Adam Rich Was Writing a Series Before His Death 'Based on His Life' Experiences, Says Rep

Adam Rich had many passions in life that stretched far beyond his love for acting.

The former child star — who died Saturday at age 54 — continued to find acting gigs after playing Nicholas Bradford across 112 episodes of ABC's Eight Is Enough. He nabbed a role on Code Red as Danny Blake as well as multiple guest roles on series including Baywatch and CHiPs.

But making the transition from being a child star to an adult actor is no easy feat. His last on-screen credit was in a 2003 episode of Reel Comedy, and he mostly shied away from the spotlight ever since.

"When you're not working, this industry is brutal, especially as a child actor," Rich's publicist Danny Deraney of Deraney PR exclusively tells PEOPLE. "He did his Love Boats like every other kid in the '80s. They did their Love Boats and Fantasy Islands and Disney movies, or whatever the heck it is — and then all of a sudden, they just disappear for a while."

Though Rich "would do things from time to time," his publicist says he also "wanted to be known" for his writing. Rich even once told Deraney, "I wish people could see my writing."

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Ahead of his death, Rich was putting his writing skills to work to create something very special to him.

"He sent me, I think, a treatment that he was working on," says Deraney. "I think he wanted me to read it and just kind of look at it for grammatical errors and stuff in the hopes it would get sold."

The rep continues, "It was basically a series kind of based on his life story, in a way."

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One of Rich's other passion was speaking out about mental health. Taking a quick glance at the late actor's Twitter page, he frequently raised awareness on the matter in order to help others who were also struggling.

"He was a warrior in trying to get his condition out there," says Deraney, who notes that his client battled a type of depression that was "medication-resistant."

Deraney emphasizes, "He was a warrior in trying to let people know it's okay to talk about this stuff. And I think he also liked knowing, too, how loved he was. I sometimes don't know if he really knew."