SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 3 -- Pioneering AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser, whose admission that she contracted the disease through a blood transfusion helped change public perceptions of AIDS victims, died Saturday at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. Glaser was 47. Glaser, the wife of actor Paul Michael Glaser, co-founded the Pediatric AIDS Foundation in 1988 and became an outspoken advocate for AIDS research. The foundation has raised over $30 million for AIDS research. The PAF also sponsored groundbreaking research that helped doctors understand how AIDS effects children differently than adults. Glaser testified before Congress on AIDS issues and gave a moving speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, retelling the heartbreaking story of how she and her two children were infected with the deadly human immunodeficiency virus. In 1981, Glaser contracted HIV when she was given a blood transfusion during the birth of her first child, Ariel. Ariel later contracted the virus through Glaser's breast milk. Ariel's death at age 7 in 1988 sparked her parent's activism. The virus was also passed on to the Glaser's son Jake while Elizabeth was pregnant in 1984. Jake, now 10, is not currently showing signs of illness, family spokesman Josh Baran said. Glaser and her children were diagnosed as being HIV positive in 1986. Paul Michael Glaser, best known as the co-star of the 1970s TV series 'Starsky and Hutch,' has not tested positive for HIV. Born in Elizabeth Meyer in New York on Nov. 11, 1947, Glaser had a lifelong interest in education and children's issues.
She received a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1969 from the University of Wisconsin and a master's degree in early childhood education from Boston University in 1970. Glaser worked as a teacher in Colorado in the early 1970s before moving to Los Angeles, where she taught at the Center for Early Education from 1973 to 1977. She was a co-founder of the Los Angeles Children's Museum in 1978 and subsequently served director of programs and exhibits until her marriage in 1981. Her autobiography, 'In the Absence of Angels' was published (G.P. Putnam's Sons) in 1991. In addition to her husband and son, Glaser is survived by her brother Peter and parents Edith and Max Meyer. Funeral services will be private, but a memorial service for Glaser will be held later this month in Los Angeles, Baran said.
