H. Jay Dinshah

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H. Jay Dinshah (November 2, 1933, to June 8, 2000) was a lifelong vegetarian born in India of Parsi parentage, who with his English-born wife, Freya Smith Dinshah, founded in February 1960, the American Vegan Society of Malaga, New Jersey, on a family-owned parcel of land they called "Suncrest", or "the Suncrest Educreational Center". The center was characterized by vegan publishing and outreach, vegan archiving, spiritual inspiration, vegan food, organic gardening, and extensive networking.

The two children of Jay and Freya Dinshah are Daniel and Anne.

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In 1957, Jay Dinshah became vegan. After its founding, Dinshah served the American Vegan Society as its president, and as an editor of its publication, Ahimsa magazine (1960-2000)

Ahimsa is a quarterly publication that explores compassionate living ("Ahimsa" meaning "dynamic harmlessness") as a philosophy, practical aspects of vegan living, and personal and cultural resources for vegans. They include vegan menus and recipes, and news about food. The American Vegan Society (AVS) motto is "Ahimsa lights the way". It is now run by Freya Dinshah, Jay Dinshah's widow, and an AVS Board of close comrades in vegan living and outreach, nearly all of whom living within a short driving distance of Suncrest.

The American Vegan Society, follows similar views as Natural Hygenists but enhances them with Jainist attitudes of ahimsa and the elimination of all animal products and clothing apparel.

Jay was co-organiser of the 23rd World Vegetarian Congress in 1975, held in Orono, Maine, which was hosted by the North American Vegetarian Society and sponsored by the International Vegetarian Union (IVU). http://www.ivu.org/congress/wvc75/index.html

From this event, the American Vegan Society and the North American Vegetarian Society were formed, and a movement to found and develop modern vegetarian organizations in North America was born, tapping the energies, insights, and resources of parallel movements throughout Europe and India.

Always of a tense temperament, Dinshah died in 2000 aged 66, reputedly of a chronic heart ailment unrelated to diet. The International Vegetarian Union memorialized Jay Dinshah in their IVU News issue of October 2000 [1].

That same year, he was posthumously awarded the prestigious (among global or international vegetarians) Mankar Memorial Award [2]during the 2000 World Vegetarian Congress, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

[edit] American Vegan Society History

Under their seemingly indefatigable energies and their "evangelical" enthusiasm for promoting veganism AS "dynamic harmlessnes" ("Ahimsa" derived from the Sanskrit, meaning "not to harm"), Jay and Freya Dinshah, beginning almost immediately after their founding AVS on the parcel of land the Dinshah brothers inherited from their father, organized a number of conferences, and conducted vegan promotional tours.

In 1961, the American Vegan Society organized and carried out a Coast to Coast Crusade for Veganism across North America, including various parts of Canada and the USA In 1965, the American Vegan Society organized and carried out North Atlantic Lecture Tour (Iceland, Britain, Europe). In 1967 and 1968, the American Vegan Society organized and carried out an international ("Round the World") Lecture Tour. Through these efforts, Jay Dinshah managed to lecture to vegetarian audiences in 19 different nations, on 5 continents, with the benefit of local interpretation into a dozen languages by ad hoc local polyglots, reputedly found widely in some communities of widely-traveled vegetarian entrepreneurs.

The name of the AVS quarterly, Ahimsa, was changed in 2001 to American Vegan.

[edit] American Vegan Society conventions

1995, 8th International Vegan Festival, in San Diego California, AVS cohosted with VUNA (Vegetarian Union of North America) and Vegans International (VI).

Alternate conferences and conventions were held, largely in the northeastern US (New Jersey and New York) but also in California (Arcata), Colorado (Denver), Oregon (Portland), and Washington, often sharing logistical responsibilities with local and regional vegetarian societies. For a number of years, beginning in 1989, convention proceedings were videotaped.

The Dinshahs conducted weekend workshops, cooking classes, and other educational programs at Suncrest in Malaga, as early as 1969.

[edit] Positions Held in Vegetarian Organizations

  • International Vegetarian Union (IVU), Executive Vice-President
  • The Vegan Society (England), Vice-President
  • North American Vegetarian Society, Founder and President, 1974-1979
  • American Natural Hygiene Society, Acting Executive Director, 1983
  • Vegetarian Union of North America, first President, 1975

[edit] Publications by H. Jay Dinshah

  • Out of the Jungle, 1967, 1995
  • Here's Harmlessness, 1964, 1993 - (an anthology edited by Jay Dinshah)
  • Health Can be Harmless
  • Song of India
  • Numerous magazine articles (>250) and other writings

The AVS mailing address is: American Vegan Society (AVS). 56 Dinshah Lane. PO Box H. Malaga, NY 08328. 609-694-2887

[edit] References