# What happened to the mother from \[i\]A Child Called "It?"\[/i\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352 "2002-11-23T16:45:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/1 "2002-11-23T16:45:57Z")
I came across this book yesterday. I had heard of it before but never read it. I started skimming it and basically read the whole thing in about an hour. I wanted to kill the mother after about two pages. Now, here is my question. The author, Dave Pelzer, describes being taken out of the home, but desn’t really say what happened to his mom after that. Does anybody know? Please tell me the bitch went to prison. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/2 "2002-11-23T16:47:04Z")
Damn, I didn’t know the tags didn’t work on the titles. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/3 "2002-11-23T16:54:55Z")
[From here](http://www.davepelzer.com/question.htm) > [@](#): > > Q: What happened to Dave’s mother? Dave’s father? Dave’s brothers? > A: Nothing legally ever happened to his parents. In that day in age, child abuse was just being dealt with, even though it had always existed. All the court could do was to take Dave away from his mother, which they did. His parents separated the year Dave was rescued, and they both died very lonely, depressed alcoholics. Dave’s brothers remained with Dave’s mother until they became of legal age to move out on their own. Dave and his brothers live separate lives; and while they remain in contact, Dave’s main concern has always been and remains on protecting the dignity and privacy of his brothers and their families. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/4 "2002-11-23T16:56:47Z")
☹ I haven’t read his books but a co-worker did. She told me about them as she read each one. I don’t know if I could stomach reading it, maybe only because I know he ended up OK. ---
**Author:** ![benson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@benson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benson)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/5 "2002-11-23T18:36:31Z")
There are two other books that he wrote detailing his life after being removed from his home. One is A Man Called Dave, but I forget the other title. Anyway they’re worth checking out. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/6 "2002-11-23T18:53:04Z")
_The Lost Boy_ is the second book. Details [here](http://www.davepelzer.com/aboutb.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/7 "2002-11-24T01:17:17Z")
Thanks for the info everybody. I’m sorry the mom didn’t go to prison but I’m glad she died alone. I’ll check out those other two books. **Slainte** , if you do decide to read it, keep something handy you can beat on. You’re going to want to break something. ---
**Author:** ![Slainte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Slainte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slainte)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/8 "2002-11-24T02:43:44Z")
Yeah, I also thought it was outrageous that she didn’t go to prison. As far as how her life ended, she reaped what she sowed. I think I will put these books on my “To Read” list but first I’ll get myself a good, thick pillow to mash (I believe you, from what little I know of the book). At least I know that he _did_ make it out alive and turned out to be a healthy, happy person. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/9 "2002-11-24T02:54:38Z")
> [@](#): > > At least I know that he did make it out alive and turned out to be a healthy, happy person. Yeah, that’s really the only thing that makes it possible to get through the book. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/10 "2002-11-29T15:38:35Z")
On another message board I remembered someone saying that there have been questions about the veracity of Pelzer’s story. I don’t have a cite for these quotes (since they were provided to me without a link by the poster at that mb) and I haven’t been able to find them in a quick search myself. But apparently the source is a story in the New York Times Magazine, dated July 28. (Not sure of what year. This?) Anyway, here are the quotes: > [@](#): > > Dave Pelzer, aka The Child Called “It” and an Oprah guest, has made quite a living off of his story of child abuse, but how much of what he says is true? It’s already known that he lies about being a Pulitzer Prize nominee, that he bolsters his sales by buying 1,000 copies of his book at a time from [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) in order to keep on the bestseller lists, but now his family is beginning to talk. And they’re calling him a liar. New York Times Magazine follows Pelzer around to find where he’s coming from, and it’s truly fascinating. From a UK Paper Guardian: > [@](#): > > …I buried my head in the New York Times and read about Dave Pelzer, the bestselling author whose four books chronicle his abuse by his mother. She stabbed him in the heart with a knife, he wrote, and made him eat dog faeces with worms. Now the Times says he’s making the whole thing up. > > “Please!” Pelzer’s brother, Stephen, told the paper. “I saw Mom cutting food when David grabbed her arm and got a small cut. There wasn’t even any blood, yet he screamed, ‘Mommy stabbed me!’ David had to be the centre of attention. He was a spoilt brat.” > > The allegations don’t seem to be damaging sales. Some fans have reported that they like Dave so much - he’s been so great at healing himself - they don’t mind if he invented it all. Perhaps if he did, he could make his fifth book a redemptive account of how he’s forgiven himself - perhaps call it A Lying Bastard Called “It” - and he’d sell another million. And > [@](#): > > Dave Pelzer has made a career of talking about his bad childhood. In books such as “A Child Called It,” “The Lost Boy,” “A Man Called Dave” and his new self-help book creatively titled “Help Yourself,” he talks about being stabbed by his mother, burned with cigarettes and forced to eat feces out of a diaper. He’s made lots of money over the years traveling the country and speaking to people about his life. In Pat Jordan’s article “Dysfunction for Dollars” in the 7/28 New York Times Magazine, it was revealed that Pelzer’s family denies that he was ever abused, that Pelzer routinely lies about being a Pulitzer nominee, and that he keeps himself on the NY Times bestseller lists by buying his own books. ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Tollbooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Phantom\_Tollbooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Tollbooth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/11 "2002-11-29T15:56:50Z")
As I understand it, the extent of the “nomination” was that he filled out the Pulitzer forms and submitted a $50 entry fee. Whoopee. Maybe I can do the same for my new novel, “Little Kitty Goes to the Vet”, and call it a Pulitzer nominee, too. ---
**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-mother-from-i-a-child-called-it-i/138352/12 "2002-11-29T17:34:47Z")
The article is [here](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/28/magazine/28PELZER.html). It’s a free registration. I couldn’t find anything to verify this article though. So, take it as you will…