FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

FRIENDS GAZETTE
Your articles look at moral reasons for being
vegetarian or vegan which is a very
interesting mix and unique . . .
Tim Barford - founder VegFestUK

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 - ISSN 2053-4426

WHAT
BEING A
VEGAN
MEANS
TO ME

London and Avignon - e-mail: friendsgazette@gmail.com

PIONEERING
CHEF STIRS UP
2ND FRENCH
REVOLUTION
Special report by Stephen Ward
Christophe Bolis
A PIONEERING French chef is determined to single-

For vegetarians and vegans, eating out in France,

handedly bring his country up-to-date with the vegan

apart from one or two Parisian exceptions, can be an

and vegetarian world in what could be termed a

absolute nightmare. Theres the ubiquitous salade de

culinary revolution.

chevre chaud (warm goats cheese salad) or assiette

The country is currently noted for its lack of vegan

vegetarien (vegetarian dish) but apart from that

and vegetarian fare in restaurants, supermarkets and

vegetarian and vegan meals are nul part etre trouve.

Instead they are quite often ready-served meals

even the local epicerie.

VegfestUK founder
and dedicated
vegan, Tim Barford,
writes exclusively
for Friends Gazette
See page 4

Now Christophe Bolis is set on a course to change

from which the meat has obviously only just been

all that by serving up scrumptious veggie meals in his

removed or where a greasy burger has been hastily

restaurant in the south of France.

substituted with a lump of cheese.

And so proud is he of his masterful cuisine that he is

Yet the country, renowned world-wide for its haute

prepared to teach his unique technique to budding

cuisine, has so much to offer. Vegetables and fruit

English chefs keen to bring a touch of haute cuisine to

grown locally have a taste and succulent texture pretty

their busy kitchens and tables.

much impossible to find in northern Europe and

Said Christophe: I am proud to embrace vegan and

vegetarian cooking and give it a French flavour.
There are so many French meals which are already

organic farming, known there as bio, is supported by

the government and is becoming more and more
common.

almost vegetarian or vegan and with just a little twist

Said Christophe: For me it is a challenge to come

can be changed without losing any of their original

up with delicious and tempting meals or repas to suit

flavour, colour or attraction.

the vegetarian or vegan palate.

See p 8

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

A RIGHT PAIR
FG agrees to back top veggie event in
London, Glasgow and next year in Brighton.

WIN FREE
TICKETS TO
VEGFESTUK

4
Hungry for info - a curious journalist quizes workers about the mag (click to view)
FG BOSSES have accepted an

"I'm not in the least bit surprised that

invitation from VegfestUK to become a

Tim Barford's pioneering spirit is now

festival media partner.

taking him north of the border.

The surprise invitation came early this

"He's not a man who rests on his

month (August) in an email from

laurels and the veggie and vegan

VEGFESTUK organiser and a top

universe would be much the worse off

manager, Alan Lee.

without him."

FG is a regular attendee at the

festivals in London, Bristol and Brighton.
Editor Steve Ward has even chanced

FG will be at stand VA6 on level

three. French chef Christophe Bolis will
be a special guest at the stand and is

his arm giving popular cooking demos

set to give a vegan cooking

at Bristol and London.

demonstration on Sunday at 3pm.

Asked why he had invited Friends'

Helpful representatives will be on

hand to meet readers old and new for a

Tim Barford said: "We wanted to keep

chat.

FRIENDS GAZETTE

VegfestUK return to arguably one of the nations best

venues this year in the central hall (levels 1 and 3).

like to be our media partner for each of

an advertising supremo.

The London and Brighton events are

annual attractions drawing tens of
thousands of vegan and vegan friendly

expands a professional is being sought

to take advertising content to the next
level.
Interviews will take place the day

Glasgow is a first-ever.

Monday, 12 October at the nearby

shows."

health seekers but also people just looking for a top

day out; stuffed with sumptuous cuisines.
There are stacks of cookery demos and living raw
food demos to kick start your vegan journey, as well

after the VegFestUK London show, on

year show and we are used to first year

VegfestUK holds masses of appeal not only to

committed vegans, veggies, meat reducers and

As the magazines commercial base

visitors, but the Scottish one, in

Barford added: "[Glasgow] is a first

After two hugely successful events in the west hall

2013 and 2014, Europe's premier vegan festivals

FRIENDS GAZETTE is on the hunt for

Brighton shows?"

extravaganzas on October 10 and 11.

