Interpretations:The Ballad Of Timothy McSweeney

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This was written as part of the collaboration for McSweeney's 6 in which Dave Eggers discovered the true identity of Timothy McSweeney, for which the journal is named.

Timothy McSweeney was a somewhat eccentric Bostonian art student with a history of mental illness and alcoholism, and Dave Eggers became aware of him through the random and mysterious letters that Timothy would send to his family when Eggers was a child. Though Eggers was of the McSweeney family, he was not, in fact, related to Timothy McSweeney. Timothy's correspondance stayed in Eggers's imagination for much of his life.

When TMBG was collaborating with McSweeney's on this project, Eggers was hoping that the Johns could make a theme for the publication that they could use at live appearances and the like, that would allude to the namesake. He asked them to be tasteful.

I would like to mention that the real Timothy McSweeney Passed away. —Preceding unsigned comment added 7 February 2010