Dave Eggers has lived in the Bay Area for long enough that stories about the Golden Gate Bridge were imprinted in his mind – his wife’s grandfather even poured some of the cement for the bridge – but only recently did he learn the less well-known story of the multi-year discussion over the bridge’s color. “Nobody expected it to be orange or stay orange,” said Eggers. When it was shipped in, the steel was coated in an orange lead primer, inspiring Berkeley architect Irving Morrow to launch a campaign around preserving the bridge’s original color. “It really was the vocal advocacy of a few people that turned the tide and awakened everybody to the inherent beauty of the color of the orange paint,” said Eggers. This inspired his latest book, This Bridge Will Not Be Gray (Nov.), a 104-page picture book comprised of playful cut-out images and humorous text, which offers a history lesson about the power of serendipity and the will to fight for a cause, even if it’s just championing the color of a bridge.

Illustrator Tucker Nichols, who has collaborated with McSweeney’s in the past (including picture book Crabtree, which he penned with his brother John) said when Eggers approached him with about this book, the timing was “serendipitous,” as the bridge was something he had recently been thinking about, as he crossed the bridge on his commute, and often looked at it from his studio.

Instead of illustrations, Nichols created cut-paper images, using only supplies he could find in his studio. The approach of using found paper felt like a “reasonable alignment of subject” to him, considering the book is about using the inherent color of the bridge’s steel parts.

Eggers and Nichols worked in collaboration, at times at the artist’s studio. The pair would hang out and discuss possibilities for the book. When an author and illustrator don’t work together on a project, Eggers said, “I think that’s a tragedy for the form.”

Eggers, who is known mostly for penning award-winning adult literary novels, said this children’s title was “really refreshing to write. It was a blast. It immediately made me think I’d love to do more things in this vein, and Tucker and I have another project in mind if we find time for it. His approach to creating is so pure and infectious.”

Eggers also praised McSweeney’s art directors Dan McKinley and Sunra Thompson, saying: “They are so much better than I ever was at getting projects through. If all people are communicating throughout, you yield the best results.” This collective process seems a natural fit to Eggers. “I could never figure out segregation in publishing between the art department, design department, and authors. I just never got it,” he said.

Bridging the Gap to Readers

Speaking as a parent, Nichols said that his five-year-old daughter is drawn to some titles he “couldn’t bear to read one more time.” With Crabtree and this book, Nichols aimed to keep the adult audience engaged as well. “It has kids in mind but it also has everyone else in mind too.”

Eggers agreed, adding: “I would definitely advocate for an expansion of the category where anyone could read a book that happens to have a lot of pictures in it, but isn’t for one certain age group. I still find Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss completely compelling now, and I don’t at all feel like I’m reading something exclusively for kids. There’s a reflexive suspicion that any book with a drawing in it drops seven rungs down on the ladder of seriousness and adultness. It’s really such an indefensible prejudice.”

The company’s children’s imprint, McSweeney’s McMullens, “was more or less retired when Brian McMullen retired” in 2014. “We really don’t have a children’s list anymore,” said Eggers. Since McMullen’s departure, the press hasn’t acquired new children’s titles, but is publishing the titles acquired during his tenure. “There hasn’t been any acquisition or plan to publish more children’s books except anomalies like this book,” Eggers said.

According to Eggers, entering the children’s market was difficult. “It’s one of the reasons we scaled back. The scale of McSweeney’s is always smaller than a lot of companies. We found that everything about the market was new to us. Companies that do it really well like Candlewick have built relationships with booksellers over many decades; we couldn’t replicate that in a few years. We knew it was going to be a long road, to build a reputation and brand for the books and we were ready to do that and then McMullen moved on.”

Making a Difference

While this book is a story about a bridge, Eggers said it also has applications for the creative process and one’s approach to life. “On the one hand if you’re going to make something, you might as well make it bold and beautiful and loud, make it stand out, and on the other hand even if it hasn’t been done before – there had never been an orange bridge in history – it doesn’t mean it can’t work.”

The book also offers a message about alternatives to apathy, an example of how “a few rabble-rousers, or advocates can make a pretty huge and lasting difference,” the author said. “Had Irving Morrow and a few other people not spoken up, the bridge would most likely be gray, and probably would not have the worldwide iconic status that it has. It was really just the very strong opinion of very few people that made the difference. It’s a lesson I learn every year, which is that it’s really a matter of will.”

Eggers said he has always tried to instill that lesson in his students at the nonprofit he founded, 826 Valencia. “It’s about the power of an individual to affect change if they are tenacious and loud enough about it. It can happen. The squeaky wheel does get the grease.”