ADVERTISING BOOST FOR

VegfestUK's Alan Lee said: "Would you

our upcoming London, Scotland and

SIX, free entries to one of Londons leading vegan

of Olympia with around 10,000 visitors in each of

and national people."

In an email to editor Steve award,

queue for VegFestUK at London Olympia, then

Friends Gazette can help. We are offering six, yes

Gazette to attend VegfestUK founder

working with some of our grass roots

DONT WANNA sniff your friends smelly armpit in the

Hilton Olympia hotel in Kensington

High Street.

as dozens of talks on vegan living, a bodybuilding

contest, comedy hours and music.
To win simply answer this question: What is the
venue for this years VegFestUK London? Is it the
O2, the Albert Hall or London Olympia? Send your

Said publisher Steve Ward: We are

Editor Ward said: "We're proud to be

looking for the right person and believe

a media partner of, what is arguably, the

they are out there. A background in ad

best vegan and veggie extravaganza of

sales is essential as well as the ability

all time. We make a very good pair.

to manage a small team.

answer, saying which day you prefer, to us at

friendsgazette@gmail.com The first six correct
entries out of the hat will win one ticket each. The
editors decision is final. Closes: September 14.
Additional reporting by Alan Lee

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

SHAMEFUL SILENCE
A LONDON parish priest yesterday

"Is there any politician in this

challenged the UK government and

country of any party who might be

British politicians to break their

deserving of such a love letter from

silence over the refugee crisis

a person fleeing persecution. I

sweeping Europe.

cannot think of even one. There is a

The confrontation came in a

shameful silence in this country."

So far this year approximately

'homily' by Canon Pat Browne at

the Holy Apostles church in Pimlico,

200,000 migrants from Syria, the

London on Sunday, August 30.

Middle East and Africa have

Canon Browne told the

PIC COURTESY REUTERS

OVER MIGRANT CRISIS

attempted to cross into Europe by

congregation: "This week some

road or across the Mediterranean

Syrian and Afghan migrants arriving on the Greek island of Kos recently.

Syrian refugees wrote love letters to

many dying in the attempt.

United Kingdom! All of us

a popular or pretty topic. It is easy

contributing to this society in our

to cry in front of your TV set when

A lorry was recently found

Angela Merkel. Why? Because she

has overturned the Dublin

abandoned on an Austrian

own way - our skills, our values, our

witnessing these tragedies. It is

agreement which says asylum

motorway containing the bodies of

decency and our taxes. And those

harder to stand up and take

seekers have to apply for asylum in

around 50 refugees who had

who are fleeing persecution and

responsibility.

the first country at which they

perished from suffocation.

torture and yes, some poverty also,

According to a report in the

arrive. This is courageous of her

and brave and these Syrian

Independent Catholic News the

refugees are grateful.

canon went on to say: "We are the

What we need now is the

collective courage to follow through

are similar."
European Commission officials
told CNN recently. "Migration is not

with concrete action on words that

will otherwise ring empty."

SALES MANAGER
w

Can you sell?

Are you friendly?

First round interviews will be held on Monday, 12

October at the Olympia Hilton, Kensington High Street,
round the corner from the exhibition centre.

Can you think out-the-box?

Then you may be just the person we are looking for.
Friends Gazette is seeking a consummate
professional to build up and manage its advertising
sales department.
Salary negotiable with good commission.
Experience essential, preferably with contacts in
the vegan/vegetarian world. Send CV with covering
letter to friendsgazette@gmail.com
3

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

ON THE CREST OF A WAVE

Founded by Tim Barford VegFestUK aims to showcase the very best of a vegan
lifestyle. It first saw the light of day in Bristol in 2003 under the name Bristol
Vegan Fayre. The Brighton event began in 2009, and since 2010 has taken place
annually. The 2013 show attracted an all-time record of 7,200 visitors over two
days. The London show started in October 2013. It takes place annually in
Kensington Olympia and regularly draws 10,000+. In December for the first time
VegFest goes to Glasgow. All food and drinks must be suitable for vegans.

