Rynn Berry with some of his books. (File photo)
Today is Vegetarian History Day, named in honor of the vegan historian who set the standard for same — Rynn Berry.
Berry, who died in 2014, was an accomplished scholar who worked tirelessly to bring vegan and vegetarian history alive for regular people. If an important document hadn’t been translated from the original Greek or Latin, Berry would go ahead and get that done in order to share and illuminate more veg history for the public (his “vegetarian” histories and personages often were vegan or near-vegan but lacked that descriptive word in their own era).
As Martin Rowe remarked in the American Vegan tribute to Berry, “he reminded us that individuals of conscience have been making the case for a cruelty-free diet for millennia; that our arguments for compassion for nonhuman animals are not new, and that we’re not alone in making them.”
To celebrate vegan history and the life of Rynn Berry, the American Vegan Society encourages its members as well as the general public to learn about the fascinating details of vegetarian and vegan trends and people who have helped to drive our culture to the more vegan-friendly state we find today.
If you knew Rynn Berry, you knew he was humble, witty, compassionate and devoted to sharing accurate facts about the history of our movement. If you didn’t know Rynn Berry, now’s your chance to get started!
Purchase Rynn’s books by calling AVS 856-694-2887. Perhaps you will opt to be an educator or discussion leader yourself and buy a whole case at great prices! We’re offering one box (24 copies) of his amazing compilation Famous Vegetarians and Their Favorite Recipes (1999) for $60, and/or one $60 box (50 copies) of Hitler: Neither Vegetarian nor Animal Lover (2004), the book in which Berry used primary-source documents to definitively debunk meat-eaters’ favorite myth. Also available in single copies are Food for the Gods (1998), The New Vegetarians (1979), and Becoming Raw (2010).
You can also find videos of some of Rynn Berry’s lectures at the American Vegan Society’s Youtube channel. Enjoy, and edify!
