Lenore Breslauer

Colette Chuda’s grandmother and founding member of Another Mother for Peace *deceased

“We who have given life must be dedicated to preserving it.”
Another Mother for Peace, January 1970

Lenore Breslauer, was Colette Chuda’s grandmother. She was a founding member of the citizens antiwar group, Another Mother for Peace (AMP. Her work opposing the Vietnam war helped shape the conscience of a nation.

She was born and raised in New York City. She attended Hunter College and began work assisting William Morris of the William Morris Agency. Married, she moved to Los Angeles and began to raise her family, working over the next two decades for the prominent business management agency, Breslauer, Jacobson and Rutman.

She was an active participant in West Hollywood's City Council-- and was the first restaurant owner in the cities history, to earmark into law, the public use of outdoor seating for eating and dining. Sunset Plaza O Lenore, along with her son, Jon Gould owned and operated Pasta Etc., located on Sunset Plaza Drive which was one of the first, authentic northern Italian cuisine eateries in Los Angeles. Hailed by food critics as "better than Italy," her homemade pasta, sauces,and salad dressings were distributed throughout southern California in places like Mrs. Gooch (now Whole Foods). Her devotion to food segued to her "roots," as an activist.
When the HIV Aids epidemic began, she opened her kitchen and assisted Project Angel Food, an organization her son helped to create along with author Marianne Williamson get started by serving homemade meals to patients who could not have access to public places do to the threat of their illness.

During the 1960s, with the Vietnam War as catalyst, Lenore became an activist. With six like minded friends from diverse backgrounds, she founded Another Mother for Peace (AMP), a non-profit, non-partisan association whose goal was to eliminate war as a means of settling disputes between nations, peoples and ideologies. This enormously active association grew to more than 80,000 strong and was recognized nationally and internationally. AMP sought to educate women to take an active role in creating peace by re-establishing the dialogue between individuals and their elected representatives. Their efforts set a standard for all-volunteer, grassroots activism. Their logo is familiar to many and has become emblematic of the peace effort. Their slogan, "we who have given life must be dedicated to preserving it. . ." lives on.

Lenore's daughter, Nancy, now carries forward the legacy of grassroots activism, turning toward protecting children's environmental health: "by putting our children's environmental health first, we protect our future."

My mother’s legacy will always inspire friends of Healthy Child Healthy World.
Throughout the years her activism provided a platform for others to emulate. Another Mother For Peace (AMP) membership grew to 450,000 people, and today their logo remains an internationally recognized symbol of peace, a sunflower bearing the message: “War is not healthy for children and other living things.”

Lenore’s leadership and selfless efforts continue to inspire us. In 1991, thanks to her support, she helped Jim and I establish (CHEC) the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition to respond to another threat to children and other living things. The threat of toxic chemicals. Using her motto at AMP, we adopted a template of our own. “Toxins are not healthy for children and other living things.”

Throughout the years, Lenore served on many committee’s, volunteered her home as a base for campaigns and fundraising efforts, and petitioned her friends for support. She attended the very first meeting in Jackson Hole Wyoming and contributed tirelessly, hours, days, months and years to the building of a grass roots base using her experience, wisdom, and expertise as an advocate for world peace.

In 2002, at a Special Mother’s Day celebration held in her honor, Erin Brockovich bestowed Lenore with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her dedication to protect, defend and preserve human life.

In 2003, to honor her memory, we established a Special Mother’s Day fund. “Another Mother for a Toxic Free America,” mission helped to empower citizens to change government and industry policies to protect children from toxic chemical threats.
Over $75,000 was raised to support educational outreach for California state legislation protective of childrens health and a parents right to know.