Tim Barford, VegFestUK founder and manager writes exclusively for Friends Gazette

ts quite heart-warming to see so much positive media coverage about

rights, lets not forget that doing so means a lot more than a simple diet

the vegan lifestyle. Everyone from Miley Cyrus to Beyonc to J-Lo

change. Granted, most of us start our vegan journey by adjusting our

seems to have gone vegan and with Ricky Gervais hunting down the

eating to exclude more and more animal product from the dinner table

hunters, and with a mass outcry over the

shooting of Cecil the Lion, you would be
forgiven if you thought we were on the crest
of everyone changing their diets.
But its not quite like that.

Most of us get to the vegan

stage after going veggie

until we eventually cut out all meat, fish,

milk, eggs and honey.
And its true that most of us get to the
vegan stage after going veggie and slowly
making these changes, although there
are some who go straight to the vegan

Although its a great thing that so many

celebrities are going vegan all of a sudden and standing up for animal

stage without a vegetarian transition.

ut what does vegan actually mean? Is it more than just a diet? Is

it indeed more than just a lifestyle? The answer is a resounding
YES.

Vegan is not just a diet, or a lifestyle, it is a broad reaching

philosophical ethos that came out of the Second World War and
embraced a vision of true lasting and far reaching peace for all living
beings on the planet.

Its about justice, justice

for every living being

Going vegan means excluding animal products from your diet. And it
means excluding them from what you wear and what you put on your skin,
what you use to wash with, wash your clothes with, indeed it means the
exclusion of ALL animal products from your lifestyle.

ut it goes further than that too. Its about justice. Justice for every
living being including humans. Its an ethos that excludes
racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, violence, retribution

and any other injustice of rights, be they human or animal rights. Going
vegan means finding true peace within.
Many of these issues will be debated at our Peoples Vegan Activists
See us at

See you

VegFestUK
at
London
London

VegFest
Oct
10/11

Summit this October at VegfestUK London, including debates about

whether so called vegan celebrities are that helpful, whether single issue
campaigns are an effective form of

Continued on page 12

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

COOKING DEMONSTRATION
Top French chef
Christophe Bolis
will be sharing his culinary skills with
you at the VegFestUK 2015 London
on Sunday, 11th August at 3pm
book your seat at stand VA6 (level 3)
places are limited

FRIENDLY FEEDBACK

Think weve got it wrong or just want to sound off about something. Feel free! Write to friendsgazette@gmail.com

A dog can survive on plants

alone . . .

WHAT VETS DONT TELL YOU

Dear Stephen,

cats find it difficult to process plant materials.

I thought this article would be of interest - taken

This forces them to get their nutrients by stealing

from the book What Vets Dont Tell You, a book

them from other animals that are able to derive

that can be downloaded from What Doctors

nourishment from plants.

For example, of all the vitamins, the cat can

Dont Tell You.

only make vitamin C, and it must

All the best,

obtain the rest of its vitamin

Lorna
Cats nutrition is very different

intake directly from other

from dogs - not so much in

animals.

what they need, but how they

Equally vital to cat health are

get what they need. Thats

some of the amino acids. Two

because cat metabolism and

amino acids that are especially

chemistry are different from

important are arginine and

those of dogs - they process

taurine; dogs can make their

food in a way that is unique

own, but not cats.

to cats.

Both these amino acids are

Although both dogs and

important in protein metabolism.

cats are natural predators - and therefore meat-

Arginine helps eliminate the waste products of

eaters - dog digestion has evolved to accept all

protein - a vital housekeeping task. If arginine is

types of food. Thus, the dog doesnt need to kill

missing from the diet for just 24 hours, cats can

to sustain life, and if push comes to shove, a dog

go into a coma and die. Fortunately, this is a rare

can survive on plants alone.

event, as meat contains lots of arginine.

In contrast, cats will die if they dont eat meat.

This fact may be uncomfortable for vegetarian

CORRECTION

cat owners, but cats are what are called obligate

In the June/July 2015 edition of Friends' Gazette

carnivores. In order to survive, they must eat the

we reported on page 7 that donations could be

flesh of other animals.

made to the website adoptaveggiedog.com

Although their basic nutritional requirements

are fairly similar to those of dogs (and humans),

This site does not accept donations.

We apologise for our error.

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

INSPIRING FG WINS PRAISE

I read it when I can. I find
the stories interesting and
inspiring
I cant remember the last thing I won . . .

antique dealer, Paola used to buy, sell and wear

That was the reaction from FG reader Rebecca

vintage fashion in the late 70s.

