrait of the force of nature that she was.”
“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,” Riley added. “You hear her in all her complications.”
The memoir dives into the depths of Lisa Marie’s life, including her childhood and bond with her father, Elvis Presley, the death of Lisa Marie’s son, Benjamin Keough, and the birth of their “little light” Tupelo.
Tupelo was born in August 2022, just five months before Lisa Marie passed away of a bowel obstruction. Her birth was revealed by Keough’s husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, in a letter written by Riley, which was read at Lisa Marie’s memorial.
Riley talks about how devastated Lisa Marie was over Benjamin’s death
In her interview with PEOPLE, Riley explained how difficult it was for her family, and especially for Lisa Marie, after learning of Benjamin’s suicide in July 2020. He was just 20 years old at the time of his death.
“My mom tried her best to find strength for me and my younger sisters, [Finley and Harper], after Ben died, but we knew how much pain she was in,” Riley explained.
While she clarified that Lisa Marie “physically died from the after effects of her surgery,” she added that “we all knew she died of a broken heart.”
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As for the memoir, Riley says her mother wanted to “write a book in the hopes that someone could read her story and relate to her.” You can purchase your copy of the memoir starting Oct. 8.