Author of "Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter's Life with Autism."

March 22, 2001

Read our chat with Clara Claiborne Park, author of "Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter's Life with Autism." In "The Seige: A Family's Journey into the World of an Autistic Child," Clara told us about Jessy, her autistic baby. Now, in "Exiting Nirvana," Clara continues the story. In this memoir, we see Jessy's journey out of her isolated 'nirvana' into the world we all share.

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TWBookmark: Welcome to Time Warner Bookmark! Warner Books is proud to introduce our special guest, Clara Claiborne Park, author of "Exiting Nirvana - A Daughter's Life with Autism." In "The Siege - A Family's Journey into the World of an Autistic Child," Clara told us about Jessy, her autistic baby. Now, in "Exiting Nirvana," Clara continues the story. In this memoir, we see Jessy's journey out of her isolated 'Nirvana' into the world we all share. Welcome to Time Warner Bookmark, Clara!

Clara C. Park: Hello out there! Glad to be with you.

TWBookmark: Why did you decide to write this book?

Clara C. Park: I didn't really want to write this book, and an editor at the American Scholar would ask me for something literary. I'm a Literary teacher, too, at Williams College. I said I didn't have anything literary that was ready right now. I'm a very slow writer, and I told them I didn't have anything ready she said "Why don't you write a follow up on Jessy?" I wrote it, and it took the summer, but it went unbelievably. This was the Phi Beta Kappa magazine, and it won the National Magazine Editor's award for feature writing. I didn't want to dive into the past that was difficult and hard and emotionally in other way. I had already written the article, and it got expansion. The article paved the way for the book I had written a lot about Jessy for publications over the years. I wouldn't have written it unless somebody had asked me. I'm now glad I did.

Amanda: What exactly does "Exiting Nirvana" mean?

Clara C. Park: Nirvana--that's an interesting question, because now that the book is getting a lot of attention, it's fun to remember that the former publisher of Little Brown wanted the title changed. She said no one would understand what Nirvana is. Nirvana is the Buddhist saying for what you work for after the meditation, when you're no longer attached to the world. Lord Buddha said where you're no longer attached to anything. He said that following the Buddhist noble path was to rid yourself from craving, and when you see the beautiful renditions of the Buddha, he has attained Nirvana. He has no more human attachment. In "Exiting Nirvana," my autistic baby would look at me. She didn't want anything, didn't reach for anything, and she had no desires. That's not what you want for a baby. Unless you reach out to the world, there would not be anything. To “Exit Nirvana” is what the book is about.

Taz: What where your reactions when you first discovered your daughter was autistic, especially when it wasn't a well understood condition?

Clara C. Park: That, too, is a very good question. It was like I said this in the book "The Siege," in which I wrote her first eight years. It was like living underwater, but you didn't have the option of drowning. I meant it as if it was a severely crippled child, or if the child was blind, you knew. With autism, you didn't know. This is still true. You don't know what this child would become. I couldn't dream that this child would turn out 40 years later to be an accomplished painter. I didn't know anything. It was presented as something much, much worse than retardation. It was like a mystery--a mystery of living underwater, where you can't even drown. You just stay there.

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