Gil was born on 11th July 1939 and passed away at 85 on 16th June 2025. A long-time supporter of The Vegan Society, veganism was the most important thing in his life and defined who he was as a person.
There were several factors that led to his decision to become vegan. One was his secondary school teacher, Mr Trivet, who he described as inspirational and the biggest influence of his life. After lessons, Mr Trivet would encourage discussion on all sorts of topics, which really opened dad’s eyes to another world. As a Quaker Mr Trivet astonished the boys by revealing that he was a pacifist and went to prison during the war because of his views.
The other major influencing factor was growing up in a working-class family on the outskirts of Bristol. His mother was a maid in a local large house and his father worked as a furnaceman at the Imperial Smelting Works in Avonmouth. Admittedly they were different times, and his father kept a large allotment and had chickens in the backyard to feed the family. The experience as a child of seeing a headless chicken running around the backyard, and puppies from the family dog being ‘dispatched’ because they could not afford to keep them, had a lasting impact on Gil and led to him going against the grain of his family upbringing.
He became vegetarian in 1956 when he was just 17 years old and was a proud vegan for the last 55 years since 1970. As children, we had great fun trying out his unusual vegan food. Who knew sausages came in tins (sausalatas) and soy milk came as a powder you had to mix with water! I often got told off for using too much to make it creamy - I guess looking back it was pretty expensive stuff in its day!
Being vegan did not stop him from travelling the world and he visited at least 25 countries, including 2 years living in Fiji where he set up an integration programme for schools to include children with special needs and established a Special Educational Needs Curriculum for Fiji.
He had many friends through Vegan Camp and was also fully involved with the Bristol Vegans, rarely missing an outing or opportunity to share vegan food with like-minded folk. At Vegan Camp, and with Bristol Vegans, he could truly be himself. He was the ultimate entertainer, a quiz master and a pianist, but to be with other people who shared his vegan and compassionate views on life was important to him. In his own words “This is extremely important to me and my belief in the treatment of other animals.” I have no doubt that he in turn has influenced many people in thinking more compassionately about animals and has inspired many to choose a vegan diet and lifestyle.
Dedication written by Sara Osman, Gil’s daughter.