Hurst who scooped the prize in our exclusive

fashion competition.

At that time, she got to know a lot of people

who were selling vintage clothes. By the early

Now shell be heading off to the Vintage

90s the market was almost dead - no one was

Fashion Fair in Hammersmith thanks to Friends

buying the clothes because the fashion scene

Gazette - and her lucky streak!

had moved on, she says.

She said: I wouldnt say Im naturally lucky. I

cant remember the last thing I won.
I signed up for the Friends Gazette at
VegFest London last year.

with it.
With an innovative approach she decided in
1999 to organise a fair
that incorporated not

have now been a vegan

just vintage clothes

since January.

but also accessories

and textiles.

I read it when I can.

interesting and

Paola who first coined

inspiring.

the term "vintage

fashion" that is now

Editor Steve Ward

widely used.

said: We run regular

competitions for our

Described by many

readers. We choose

as "the Rolls Royce of

prizes carefully to suit

the vintage fashion

fairs", this event takes place approximately
every five to six weeks.
For the past 19 years the pair, known as P &
A Antiques, have been organising specialist

personally. Im glad she now has a recent

events and for the past 12 years have been

memory of being a winner!

based at the magnificent large hall at

Paola Francia-Gardiner and Alberto Ricca.

Paola is the creative force and Alberto the
organisational supremo. An experienced

WHAT have the late Beatle, George

Harrison and author and film maker Nigel
Lesmoir-Gordon, once described as one
of the grooviest men in the London of the
late 60s, got in common?
Answer: the jacket Nigel is wearing
pictured above and in colour on p12.
The garment featured in a documentary
about the music and fashion of the

the future. I would like to congratulate Rebecca

The Vintage Fashion Fair is the brain child of

Splendour in the
grass - Nigel
Lesmoir-Gordon

And it was indeed

I find the stories

popular and we hope to run more and more in

latest adventure

had a lot of stock and did not know what to do

I had recently cut out

These competitions have proved very

Nigel signs up for

The dealers were complaining to her that they

meat at the time, but

our readers tastes.

Rebecca Hurst

Hammersmith town hall, putting together around

nine vintage fashion fairs a year as well as other
fairs dedicated to antique textiles, tribal art and
decorative antiques.

swingin 60s called Oh You Pretty

Things screened on BBC 4 last year.
Described as the epitome of early
psychedelic style it uses William Morriss
Golden Lily print, and was reputedly worn
by Beatle, George Harrison. It is no
stranger to the glare of studio lights.
It appeared on BBC2s Style Genius
series and has
featured on a Royal
Mail stamp (left) and
as part of the Queens
diamond jubilee bash.
cont. p12

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

PIONEERING CHEF . . . from front page

CHICKPEA BURGERS
Adapted from a Gillian McKeith recipe
Makes 20 serves four (theyre small)
Set oven at gas mark 7, or 425F or 220C
Grease a baking tray.

INGREDIENTS
Yoga club members enjoy their annual dinner al fresco at the Cafe de France
There is one strict vegan customer
who lives not far away who comes in

one carrot chopped finely

dessert at his restaurant the Cafe de

one small onion chopped finely

France in Caderousse in the Vaucluse.

one tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

regularly. I make sure she is not

Writing in her blog Rosa Jackson who

burdened with a warm salade de chevre

lives in Nice and whose young son Sam

two peeled, crushed garlic cloves

chaud or assiette vegetarien which

recently became veggie, explains what

50g sunflower seeds

frankly are not very inviting, especially

happened when she tried to explain the

Vegetable bouillon powder (Marigold): 1 heaped

when thats all youve got.

situation at his school: I went to see

tablespoon

the conome, the woman in charge of

gram flour - two heaped dessertspoons

collecting money for the canteen, and

two tablespoons tahini, drained of excess oil,

explained the "problem." She gave me a

OR one tablespoon olive oil

sympathetic yet puzzled look.

herbs: large handful fresh corriander or heaped

France is behind the rest of Europe

and the world, I think, because there are
not many vegetarians or vegans living
here. So its a bit like the chicken and
the egg. If there is no demand then no
one provides vegetarian meals.
Vegan members of a nearby yoga
club were treated to Christophes

Vegetarianism is not a recognised

diet in France, she said. We'll have to
put everything on the plate even if he
doesn't eat it. Thus, my son who doesn't
want animals to die for his sake, still gets

culinary skills recently (see picture)

served meat or fish every day at school

when they tucked into a starter of slivers

and has to eat around it.

