Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers, born on March 12, 1970 at Boston, Massachusetts is a writer, publisher, philanthropist, and an editor. He was born to John K. Eggers and Heidi McSweeney Eggers. His father worked as an attorney while her mother taught at a local school.

The couple had three children besides Dave. While he was still a child, his parents shifted to Lake Forest where Dave spent his adulthood. Actor Vince Vaughn was his high school classmate. He then enrolled himself in the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with the intention of securing a journalism degree.

However, while he was studying there both his parents passed away; one due to lung and brain cancer while the other due to stomach cancer. It affected him deeply and also his academic performance. At the time of their death, Dave was just twenty-one and the youngest of the siblings.

This was a tough time for the family. Since his elder brother was working, Dave had to drop out of the college to look after Christopher, his younger sibling. He left for Berkeley, California with Christopher and his then-girlfriend.

They stayed there at Dave's maternal aunt's home before shifting to a house of their own. Dave and his friend David Moodie adopted a newspaper named Cups which they gradually evolved into a satirical magazine. From here his writing career commenced.

He has written books belonging to different genres like fiction, non-fiction, humor and much more. He has also composed screenplays for some movies. The names of his books are A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Surviving Justice: America's Wrongfully Convicted and Exonerated, and much more.

He has also helped community leaders to make a personal connection with the students of a local school. He is the recipient of TED Prize and several literary awards. Besides writing, Dave is a talented still art artist as well and has also designed Vheissu, an album of Thrice and Yelling at the Sun.

He is also one of the founders of 826 Valencia, a profitless organization that intends to up skill and educate children from Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Ann Arbor, Michigan who belong to the age group of six to eighteen. Dave has also been a part of several events that raised money for the underprivileged. He is married to writer Vendela Vida, and the couple is parents to two loving kids.