Fwd: DawnWatch: Obituary of Vegan Society founder, who died at 95, in London's Times 12/8/05

[Guest guest]

Crossposting as is. DawnWatch <news wrote: Thu, 8 Dec 2005 13:39:56 -0700DawnWatch <newsd2or3Subject: DawnWatch: Obituary of Vegan Society founder, who died at 95, in London's Times 12/8/05The Thursday, December 8, Times of London carries a warm and amusing obituary of Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society. I will paste it below. It provides a nice opportunity for quick letters to the editor from those enjoying the benefits of plant based diets. The Times takes letters at: lettersAlways include your full name, address and telephone number when sending a letter to the editor.The Times (London) December 8, 2005, ThursdayFEATURES; Pg. 67Donald Watsonhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1914862,00.htmlDonald Watson,

founder of veganism, was born on September 2, 1910. He died on November 16, 2005, aged 95.Founder of veganism whose dietary crusade grew to attract a quarter of a million adherents in Britain todayDonald Watson survived to the age of 95; good propaganda in his campaign to convince the world that there is nothing inherently lethal about a vegan diet. He always regarded himself as a propagandist, in the term's non-pejorative sense. When interviewed at 92 he was pleased to report that he had lived thus far without resort to medication "either orthodox or fringe", and with hardly a day's illness.His parents were meat-eaters who did not enjoy particularly good health or long lives. His father, a headmaster who had worked his way up from being a farm boy, impressed on his son the importance of never swearing, which was helpful, Watson said, when spreading the word: "It annoys some people, and propagandists should not annoy anyone except with the truth of

their message."While staying at the farm run by his much-loved Uncle George, Watson was shocked to see his uncle direct the slaughter of a pig. Its screams remained with him ever after. "I decided that farms -and uncles -had to be reassessed: the idyllic scene was nothing more than death row, where every creature's days were numbered."He became a vegetarian, but continued to worry about dairy and other animal products and the way in which their industries were linked to the slaughterhouses.He left school at 14, but failed to find a job as a woodworker in the Depression, so he trained as a woodwork teacher. When war came in 1939 he registered as a conscientious objector. His elder brother and younger sister later joined him as vegetarians and COs. All were teetotallers and non-smokers, causing Watson's mother to say that she felt like a hen that had hatched a clutch of duck eggs.Towards the end of the war, Watson formed a committee of "non-dairy

vegetarians", who wanted to remove animal products entirely from their diet and initiate a new movement. He was keen to capitalise on the tuberculosis reported in Britain's dairy cows, and the scarcity of eggs. He laid out the first issue of his Vegan News in November 1944, over 12 typed and stapled sheets of A4. The word vegan he took from the front and back end of "vegetarian", expressing his belief that this new, absolutist diet was in fact the first impulse and the final destination of the vegetarian journey. He asked for other suggestions, and "dairyban", "vitan", "benevore", "sanivore" and "beaumangeur" were offered, but most of the 25 members were happiest with vegan.The early issues of the newssheet, written in Watson's straightforward but eloquent style, became the "Dead Sea scrolls" of veganism, the first warning to the faithful that: "We may be sure that should anything so much as a pimple ever appear to mar the beauty of our physical form, it will be entirely due

in the eyes of the world to our own silly fault for not eating 'proper food'. Against such a pimple the great plagues of diseases now ravaging nearly all members of civilised society (who eat 'proper food') will pass unnoticed." Subscriptions rose rapidly, but his meagre resources limited the print run to 500. The Vegan Society's 25 members swelled steadily to the 5,000 of today. There are now an estimated 250,000 vegans in Britain.The American Vegan Society, and other international groups, cropped up without any prompting or help from Watson who, in later years, served the Vegan Society mainly as a source of inspiration.While other vegans, such as Alan Long, were willing to lambast lacto-vegetarians as co-conspirators of the dairy industry, Watson insisted that vegetarianism was an essential "staging post" to a true diet. Watson never set out to be a guru.When asked whether he condemned or condoned animal liberation groups, he always maintained that he

simply could not make up his mind on them.He moved to Cumbria, where his one-acre vegetable patch was his main concern - always turned over with a fork instead of a spade to avoid killing worms.His wife predeceased him. He is survived by his daughter.(END OF TIMES OBIT)----(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. To , go to www.DawnWatch.com/.php. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)-------You are d to DawnWatch using the following address:d2or3Thu Dec 8 13:34:33 2005

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[Guest guest]

He always sounded like a nice man. The comment from his mother was a

little unfortunate.

 

Jo

 

, Deedee <d2or3> wrote:

>

> Crossposting as is.