of

courgette

and

carrot

teaspoon dried herbs

METHOD
Chop the carrot and onion in a food processor
then add all other ingredients and whizz for 10
seconds, scrape down, whizz again so it is still
'bitty'.
Arrange 20 balls on greased baking tray and

delicately

Christophe will be giving a demonstra-

marinated in a vinaigrette, followed by

tion of his skills at VegFestUK Olympia on

saffron tofu in an almond cream sauce,

Sunday, October 11 at 3pm. Register to

garnished with exotic green shoots all

attend at the Friends Gazette stand, VA6

topped off with a tangy vegan sorbet for

on level three. Places are limited.

ON YER BIKE!

opened by Robert Goodwill MP under-

A one-stop bike shop, where you can

secretary of state for transport, recently.

get your bike repaired, look over new

one tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed

The Journey on Higham Place was

The city held annual cycling Sundays

models and get professional advice on

in the 20s where the whole village,

the sport, all over a cup of coffee has

almost, got on their bikes and rode

opened in Newcastle in the north of

through the town centre and on into the

England.

surrounding northern countryside.

press down lightly with a fork.

Cook shelf above centre for 23 minutes.
Freeze

I HAVE NEVER SAID THIS IS THE BEST Showcase your product

OR ONLY PATH GURU TELLS CROWD

in front of hundreds

CRITICISED FOR being shy and retiring Radha

A HIGH-PROFILE cooking demonstration is set to

Soami Satsang Beas leader Gurinder Singh

take the crowds by storm and you can be part of

was anything but at a UK meeting recently.

the event.
Christophe Bolis will be hotfooting it from the

Scotching possible notions of elitism or

exclusivity he told a crowd of thousands from

heart of the south of France to give his vegan

across the UK, Europe and America that he had

cuisine demonstration at the VegFestUK event in

never said that his path was the "only" or "best" way.

Londons Olympia on October 10 and 11.

Christophe has not yet finalised his programme

And he defended one of the group's tenets, a

so is open to ideas for ingredients from UK

lacto-veggie diet, claiming that milk from cows

was a "good source of calcium".

suppliers.

The Bedfordshire centre

When asked if he had recovered his health

Numbering

among

its

adherents

mostly

after a recent cancer scare he quickly retorted:

amongst Sikhs in India and the Sikh diaspora are

"How do I look?"

thousands of westerners and growing numbers of

The comments came in August at a relaxed

Anything from fresh produce to pastes and

sauces, all strictly vegan, could be on the menu.
Both sweet and savoury items could be just the
thing he is looking for.

eastern Europeans.

and often jovial question and answer session at

High profile members include Bollywood star

Haynes Park, Bedfordshire, one of the groups

Shahid Kapoor whose recent glamorous wedding

producer mentioned during his hour-long

many international centers.

was reportedly attended by Singh.

demonstration on Sunday 11.

Headquartered in the Punjab in India group

An official investigation by health and safety

If selected the product will be used and its

To find out more simply email Friends Gazette

daily

officials is currently ongoing into the death in April

in the first instance. All suggestions will be dealt

meditation, a strict lacto-vegetarian diet, a moral

last year of a volunteer working at the

with individually and if considered suitable a

lifestyle and abstain from drugs and alcohol.

Bedfordshire centre.

sponsorship package will be sent out.

members

follow

programme

of

See Friendly Comment p12

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

THE MAHATMA AND THE

LONDON VEG SOCIETY

Final instalment
continued from
last month . . .

Mahatma Gandhis non-violent revolution helped kick the British out of India. As
a law student in London in 1891 aged just 18 he was a committee member of the
LVS. He was invited back to speak in 1931. India won her independence in 1947.
OBSERVING ALONG these lines, I saw that a
man should eat sparingly and now and then
fast.
No man or woman really ate sparingly or consumed just that quantity which the body requires and no more.
We easily fall prey to the temptations of the
palate, and therefore when a thing tastes deli-

Become moderate; err on the side of less,

rather than on the side of more.
When I invite friends to share their meals with
me I never press them to take anything except
only what they require.
On the contrary, I tell them not to take a thing
if they do not want it.
What I want to bring to your notice is that

cious we do not mind taking a morsel or two

vegetarians need to be tolerant if they want to

more. But you cannot keep health under those

convert others to vegetarianism.

circumstances. Therefore I discovered that in

Adopt a little humility.

order to keep health, no matter what you ate, it

We should appeal to the moral sense of the

was necessary to cut down the quantity of your

food, and reduce the number of meals.

people who do not see eye to eye with us.

