Dave Pelzer

childhood part 1

childhood part 2

childhood part 3

Presents a biographical account of the life of writer Dave Pelzer. His childhood; Abuses he suffered from her mother; Books about his life which he wrote that became best selling; Achievements of Pelzer.

David James (Dave) Pelzer (born December 29, 1960 in San Francisco, California)[1] is an American entrepreneur[2] and author, of three autobiographical books and one self-help book,[3] best known for his 1995 memoir of childhood abuse, A Child Called "It". Pelzer is the son of a San Francisco fireman, Stephen Joseph Pelzer (1923-1980) and Catherine Roerva Christen Pelzer (1929-1992).

"At an early age I made a commitment that I would do whatever it took to survive.

It wasn't easy and it certainly wasn't pretty; I just did what I had to do," Dave says as he reveals ways he had to steal food to eat, since his mother enjoyed starving him, how he had to clean his own wounds when he was brutalized, and how he had to, at any cost, outwit her when she made trying to kill him a game.

Dave Pelzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Child Called "It", The Lost Boy, A Man Named Dave, Help Yourself, and The Privilege of Youth. He travels more than 250 days a year throughout the nation speaking to large groups of youth and adults on the topics of resilience and overcoming obstacles. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and Larry King Live, among other national shows.

As a child, Dave Pelzer's mentally-ill, alcoholic mother inflicted such severe emotional and physical torture upon her son that his story of survival remains an example of one of the most graphic and gruesome documented child abuse cases in California history.

Somehow, even during some of the horrific abuse, such as when Dave's mother held his arm over a flame, he was able to talk to himself in ways that helped him cope, and helped him cling to hope.

Most of all, as his mother told Dave constantly, he was an extremely "bad boy" who deserved to be punished. In fact, he was so "bad" that beginning around the age of 5, he wasn't allowed to be part of the family. Technically, he lived in the house, but he wasn't part of it. He was a slave.

He was an "it" who wasn't worthy of being called by name.

Finally, at the age of 12, Dave was rescued by police after teachers reported the abuse.

After that he spent the remainder of his childhood in a series of foster homes.

Today, Dave Pelzer is famous for having written a slew of international best-selling books.

Now in his early 50s, he's received a lifetime of such awards as personal commendations from presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush. He was recognized as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans, joining such notables as John F. Kennedy, Anne Bancroft and Christopher Reeves. In 1994, Dave was the only American to be honored as The Outstanding Young Person of the World.

In 1996, he carried the coveted Centennial flame for the Olympic Games. In 2005 he was honored with the National Jefferson Award, whose other alumni include Colin Powell, Sandra Day O'Connor and Bob Hope. He's been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and Larry King.

His fame isn't because of how much he suffered.

Rather, he's a sought-after speaker, role model and author because he uses his story to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. No excuses. No blaming. No dragging around a lifetime of regret or finger-pointing.

Dave Pelzer, the most famous author you've never heard of, has three books on the New York Times nonfiction paperback best-seller list this week. Pelzer, whose most insistent piece of advice is "don't dwell on the past," dwells on it very profitably. At 39, he has already written a trilogy of memoirs. A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage To Survive chronicles how his mother tortured him from age 4 to 12. It has sold 1.

6 million copies and spent two and a half years on the best-seller lists. Its sequel, The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family rehashes the maternal abuse and documents his wild teen-age years. It has sold a million and had 18 months as a best seller. The final book of the trilogy, A Man Named Dave: A Story of Triumph and Forgiveness, recounts his mother's cruelty again and tells how the adult Pelzer learned to cope with the memory of it.

It's been on the list much of this year. CBS, meanwhile, is making a Pelzer biopic that will air in May.

When you talk with Dave, as I did during a telephone interview, you'll learn that he doesn't judge the foster system, or the education system under which he lived as a child. He will tell you that times were different then in the late '60s and early '70s, that this was before mandated reporting laws. And he will tell you that as sometimes imperfect as some of his foster homes may have been, nothing was as bad as the abuse inflicted upon him by his own mother.

Dave was in the air force. He served in the USAF for more than thirteen years.

Dave is the author of four books: A Child Called "It" , The Lost Boy, Man Named Dave, and his latest called, Help Yourself.