In 2000, Dave Eggers burst onto the national literary scene with the publication of his creative memoir . The book balanced the emotional journey of Eggers raising his brother Toph after their parents succumbed to cancer with less serious material, including the author’s attempt to become a cast member on the MTV reality show . It eventually climbed to the top of the bestseller list and garnered a Pulitzer Prize nomination.

Not surprisingly, Eggers has continued his career as a writer, producing the 2002 novel and the 2006 fiction work . , which was based on the real-life story of Sudanese refugee Valentino Achak Deng, was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award.

What’s more striking about Eggers than his literary success is how he has parlayed his fame as a writer into getting a wide variety of other projects started. The author also founded a monthly magazine called and a quarterly literary journal known as , which features pieces by cutting-edge, contemporary writers, including William T. Vollmann, Rick Moody, Heidi Julavits, Jonathan Lethem and Michael Chabon. Another quarterly offering put out by Eggers and McSweeney’s is the DVD magazine that includes short film contributions by famed directors Spike Jonze, Errol Morris and Steven Soderbergh.

Eggers has contributed to the arts with the formation of his McSweeney’s book publishing company. It has put out more than 35 titles, including Vollmann’s seven-volume, 3,300-page treatise on violence titled . Another work nominated for a National Book award, it might never have seen the light of day if it weren’t for McSweeney’s.

Eggers also recently became an in-demand screenwriter. With Jonze, he co-wrote a big-screen adaptation of the popular children’s book , while he and his wife, Vindela Vida, penned a comedy that soon will be filmed by director Sam Mendes.

One project Eggers clearly relishes is 826 Valencia. The nonprofit organization, which began in a San Francisco storefront that doubles as a bookstore and a shop that sells pirate paraphernalia. The nonprofit also has learning centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Ann Arbor and Boston.

It is likely that the $100,000 cash prize Eggers receives for the TED award will go to fund some of 826 Valencia’s upcoming projects. That is what Eggers did with the $250,000 he won from a 2007 Heinz Award.

In a 2007 interview in New Orleans Eggers told a reporter about his hopes for organizations like 826 Valencia. “For every Starbucks, every Subway, there should be a tutoring center,” he said. “It should be part of the natural fabric of any town or neighborhood, a place where adults come and work one-on-one with kids.”