Continued on the page immediately following

The young
Gandhi

FG is Charlie - August-September 2015

I WOULD GIVE UP MILK IF

I COULD, BUT I CANNOT
THE MAHATMA . . . from previous page
If a vegetarian became ill, and a doctor prescribed beef tea, then I would not call him a

Mahatma
Gandhi

the bull - which are better vegeThe Mahatma as

the world came to
know him

tarians than we are - but there is

something much higher which
calls us to vegetarianism.

vegetarian.

Therefore, I thought that, dur-

A vegetarian is made of sterner stuff. Why?

Because it is for the building of the spirit and

ing the few minutes which I give

not of the body. Man is more than meat. It is

myself the privilege of address-

the spirit in man for which we are concerned.

ing you, I would just emphasise

the moral basis of vegetarian-

Therefore vegetarians should have that mor-

ism.

al basis that a man was not born a carnivo-

And I would say that I have

rous animal, but born to live on the fruits and

found from my own experience,

herbs that the earth grows.

and the experience of thousands

I know we must all err. I would give up milk if

of friends and companions, that

I could, but I cannot.

they find satisfaction, so far as

I have made that experiment times without

vegetarianism is concerned,

number. I could not, after a serious illness, regain my strength, unless I went back to milk.
That has been the tragedy of my life. But the
basis of my vegetarianism is not physical, but

It requires obedience, and scrupulous obedience, to all the laws of hygiene.

Therefore, I think that what vegetarians

from the moral basis they have chosen for sustaining vegetarianism.
In conclusion, I thank you all for coming here

moral. If anybody said that I should die if I did

should do is not to emphasise the physical con-

and allowing me to see vegetarians face to

not take beef tea or mutton, even on medical

sequences of vegetarianism, but to explore the

face.

advice, I would prefer death. That is the basis

moral consequences.

of my vegetarianism.

I cannot say I used to meet you forty or forty-

While we have not yet forgotten that we

two years ago. I suppose the faces of the London Vegetarian Society has changed.

I would love to think that all of us who called

share many things in common with the beast,

ourselves vegetarians should have that basis.

we do not sufficiently realise there are certain

There are very few members who, like Mr.

things which differentiate us from the beast. Of

Salt, can claim association with the Society ex-

course, we have vegetarians in the cow and

tending over forty years.

There were thousands of meat-eaters who

did not stay meat-eaters. There must be a definite reason for our making that change in our
lives, from our adopting habits and customs
different from society, even though sometimes

SEVENTY YEARS AMONG SAVAGES

that change may offend those nearest and

critical studies and biographies and the other

dearest to us. Not for the world should you sac-

half which cogently argued and urged for

rifice a moral principle.

some much needed humane reforms in

Therefore the only basis for having a vege-

prisons, schools, in the economic

tarian society and proclaiming a vegetarian

organisations of society at large and in the

principle is, and must be, a moral one. I am not

treatment of animals.

to tell you, as I see and wander about the

His circle of friends included Ernest Bell,

world, that vegetarians, on the whole, enjoy

George Bernard Shaw and Edward Carpenter.

much better health than meat-eaters. I belong

He was born in India in 1851, a son of the

to a country which is predominantly vegetarian

by habit or necessity.
Therefore I cannot testify that that shows
much greater endurance, much greater courage, or much greater exemption from disease.
Because it is a peculiar, personal thing.

British Raj.
Henry Salt at his writing desk

He wrote Seventy Years Among Savages

HENRY SALT was a prominent member of the

as part of an autobiography criticising English

London Vegetarian Society.

life and customs from the humanitarian point

He was also a prodigious author, writing

nearly 40 books of which half consisted of his

11

of view. For more on this amazing character

see next months FG.

FRIENDLY COMMENT
Nothing to fear
AFTER TWO cancellations, a surprise

'Not looking' won't make it go away.

