In Absence of Angels

Elizabeth Glaser was a courageous and caring woman determined to find a way to help children infected with HIV and AIDS. But she soon found out that her cries of assistance were not taken seriously by the government. She screamed for help and got no answer. In 1981, while giving birth to her son, Jake, she was transfused with several units of blood. The blood she received was later found to be contaminated with HIV. Elizabeth had a daughter, Ariel, who she was breast feeding. She and her two children were HIV positive due to the blood transfusion. Sick herself, she continued her battle for pediatric AIDS. The book describes her frustrating experience on Capitol Hill when she fought for pediatric clinical trials of AZT. Eventually, Elizabeth helped establish the Pediatric AIDS Foundation in CA. During this time of stigma and discrimination, this brave woman came forth to speak out for all those people fighting this insidious disease. She was a hero in the battle against AIDS. How saddened she must have felt when she didn't receive the help she asked from the government. It makes one angry that the epidemic was allowed to go on so long before any aggressive action was taken in the fight against AIDS. I truly admire her determination and persistence. All those who read this book will realize our country should have acted sooner in addressing HIV/AIDS. This book is a "WAKE UP" call in this battle we are fighting. I feel if Elizabeth Glaser were here today, she would say,"Why haven't you done more?" We can't let her down. She fought from her heart for all the children and people infected with HIV/AIDS. This book is an eye-opener. Nancy A. Draper (Author) A Burden of Silence: My Mother's Battle with AIDS

An unbelievably moving story of one woman's fight to save her children. Elizabeth Glaser tells the story of how her family deals with HIV/AIDS. This book is a must read for any mother of a chronically ill child, no matter what the childs illness. Above all the sadness and loss, Elizabeth Glaser choses to fight. A story of how one very courageous woman, with the help of family and friends, did indeed change the world. Elizabeth lost her own battle with HIV/AIDS, but the foundation that she started carries on the fight to find a cure for children with HIV/AIDS.

If you haven't read this book, you are missing out. An amazing story of a courageous family, it will put your entire life into perspective. They say God doesn't give us more than we can handle but he came close to the edge with the Glaser family. Tp turn tragedy into such a passion to change the way the World looks at pediatric AIDS was an amazing feat for Elizabeth Glaser but she triumphed and used her short tragic life to make a difference. What an amazing woman.

I found this book drawing me to it, and hard to put down! an excellent story, sad but full of hope and courage! a shockingly eye opening book!-in that NO-ONE was doing anything for kids-like the glaser kids, or any others who have/had this awful disease!! a very informative book about the disease and how it affects people, especially kids. I highly RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!

Elizabeth Glaser wasn't famous until she met and later married Paul Micheal Glaser of tv's Starsky and Hutch. She wsan't used to fame and notoriety, but she became accustomed to it. At the opening of the book, Elizabeth begins by telling us of complications she had when her and Paul's daughter Ariel was born. She needed many blood tranfusions from many different donors. It was in one of those transfusions that the AIDS virus was hiding. Elizabeth was infecting and she didn't even know it. She passed the deadly virus onto her daughter through breast feeding and later to her son, Jake, while he was still in her womb. In the Absence of Angels is more than just Elziabeth's story. It's the story of her children, her husband, and their struggle to find courage in the face of a losing battle. It's the story of how Elizabeth, with the help of friends and support of her husband, formed the first charity for funding research for Pediatric AIDS which until Elizabeth brought the spotlight to it because of the death of her daughter Ariel, was untouched by doctors and charities alike. It's the story of a family having to cope with the death of a very young, beautiful and precious daughter in 1988 and the inevitable death of a loving, caring wife in 1992, but it isn't a sad book. To me, it's a book of hope and strength. I highly recommend it to any and every one