>

> DawnWatch <news@d...> wrote: Thu, 8 Dec 2005 13:39:56 -0700

> DawnWatch <news@d...>

> d2or3

> DawnWatch: Obituary of Vegan Society founder, who died at

95, in London's Times 12/8/05

>

> The Thursday, December 8, Times of London carries a warm and

amusing obituary of Donald Watson, founder of the Vegan Society. I

will paste it below. It provides a nice opportunity for quick letters

to the editor from those enjoying the benefits of plant based diets.

The Times takes letters at: letters@t...

> Always include your full name, address and telephone number when

sending a letter to the editor.

>

> The Times (London)

> December 8, 2005, Thursday

> FEATURES; Pg. 67

> Donald Watson

> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1914862,00.html

>

> Donald Watson, founder of veganism, was born on September 2, 1910.

He died on November 16, 2005, aged 95.

>

> Founder of veganism whose dietary crusade grew to attract a quarter

of a million adherents in Britain today

>

> Donald Watson survived to the age of 95; good propaganda in his

campaign to convince the world that there is nothing inherently

lethal about a vegan diet. He always regarded himself as a

propagandist, in the term's non-pejorative sense.

>

> When interviewed at 92 he was pleased to report that he had lived

thus far without resort to medication " either orthodox or fringe " ,

and with hardly a day's illness.

>

> His parents were meat-eaters who did not enjoy particularly good

health or long lives. His father, a headmaster who had worked his way

up from being a farm boy, impressed on his son the importance of

never swearing, which was helpful, Watson said, when spreading the

word: " It annoys some people, and propagandists should not annoy

anyone except with the truth of their message. "

>

> While staying at the farm run by his much-loved Uncle George,

Watson was shocked to see his uncle direct the slaughter of a pig.

Its screams remained with him ever after. " I decided that farms -and

uncles -had to be reassessed: the idyllic scene was nothing more than

death row, where every creature's days were numbered. "

>

> He became a vegetarian, but continued to worry about dairy and

other animal products and the way in which their industries were

linked to the slaughterhouses.

>

> He left school at 14, but failed to find a job as a woodworker in

the Depression, so he trained as a woodwork teacher. When war came in

1939 he registered as a conscientious objector. His elder brother and

younger sister later joined him as vegetarians and COs. All were

teetotallers and non-smokers, causing Watson's mother to say that she

felt like a hen that had hatched a clutch of duck eggs.

>

> Towards the end of the war, Watson formed a committee of " non-dairy

vegetarians " , who wanted to remove animal products entirely from

their diet and initiate a new movement. He was keen to capitalise on

the tuberculosis reported in Britain's dairy cows, and the scarcity

of eggs. He laid out the first issue of his Vegan News in November

1944, over 12 typed and stapled sheets of A4. The word vegan he took

from the front and back end of " vegetarian " , expressing his belief

that this new, absolutist diet was in fact the first impulse and the

final destination of the vegetarian journey. He asked for other

suggestions, and " dairyban " , " vitan " , " benevore " , " sanivore "

and " beaumangeur " were offered, but most of the 25 members were

happiest with vegan.

>

> The early issues of the newssheet, written in Watson's

straightforward but eloquent style, became the " Dead Sea scrolls " of

veganism, the first warning to the faithful that: " We may be sure

that should anything so much as a pimple ever appear to mar the

beauty of our physical form, it will be entirely due in the eyes of

the world to our own silly fault for not eating 'proper food'.

Against such a pimple the great plagues of diseases now ravaging

nearly all members of civilised society (who eat 'proper food') will

pass unnoticed. " Subscriptions rose rapidly, but his meagre resources

limited the print run to 500. The Vegan Society's 25 members swelled

steadily to the 5,000 of today. There are now an estimated 250,000

vegans in Britain.

>

> The American Vegan Society, and other international groups, cropped

up without any prompting or help from Watson who, in later years,

served the Vegan Society mainly as a source of inspiration.

>

> While other vegans, such as Alan Long, were willing to lambast

lacto-vegetarians as co-conspirators of the dairy industry, Watson

insisted that vegetarianism was an essential " staging post " to a true

diet. Watson never set out to be a guru.

>

> When asked whether he condemned or condoned animal liberation

groups, he always maintained that he simply could not make up his

mind on them.

>

> He moved to Cumbria, where his one-acre vegetable patch was his

main concern - always turned over with a fork instead of a spade to

avoid killing worms.

>

> His wife predeceased him. He is survived by his daughter.

> (END OF TIMES OBIT)

> ----

> (DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal

issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the

relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for

alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. To , go to

www.DawnWatch.com/.php. If you forward or reprint

DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the

title and include this tag line.)

>

>

>

> -------

>

> You are d to DawnWatch using the following address:

>

> d2or3

>

> Thu Dec 8 13:34:33 2005

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Shopping

> Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Shopping

>