That's a forlorn hope.
Surely better give people the freedom

(somewhat eclipsing) visit to the USA

to see for themselves and make up their

and the shadow of a pending

own minds.

investigation into the death of a

For, going by the discourse and

volunteer, a visit from Radha Soami

discussion under a cavernous tent in a

Beas leader Gurinder Singh couldn't

grassy field in a Bedfordshire village this

have been more welcome.

summer - complete with simultaneous

comes to visiting the Palais des Papes, the ancient

English translation - this inspirational

seat of Catholicism in Avignon, southern France.

On top form the leader of millions of

followers world wide showed a caring,

guru has nothing to fear from spurious

attentive and positively tender approach

internet rantings.

Approximately two years ago the

you pays your money and takes your choice when it

But at a light spectacular, rivalling anything Disney

may have to offer, all versions of the magnificent seat

to around ten thousand devotees at

Haynes Park, Bedfordshire in August.

BURNING heretics at the stake or a centre for learning,

of western Christianity during the 14th century, come

Nothing to wear?

vividly to life.
Director Bruno Seillier told FG: I dont want to erase

group, arguably a Sikh off-shoot, was

the building under artificial lights. On the contrary I

thrown into disarray with the

want the power of technology to bring it to life and to

announcement that Singh had throat

have a dialogue with the audience.

cancer.

For just ten euros (kids under ten go free) the

Notably it took an announcement from

audience is ushered into one of the palaces inner

the man himself to reveal the truth to

sanctums where on gigantic stone walls in full colour,

tearful and traumatised believers; too

backed by a surround-sound melange of narration and

long obfuscated by over-diligent,

music, they experience the fascinating, sometimes

paranoid jobsworths.

gory, history of the palace.

For more information go to:

And this time too it fell to an

http://www.lesluminessences-avignon.com/en/

undeterred Canadian disciple to enquire

For Eurostar direct from London St Pancras to

as to his health.

Avignon TGV or Gare Centre go to:

The question was met with a confident

http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/eurostar-

if slightly defensive "How do I look?"

deals/eurostar-train-deals/france/trains-avignon

from the guru.

But at least the elephant in the room
was sent firmly back to its cage, or

NOT A phrase youd have heard Nigel

ON THE CREST OF A WAVE . . .

jungle - or wherever.

Lesmoir-Gordon utter in the swingin

changing things and many other topics surrounding

60s, nor now!

the vegan ethos.

Why, then with such a courageous

cont. from p4

But dont underestimate exactly what

Vegan is the most far reaching ethos of the

searching the internet for news of their

it meant in those days to own and wear

twenty-first century and its important that it is not

beloved leader?

the unique jacket pictured above.

thought of as merely a diet. For that is to lose the

approach were followers advised against

True there are some vicious diatribes

out there!
Everything from doubts about the
belief system itself to bizarre watch
smuggling escapades.
But whether it's questions of
philosophy or playing fast and loose with

Fashion was found in the street,

very thing that makes veganism so special its a

created by friends, sewn up by mates.

social justice movement with true liberation for all.

Shop bought items were uncool!

And its worth fighting for.

Even yours truly possessed a cream

pure-silk shirt with puff sleeves worn with
high-waisted pink cord bell-bottoms.
So when Nigel speaks or writes about

NIGEL SIGNS UP . . .

cont. from p7

Nigel, a regular Friends Gazette contributor, will

be at a book launch for his novel Life is Just... at

the "nothing to declare line" at Delhi

the 60s he knows what hes talking

Manor Farm, Harston, Cambridge on Sunday 4th

airport, surely these claims should be

about. Not for him the reference books

October at 4.30pm. He will be giving a short talk

treated with the contempt they deserve.

galore checked avidly by modern day

about the background to the novel, reading extracts

know-it-alls.

and signing paperback copies. The book, Nigels

To counsel refraining from Google

So if you want a taste of the love

latest work, is set in Cambridge in 1962 and is the

become part of the vernacular is surely

generation when we all wore flowers in

story of a perfect familys fall from grace and its

counter-productive.

our hair and dug the Rolling Stones in

redemption. It is published by Eventispress. Nigel is

Indeed such a request risks lending

Hyde Park for free, dont miss Nigels

continuing to seek funding for a film based on his

this on-line drivel a veracity and curiosity

book signing in Cambridge in October.

earlier novel Nothing and Everywhere. To view the

value it just doesn't deserve.

See details elsewhere on this page. SW

taster and an introduction from Nigel click here.

searches in an age where 'to google' has

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