In 1981, Elizabeth Glaser received blood transfusions following the
birth of her daughter Ariel. Then, in 1986, two years after her second
child, Jake, was born, tests showed that Ariel had AIDS, contracted
through breast-feeding. Elizabeth and Jake tested HIV positive, and
Glaser's husband Paul, of TV's Starsky and Hutch fame, is today free of
the virus that killed Ariel at age seven. Well aware of the stigma of
AIDS, the Glasers retreated behind a wall of secrecy to protect their
family. Only when the National Enquirer threatened to invade that
privacy, did the Glasers "go public". Despite the book's title, In the
Absence of Angels is a heartwarming story filled with angels - generous,
caring, imaginative people who listened and helped.