DIE YOUNG WITH ME

Part memoir, part love song, and part overcoming the odds, this is not a cancer story, but an account of a teenager’s life becoming derailed and the one thing that helped him pull it back together: music.

Punk’s not dead in rural West Virginia. It blares from the basement of Rob and Nat Rufus – identical twin brothers with spiked hair, black leather jackets, and the most kick-ass record collection in Appalachia. Sure, school (and pretty much everything else) sucks – but what can you expect when you’re the only punks in town?

When the brothers start their own band, their lives begin to change: they have friends, and they meet girls, and Rob finally gets the courage to ask out a pretty cheerleader, who becomes his first love. When their band gets invited to join a national tour, the boys see a way out of their rat box little town.

But their plans are cut short when Rob is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. And the prognosis is not good – the doctors found the disease too late, it has already progressed to Stage Four. He isn’t expected to live past his teens. As Rob suffers through nightmarish treatments and debilitating surgery, Nat continues on the upward trajectory to punk rock stardom. As his life diverges from his twin brother’s and his girlfriend starts to pull away, Rob must find strength within himself and through his music.
DIE YOUNG WITH ME is a raw, honest account of teen cancer and an ode to music’s ability to make sense of our lives.


Rob Rufus is a musician and writer living in Nashville. His band, the Blacklist Royals has released two full-length albums and played in sixteen countries over the past three years. Rob has written articles for Modern Drummer, Amp Magazine, Digital Tour Bus, as well as various music sites and blogs, and is currently developing an article series for VICE titled “Confessions of an Opening Act.” Rob also works closely with the cancer community, including the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Stupid Cancer Podcast (the largest advocacy/support organization worldwide for teens with cancer), and Make-A-Wish Foundation.