Jennings Michael Burch

On April 27, 1941, a boy by the name of Jennings Michael Burch was born in Manhattan, NY. He at the time had three older brothers, and then a younger brother that was born after him. The oldest brother, Joseph, was a high school dropout, a drunk, and considered the breadwinner of the family. He was harsh with Jennings and it was said that he turned out exactly like his father, an irate alcoholic. The second oldest brother named James was very studious, and the smartest one in the family. He and Joseph got into many altercations and generally hated each other because they never saw things form the same point of view. This alone created much tension in the house, and there were still three other brothers running around. Jennings was closest with …show more content…
The only fatherly figure Jennings ever experienced was Sal, a bus driver who Jennings related to and felt closest with, because he had no one to talk with at home. Family life for Jennings was broken to start with, and only got worse when he was put in a total of thirty-two orphanages and five foster homes from the age of eight to twelve. He never had a true friend, and couldn’t go to any of his brothers for help, so he relied on a stuffed animal named doggie for comfort. Doggie was Jennings companion and provided him with the closest thing he knew to a friend. When he couldn’t stand to spend another night at home with fighting or ran away from one of the many orphanages he experienced, Jennings found refuge in the Bronx Zoo. He spent many nights here with Doggie, and felt most himself. The people were nice and he got actual meals, unlike any of the other places he’d ever lived or bleak soup received at the homes. His childhood shaped him into who he is as a man today, and will forever leave a legacy on all that read his book They Cage the Animals At Night. Burch published this in 1985, telling the true story of his childhood with only changing the names of people and …show more content…
His dream ever since he was little was to become a police officer, and he accomplished this joining the police force after completing his education at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. This goal was inspired when he had run away from an orphanage and he came across a police officer. Instead of turning Jennings in and getting him in trouble, the officer helped Jennings by caring for him with his wife for a few days, and finding Sal to return Jennings to. There was talk of Michael Jackson collaborating with Jennings to make a movie, but Michael died in 2009 before the plans could be finished. He felt that he related to Jennings because he grew up going from one hotel to the next, just wishing to have a normal childhood and play outside with the others (Deignan). He also had been writing a sequel to the first book he published titled When Morning Comes, but lost his battle with cancer before he finished it. Jennings died on January 15, 2013 at the age of 71. He outlived all of his siblings and will leave his mark on this world by sharing his story, and calling all to a newfound awareness of the challenges facing orphaned and forgotten children in this