About a year after Alysha Clark’s father died, she was sitting on the couch with her youngest niece when an ordinary conversation took an unexpected turn.

Her niece asked, “Auntie, Paw Paw’s in the sky, right?”

“It shook me to my core because I realized she was still trying to process where her grandpa was and what it meant that he wasn’t here anymore,” Clark said.

That moment became the inspiration for Paw Paw’s Playlist, a children’s book created to help young readers understand grief through the memories that keep them connected to someone after death. Clark co-wrote Paw Paw’s Playlist with Kiara Marsh, and Beth Snider illustrated the book.

For many in Murfreesboro, Clark is best known as one of the most accomplished players in Middle Tennessee State University women’s basketball history. She led the entire nation in scoring during both of her seasons at MTSU, earned consecutive Sun Belt Player of the Year honors and was inducted into the Blue Raider Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

She later built a lengthy professional career and won three WNBA championships—two with the Seattle Storm and another with the Las Vegas Aces. She now plays for the Dallas Wings.

Her latest project, however, offers a more personal look at Clark and the family behind her success.

Paw Paw’s Playlist follows a child named Bubb as he grieves his grandfather. With help from Grandma Jan, he begins realizing that Paw Paw remains present through the foods he enjoyed, the sounds he loved, and the activities they shared.

Clark said many of those details were inspired by the relationship between her father, Duane Clark, and her nephew.

“They were best friends in so many ways,” she said. “My nephew loved spending time with my dad and making him proud, even from a very young age.”

Some of the book’s memories reflect activities they shared, including attending her nephew’s football games. Clark also remembered her father preparing Easter baskets, “playing” Santa and finding other ways to show the children he was thinking about them.

“That really was his superpower,” Clark said. “He had a gift for making people feel special and making sure they knew they mattered.”

Clark described her father as a boisterous presence who loved laughter, jokes and music. She said he was passionate about caring for people and could make almost anyone feel at home.

Music was also a constant presence in their family, making a playlist a fitting way to explain how memories endure.

“The idea of a playlist came from wanting to think about the memories we have of our loved ones as the songs that remain on their life’s playlist,” Clark said. “We wanted to show that when you lose someone, the love doesn’t disappear. The memories are still there, almost like songs you can return to again and again.”

Through her nieces and nephew, Clark also learned that children may express grief differently from adults without feeling the loss any less deeply.

“There’s no one right or wrong way to grieve,” she said. “Kids showed me that in the middle of sadness, there can still be joy.”

Adults often want to protect children from difficult emotions, Clark said, but being honest can help them understand what they are feeling. Sadness and joy can exist together as families miss someone while continuing to celebrate the memories they shared.

“It’s okay to miss someone deeply and, in that same breath, be joyful and celebrate the memories you created with them,” she said.

Photo by Kevin Hernandez / Blue Raider Athletics Communications

Clark’s decision to write for children also reflects years of work supporting young people and literacy.

Her community involvement with Seattle Children’s Hospital began in 2013. She later launched an annual toy and book drive after seeing how moments of play and reading could offer comfort to children facing serious illnesses.

“But then you see them being kids for a moment, laughing, playing or getting excited about a book or a toy, and not thinking about the battle they’re facing,” Clark said. “That stayed with me.”

The experience showed her how books can give children the freedom to dream and introduce them to lives, places and perspectives beyond their own circumstances.

Although Paw Paw’s Playlist marks a new chapter for Clark, its story remains closely tied to the basketball career Murfreesboro residents remember. In just two seasons at MTSU, Clark scored 1,756 points. She ranks first on the Lady Raiders’ career lists for scoring average and field-goal percentage. She said the crowds and community support surrounding the program remain among her most meaningful memories.

“The games were always packed, and the community’s support was incredible,” Clark said. “You could go out around town after a game and have people congratulating you, telling you how excited they were to watch us play.”

Clark said Murfreesboro supported the Lady Raiders well before the recent growth in attention surrounding women’s sports.

“Before it was popular to support women’s sports, MTSU and that community were already ahead of the curve,” she said. “They continuously showed up for us.”

Her father was among the program’s most recognizable supporters. He attended every home game during Clark’s MTSU career and was loud enough to be heard throughout the Murphy Center. His support also extended to her teammates, whom he treated as members of the family.

“The people at the Murphy Center knew who he was,” Clark said. “You could hear my dad from anywhere in the stands.”

Senior Night allowed Clark to conclude her college career with both of her parents there. The building also held an earlier family milestone: Clark won a high school state championship in the same gym.

“So much of my high school and college career ended in that gym, and both ended on such a high note,” she said.

After her father’s death, Clark said MTSU’s basketball program and athletic department dedicated the team’s film room to him.

“That meant so much to our family because it showed how much he meant to the people around us, not just to me,” she said.

The resilience Clark developed through basketball helped her move through the unfamiliar process of becoming an author. The sport taught her discipline and how to respond to disappointment, pain and failure, she said, although she recognizes that losing a game or recovering from an injury cannot be compared directly with losing a loved one.

“There isn’t a playbook for losing someone you love,” Clark said. “For me, this book became a way of turning pain into purpose.”

Clark hopes the project allows readers to see the person beyond her athletic accomplishments.

“As much as I have a passion for what I do on the court, my passion for people and service off the court is even greater,” she said. “Basketball has given me an incredible platform, but I hope people ultimately remember me for how I used it and the impact I had in my community.”

Her family reviewed the book before its release, and Clark described their response as both joyful and bittersweet. Her nephew helped shape the character based on him, including a scene depicting something he wished he could have experienced with his grandfather.

One of the most meaningful reactions came after the family received a physical copy. Clark’s nephew keeps photographs and other important belongings tucked around the mirror above his dresser, much as his grandfather once did. After receiving the book, he placed it there beside an instrument.

“Seeing him do that, and seeing how proud he was, really touched me,” Clark said. “It was one of those moments where I realized the book is about so much more than telling a story.”

For Clark and her family, it has become another way to keep Paw Paw present.

“It’s something our family can be proud of,” she said, “but it’s also a way for us to carry my dad’s memory forward.”

Paw Paw’s Playlist is available in paperback and hardcover through Amazon; the hardcover is also available through IngramSpark.