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Book

A CHILD CALLED ‘IT’ Dave Pelzer

Published 1995

            A Child Called ‘It’ is a memoir about a young Californian boy being abused by his mother during the 1960s and 70s. This book won’t take you long to get through it, however; the topic is heavy; it’s about child abuse and also brings awareness of what happens to a lot of children behind closed doors.

            Dave’s family lived in Daly City, a middle-classed suburb in San Francisco; his mother was a socialite who quickly had five sons throughout the 1960s.

            Pelzer alleged that his mother was an alcoholic who beat him, starved him, treated him like a slave, forced him to drink ammonia, stabbed him in the stomach, burned his arm on a gas stove, and made him eat his own vomit.

            He stated that his father enabled his mother’s behaviour by not reacting. His brothers who witnessed the abuse were in a more favourable position with their mother. His brother later stated that he was ‘more fearful that she might kill me than of the possibility of my brother bleeding to death.’  

            Pelzer was sent to a foster family aged 12, in 1973 and not long after his father left his mother.

            A Child Called ‘It’ was published after his mother died in 1992, only six people attended her funeral - five sons and their grandmother. The family members have very little contact with each other’s and there’s also a lot of resentment between them. They all agree that their mother was a drunk and the family home was dysfunctional.

            His brother Richard published his own book which affirms Dave’s story and said he was abused once Dave was sent into foster care. His younger brother Stephen denied that Dave was abused and the reason why Dave was sent into foster care was because he started a fire and was shoplifting. Dave’s grandmother said she believed that her daughter abused Dave, but not as bad as he described in his book.

            Dave later stated his mother should never have children.

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DAVE PELZER

1960

A Child Called ‘It’ (1995 memoir)

Dave Pelzer from California is best known for his memoir A Child Called ‘It’ (1995) which was an account of being singled out as a child and being abused by his mother during the 1960s and 1970s. The book helped bring awareness of child abuse and mothers who abuse their children.

His mother Catherine Roerva (Pelzer) (1929-1992) singled Dave out from amongst his brothers and would lash out at him. She physically and emotionally abused him from the age of 4 to 12. His mother starved him, forced him to drink ammonia, stabbed him in the stomach, burned his arm on a gas stove, and forced him to eat his own vomit. She would refer to Dave as ‘It’ and would exclude Dave on family holidays. Dave craved the love and acceptance of his mother and on the odd occasion, she would show him love and tenderness. Dave and his family have admitted that Catherine had a drinking problem, was frustrated due to raising her five children and there was also the possibility that she was mentally ill.

His father Stephen Pelzer (1923-1980) turned a blind eye to the abuse and didn’t do anything to stop it. His father who was also a heavy drinker left his wife because he couldn’t handle her anger problems anymore. Stephen died in 1980.

Dave said in his book that a teacher became aware of the abuse and helped put Dave, aged 12, into foster care in 1973. His mother Catherine was never tried or prosecuted for her child abuse crimes and continued raising her children. She died in 1992.

Dave spent time with his parents as an adult and that his mother told him that if he hadn’t been rescued she would have killed ‘It’.

Dave’s brother, Stephen said that the reason why David went into foster care was that “he started a fire and was caught shoplifting”. Dave said that Stephen “worshipped my mum. He misses her terribly because she protected him.”

Dave’s brother, Richard B. Pelzer published his own autobiography, A Brother’s Journey (2000) that detailed his own experiences. Richard affirms much of what Dave had said in his own book and described his own abuse when David was removed from the family home. Dave claimed that Richard as a child participated in his mother’s abuse, sided with his mother against David, but when Dave was sent into foster care Richard said that he was his mother’s next victim.

The five brothers have not kept in touch, Richard was shocked when he first saw Dave’s book in the stores and read the book all in one go. He was shocked and angry that his brother had opened the family closet and exposed its skeletons.

It was at their mother’s funeral in 1992 which brought the five brothers together for the first time since they were living together as children. Catherine’s Will stated that her estate would be split amongst her four sons and purposely left Dave out of her Will. The four boys let Dave have his fair share of the money even though there was little money to go around.

Richard said that he doesn’t know Dave and all they share is the same last name. When Dave was in Boston giving a lecture, he and Richard met up to have a talk for a few hours and Richard stated that they were both a little standoffish.

The boy’s grandmother “Gram”, Catherine’s mother, did not live in the same state as the family and had little contact with them during their childhood. She said that her daughter didn’t permit her to see her grandchildren and she believes it was due to her daughter’s problems with alcohol. She said that she believes that Dave was abused but she believes he exaggerated events. She believes Richard was lying about being abused because he never previously told her about it and she believes he only said he was abused to make money. Gram stated that the boy’s brothers don’t approve of Dave and Richard’s books.

Their brother Kenneth believes that Richard was ‘mentally abused’ by their mother but said that Richard ‘had an entirely different memory than mine’.

At the age of 18, Dave joined the US Air Force in 1979 and served in the Gulf War. During the 1980s he was married and the couple had a son, the couple divorced and he remarried.

Dave Pelzer released his second book, The Lost Boy: A Foster Child’s Search for the Love of a Family (1997) which covers what happened to Dave as a teenager. His third book, A Man Named Dave: A Story of Triumph and Forgiveness (1999) is about his life as an adult and how he forgave his father. Dave continued writing self-help books about recovering from abuse and healing.

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