Publishers Marketplace: Richard Pelzer

Richard Pelzer
International Bestselling Author

The third and final memoir in the Journey series is complete and will be available soon.……… The third and final memoir in the Journey series is complete and will be available soon.……… The third and final memoir in the Journey series is complete and will be available soon.……… The third and final memoir in the Journey series is complete and will be available soon.……… The third and final memoir in the Journey series is complete and will be available soon.……… The third and final memoir in the Journey series is complete and will be available soon.………

Richard Pelzer is a self-employed bestselling author, international lecturer, and an amateur screenwriter.

Pelzer is recognized as a national advocate for families and youth at risk with the publication of the number one international bestseller A Brother’s Journey and the sequel A Teenager’s Journey.

Pelzer’s style for reaching deep into the emotional caverns we all tend to safeguard constantly evokes passion and appreciation for what far too many adults and children deal with in today’s world.

Pelzer’s memoirs have been translated into several languages throughout the world.

A Brother’s Journey was first published in the United States in January 2005 under then Warner Books (later to become Hachette Books) and in the United Kingdom in December 2005 under the Warner Wellness label.

Pelzer is an active member of the Authors Guild and spends his free time traveling the country lecturing, often with his family.

As a bestselling author, family advocate, and international public speaker Pelzer is fortunate enough to have experienced a great success

[nearly 500,000 copies in print] with his first two memoirs:

A Brother’s Journey and A Teenager’s Journey. Now the third and final installment of the Journey series is ready.

Pelzer's speaking schedule has limited openings.

Keep checking back for a list of locations and times.

If you are interested in booking an event, please email the office at

PROJECTS ON OFFER / PROPOSALS AVAILABLE

”To Love Like You Were Dying”

PELZER readers have experienced the inside view of family life in a chaotic and disturbed family in the 1970's. His number one international bestseller A Brother’s Journey brought light into the darkness for many youth.

Through the tender juvenile years and into young adulthood, Pelzer wrestles with his unrealized relationship with God, his family, his peers, and himself. His constricted world gave little hope and even less of a future. His struggle with alcohol and drugs as a pre teen led to several failed suicide attempts. With little to lose, Pelzer turns his search for an answer inward only to find a void of confusion and unanswered prayers.

In the sequel A Teenager’s Journey death became a welcomed anticipation.

With a little guidance and a few adult friends, Pelzer survived his reckless young life and learned to embrace the possibilities of the future. His life turned from being a product of an insane environment into learning to control the environment he now lives in. As a father, husband, and friend, Pelzer learns to share, love, and be loved.

Now in “To Love Like You Were Dying” PELZER shares his personal struggles
with finding his place in the world, his community, and more importantly his family. Pelzer learns to accept his shortcomings and begins the journey which leads him to his destiny. His search for answers to his past and future lead him to embracing the one he once walked away from; God.

As a father, husband, and friend to his children, Pelzer discovers answers to many questions we all ask;

Why am I here?
Why am I a part of this family and not another?

More importantly, why his own family now deals with his children’s mortality. Accepting Cystic Fibrosis and the continuous struggle his family endures requires patients, faith, and love; traits he never embraced as a young adult.

Like most of America, Pelzer’s life seems to be a mesh of managing time, money, work, friends, and family. Unlike most, Pelzer deals with two terminally ill children. The daily routines of one family living life in flux are monstrous undertakings.

“To Love Like You Were Dying” shares what one family goes through with extended hospitalizations, surgeries, a vast array of medications and schedules, and eventually hospice care. This is an honest look at how dealing with a child’s mortality changes the dynamics of a family and how God blesses those who clinch to faith. With viewpoints of teenage siblings to younger sisters, “To Love Like You Were Dying” shares a powerful message of living the joy of life now and preparing for the sorrow of tomorrow.

National and International Book Reviews

"...he honestly shows his outward struggle to survive as well as his internal efforts to understand and rise above his circumstances..."

"...told in surprisingly matter-of–fact language..."

"...by looking back at – and then releasing - the image of being the skinny red harried boy …Richard discovers his true spirit...”

“...Richard Pelzer shares courageously and selflessly his hope of raising awareness and preventing child abuse..."

Booklist Review

"...most of the author’s grim recollections are from the time after --his brother-- was removed from the household by social services..."

“...he writes with an amazing lack of bitterness toward his other brothers and toward the social services agency that left him alone.."

"...a story worth reading..."