Lenore Breslauer, 80; Early Member of Antiwar Group

Lenore Breslauer, a founding member of the antiwar citizens group Another Mother for Peace during the Vietnam War, has died. She was 80.

Breslauer died of lung cancer Friday at her home in West Hollywood.

Another Mother for Peace, a grass-roots organization launched by a group of women in Los Angeles in 1967, grew to have more than 450,000 people on its mailing list, and its logo became an internationally recognized symbol for peace: a sunflower bearing the message, “War is not healthy for children and other living things.”

Another Mother for Peace ceased operation as a nonprofit group in the mid-1980s.

Breslauer, the mother of two children, served on the organization’s steering committee, worked on its newsletter and made lobbying trips to Washington, D.C., with other group leaders.

“My mother had such grave concern for the world and for this horrendous war,” said Nancy Chuda, Breslauer’s daughter. “She also was the mother of a son, and she wanted so desperately for my brother not to have to serve in a war that was so terribly unjust and so inhumane -- as did all these other mothers. Ironically, in my mother’s life, she did lose her son.”

Breslauer’s son, Jon Gould, died of complications from AIDS in 1993.

Gould was a co-founder of Project Angel Food, which provides meals for those with HIV and AIDS. He had been the chef at Pasta Etc., the former Beverly Hills restaurant that he and his mother opened in the 1980s. The restaurant, Chuda said, was the first to volunteer its kitchen to Project Angel Food.

Born in the Bronx, Breslauer graduated from Hunter College in New York City in 1942 and went to work as secretary for famed talent agent William Morris.

After marrying David Gould, who managed Perry Como, Helen Hayes and other entertainment notables, they moved to Los Angeles.

Gould died in 1959, and Breslauer later married and divorced Gerald Breslauer, an entertainment business manager.

Breslauer’s activism during the Vietnam War inspired her daughter and son-in-law, Jim Chuda, to found the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about environmental toxins that affect children’s health.

The group was founded in 1992 in memory of the Chudas’ 5-year-old daughter, Colette, who died the year before from cancer.

“My mother, God bless her, really helped me process my grief through activism,” Chuda said.

In addition to her daughter, Breslauer is survived by three stepgrandchildren.

A memorial for friends and family will be held May 11 at Breslauer’s home.

The family suggests that donations be made to CHEC, P.O. Box 1540, Princeton, N.J. 08542.