Linda Gwen Grinberg (May 26, 1951 – May 27, 2002) was an American film librarian and HIV/AIDS activist, based in Los Angeles.

Linda Grinberg
Born
Linda Gwen Grinberg

May 26, 1951
Los Angeles, California
DiedMay 27, 2002
Los Angeles, California
Other namesLinda G. Melnick
Occupation(s)Film librarian, HIV/AIDS activist
Linda, with her dog

Early life and education

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Grinberg was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of film executive Sherman Grinberg and Edna Trachtenberg Grinberg.[1] She graduated from California State University, Northridge.[2]

Career

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Grinberg was CEO of the Sherman Grinberg Film Libraries,[3] "the world's largest independent film news and stock footage library".[4] She was a co-founder and vice-president of the International Documentary Association.[5][6]

Grinberg sold the film archive in the 1990s to focus her full-time attentions on HIV/AIDS activism and fundraising.[4] She served on the board of Project Inform, was founder of the Coalition for Salvage Therapy,[7] co-founder of the FAIR Pricing Coalition,[8] and founder and president of the Foundation for AIDS and Immune Research (FAIR).[9] She helped to lead a broad coalition of patients, activists, and medical practitioners, concerned for expediting new treatments for AIDS and ensuring access to experimental therapies,[10][11] especially for late-stage patients with limited prognoses.[12][13] "The side effects of AIDS [are] death," she told KQED about the urgency of her work. "We can gather data until hell freezes over, but we will be burying people daily. At a certain point we have to act."[14]

Grinberg was honored with the Project Inform Activism Award in 1996.[5]

Personal life

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Grinberg married journalist Philip Melnick in 1974; they divorced in 1981[15] Grinberg caught HIV in the 1980s,[16][17] and was diagnosed with AIDS in 1991. With access to new treatments, she lived far longer than her doctors expected.[18] She died at home in Los Angeles, from a heart attack related to her AIDS diagnosis and treatment,[19] in 2002, aged 51 years.[2][9]

References

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  1. ^ Dee, Lynda (2002-09-01). "Tribute: Linda Grinberg". POZ. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  2. ^ a b "Linda Grinberg, 51; Film Librarian and Activist Against AIDS". Los Angeles Times. May 30, 2002. p. 23. Retrieved June 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Kaufman, Bill (1985-04-07). "New Mileage from Old Footage". Newsday (Nassau Edition). p. 68. Retrieved 2022-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Linda Grinberg". WebMD. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  5. ^ a b Guenette, Robert (2002-09-01). "Remembering Linda Grinberg: A Thoroughbred of Commitment, Compassion and Continual Optimism". International Documentary Association. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  6. ^ Buzzell, Linda (2002-03-01). "The Origins of the IDA: Organization Founded to Promote, Support and Celebrate the Documentary". International Documentary Association. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
  7. ^ James, John S. (November 5, 1999). "Activism today: the Coalition for Salvage Therapy: Interview with Linda Grinberg". AIDS Treatment News (330): 2–4. ISSN 1052-4207. PMID 11367171.
  8. ^ "AAB Advocacy". AIDS Action Baltimore. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  9. ^ a b Laird, Cynthia. "Memorial Set for Project Inform Board Member Linda Grinberg" Bay Area Reporter (August 1, 2002). via GLBT Historical Society, Online Searchable Obituary Database
  10. ^ Grinberg, Linda (September 1998). "What Price Efavirenz?". GMHC Treatment Issues – via The Body.
  11. ^ Grinberg, Linda; Torres, Gabriel (March 1999). "Lipodystrophy Update -- HAL in 2001: A Fat Oddity". GMHC Treatment Issues – via The Body.
  12. ^ Getty, Jeff (September 23, 1999). "Getting AIDS Drugs to Patients on Edge". Bay Area Reporter. p. 28. Retrieved June 6, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Daemmrich, Arthur A. (2004). Pharmacopolitics : drug regulation in the United States and Germany. Internet Archive. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-8078-2844-1 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ^ Sharp, Matthew (January 2, 1997). "A New Nuke: 1592U89". Bay Area Reporter. p. 21. Retrieved June 6, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ "Phil Melnick, Beachhead founder, dies". Free Venice Beachhead. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  16. ^ Collins, Huntly; Vedantam, Shankar (1996-03-18). "A New Drug in the Race with Death". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved 2022-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Driscoll, James (1996-07-07). "Private Sector Research Delivers". The Los Angeles Times. p. 181. Retrieved 2022-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Stone, Keith (1996-09-09). "AIDS Drugs Restoring Hope". The Daily Advertiser. p. 15. Retrieved 2022-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Gonsalves, Gregg. "AIDS activism's message in a bottle. (Last Word)." Research Initiative/Treatment Action!, vol. 8, no. 1, summer 2002, pp. 30+.
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