Pelzer was born in San Francisco, California on December 29, 1960, and was the second of five boys. He grew up in Daly City, California.[4] He is the son of Catherine Roerva Christen Pelzer (1929–1992) and San Francisco fireman Stephen Joseph Pelzer (1923–1980). Pelzer's books describe the abuse he suffered for several years of his childhood, including continual mistreatment and beatings by his mother, who he said thought of it as a game. His teachers stepped in on March 5, 1973, when 12-year-old Pelzer was placed in foster care. At age 18, in 1979, he joined the U.S. Air Force and served in the Gulf War.[5][6] In the 1980s, Pelzer married his first wife, Patsy (a pseudonym), with whom he had a son. In 1996, he carried a torch in the 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay.[7] Pelzer and Patsy divorced, and many years later, he married his second wife, Marsha Donohoe, who was his editor.[8]
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