Babs Walters is the author of the new memoir Facing the Jaguar: A Memoir of Courage and Confrontation. Also an advocate and motivational speaker, she lives in Southeast Florida.
Q: Why did you decide to write Facing the Jaguar?
A: As a child, my favorite times were when I was alone in our apartment reading. I especially enjoyed learning how other people lived, the places and times they lived in. We had an old set of encyclopedias that I read when nothing else was available. One day I discovered something about my life, a definition of something that was happening to me.
I made a promise to myself when I was 11 years old that someday I would write a book so another little girl would not feel so alone in her life.
Q: The writer Jane Epstein called the book a “powerful story of reclamation.” What do you think of that description?
A: When children are deprived of a normal childhood, when they are prematurely pressed into adulthood, they have false beliefs about themselves and life. Part of the healing process is reclaiming oneself. Discovering who you are underneath what you were taught. Reparenting yourself.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: My publisher chose the title based on a through-thread or recurring theme throughout my story. It represents both the way I ran from and confronted my demons.
Q: What impact did it have on you to write the book, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: I learned that some stories take time to tell. I would not have been able to tell this one at an earlier time.
I also learned to see my parents as two individuals, separate from their relationship with me. I came to understand why they behaved the way they did, how trauma passes from one generation to another.
Not keeping my secret any longer has made me vulnerable but also opened a spotlight for others who are ready to tell.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: My biggest project right now is finding forums to share my message, encouraging and supporting others to unburden their secrets and continue to heal. This is done through speaking engagement, journal writing workshops, the collection of oral histories or even anonymous Secret No More postcards.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Healing is a journey. Not a destination. It’s not too late to let go of the past and create a different future.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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