Elizabeth Glaser (née Meyer; November 11, 1947 – December 3, 1994) was an American AIDS activist and child advocate married to actor and director Paul Michael Glaser. She contracted HIV very early in the AIDS epidemic after receiving an HIV-contaminated blood transfusion in 1981 while giving birth. Like other HIV-infected mothers, Glaser unknowingly passed the virus to her infant daughter, Ariel, who died in 1988.
Elizabeth Glaser | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elizabeth Meyer November 11, 1947 |
| Died | December 3, 1994 (aged 47) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Burial place | Sharon Memorial Park Sharon, Massachusetts |
| Known for | AIDS activist and celebrity spouse Contracted HIV through blood transfusion |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Ariel Glaser (1981–1988) Jake Glaser (b. 1984) |
Life
editElizabeth Glaser was born November 11, 1947,[1] in New York City and raised in Hewlett Harbor, New York.[2] She became the exhibit director of the Los Angeles Children's Museum.[3]
Glaser graduated in 1965 from what is now the Lawrence Woodmere Academy.[4]
Illness
editIn 1981, very early in the AIDS epidemic, Glaser contracted HIV after receiving an HIV-contaminated blood transfusion after giving birth. Like other HIV-infected mothers at the time, Glaser unknowingly passed the virus to her infant daughter, Ariel, through breastfeeding. Ariel developed advanced AIDS at a time when the medical community knew very little about the disease, and there were no available treatment options. Members of the public reacted with fear, and Los Angeles preschools would not allow Glaser's then-4-year-old daughter to attend.[5]
Early in 1987, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally approved AZT as an effective drug to extend the lives of AIDS patients, but the approval only extended to adults. With their daughter's condition rapidly deteriorating, the Glasers fought to have her treated with AZT intravenously. However, the treatment came too late, and the child succumbed to the disease late in summer 1988.[3]
That year, Glaser created the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), to raise funds for pediatric HIV/AIDS research.[6][7]
Glaser entered the national spotlight as a speaker at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, where she criticized the federal government's under-funding of AIDS research and its lack of initiative in tackling the AIDS crisis.[8] This speech is listed as #79 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century listed by rank.[9]
On December 3, 1994, Elizabeth Glaser died at the age of 47, from complications of HIV/AIDS, at her home in Santa Monica.[6][2] Her son Jake, born in 1984, contracted HIV from his mother in utero, but has remained relatively healthy due to a mutation of the CCR5 gene that protects his white blood cells.[5] As of November 2021, he lives in Venice Beach with his girlfriend, Kerry Corridan, and is the owner of a plant-based food company called Cool Foods. He is also as an ambassador for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), for which he speaks to at-risk children around the world, and mentors HIV-positive youth in Africa.[5][6]
Legacy
editThe Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is a major force in funding the study of pediatric HIV problems and tackling juvenile AIDS, both domestically and globally. Glaser's book In the Absence of Angels (1991), written with journalist Laura Palmer, was described as "a handbook of how the connected make waves in America".[10]
The AIDS Memorial Quilt contains five panels with Elizabeth Glaser and her daughter Ariel Glaser's name on each of them, three panels with Elizabeth Glaser's name alone on each of them, and two panels with Ariel Glaser's name alone on each of them.[11]
See also
editMartin Gaffney - Gaffney contracted the HIV virus from his wife Mutsuko Gaffney who, like Elizabeth Glaser, was infected via a blood transfusion and had two children contract HIV from their mother in utero.
References
edit- ^ "AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser dead at 47". UPI. December 3, 1994. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ a b Kennedy, Randy (December 4, 1994). "Elizabeth Glaser Dies at 47; Crusader for Pediatric AIDS". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
- ^ a b "Breaking a Silence: 'Starsky' Star, Wife Share Their Family's Painful Battle Against AIDS". Los Angeles Times. August 25, 1989. Archived from the original on June 24, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2006 – via The Official Website of Paul Michael Glaser.
- ^ Bessen, Jeff (December 19, 2019). "Welcoming 'Mr. O' to LWA". Long Island Herald. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ a b c Joanne, Fowler (April 7, 2008). "Jake Glaser Alive and Thriving". People. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ a b c Maslow, Nick (November 23, 2021). "After Losing His Mom and Sister to AIDS, Jake Glaser Overcomes 'Survivor's Guilt' to Help Others". People. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
- ^ "Elizabeth's Story - Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation". Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
- ^ Glaser, Elizabeth. "1992 Democratic National Convention Address". American Rhetoric. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
- ^ Michael E. Eidenmuller (February 13, 2009). "Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century by Rank". American Rhetoric. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
- ^ Kevles, Bettyann (March 3, 1991). "The Youngest Victims of AIDS". The New York Times.
- ^ "Search the Quilt — The Names Project". Aidsquilt.org. Retrieved 2015-09-01.