Maverick Magazine Spring 2022: CNR Alumna and Children’s Author Speaks to the Power of Diverse Friendships

Denise Sampson CNR SNR ’90, never set out to become a published children’s author. But she felt the pull to send a message of friendship and acceptance out into the world.

Her first book, “The Great Gray Day,” which was published in 2021 by Fulton Books, tells the story of two girls—one Black, one white— who meet because of their shared love of the color gray. They discover that they have a lot in common despite their outward differences, and they become lifelong friends.

The story was inspired by Sampson’s granddaughter, Kirsten, who was very accepting of all kinds of children from a young age. In preschool, Kirsten became friends with a little girl from a different race and culture. Despite their differences, they developed a strong bond and are still friends today at age 21. “You have to love everybody, Grandma,” Kirsten told Sampson when she was preschool age. “You have to talk very nicely to them, and they’ll be nice to you too.”

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