Tales of a Veteran Vegan

Randy Payne and I met years ago on Facebook and at the start of our chat we quickly realized that we had in common the state of South Carolina, USA. I currently live on the coast of South Carolina and Randy spent time at the Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot about 30 miles away. I spoke with Randy from his current home in Watertown, Massachusetts. He is a neuromuscular therapist in private practice, a father of two, and a wonderful storyteller. Get comfortable and listen to his fascinating vegan journey.

Carla: Tell me about how you landed at Parris Island.

Randy: I had a fully paid engineering scholarship to Florida State through General Electric, but I really wanted to go to the University of Southern California where I didn’t have a scholarship. I had heard from three other students from my hometown of Clearwater, Florida, that they left after one year at Florida State due the intense racial unrest. I was an activist but wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with racism, so I asked the Florida State recruiter if the GE scholarship could be moved to Florida A&M University which was an all black university. The recruiter said no.

In the meantime, a friend invited me to meet with a Marine Corps recruiter at our high school. I initially declined explaining that I was college-bound. My friend said that he and his buddies weren’t going to actually sign up and that they just wanted to see what the recruiter would say. So four friends and I met with the Marine Corps recruiter who walked into the room in his dress blues which made a strong visual impression on me and I immediately knew I wanted to be like him. The recruiter told us if we joined we’d more than likely be sent into the Vietnam War and if we gave three years of service, the Marine Corps would pay for us to attend any college of our choice. That’s all I needed to hear and I knew I found my ticket to the University of Southern California.

The recruiter promised us that the five of us would attend the same bootcamp. Three of us were minors and required our parent’s consent. Two were eighteen and could sign for themselves. My mother allowed me to choose my own path which I deeply appreciated. One friend’s mother would not sign, so three friends and I headed off to Parris Island in 1968 for bootcamp, all four of us went to Vietnam for a year, and all four of us miraculously and thankfully returned from the Vietnam War.

Carla: So did you get to California?

Randy: I didn’t unfortunately. I met a girl when I was home on leave for 30 days. It’s always about girls! (laughter) Before I went back to base for 2 more years, we married. She had a three-year old son so now I had a family to consider. It was 1970, Richard Nixon was president and it was decided that anyone who had been to Vietnam could get out of the military up to a year early which I took. We lived at home with my parents in their three-bedroom house and my seven sisters.

I went to the Veterans Administration to see what classes I could take and I decided on computer science which was very difficult. I switched over to printing which wasn’t a great fit either. I had taken a Civil Service test and ended up working for the post office as a clerk for 13 years in St. Petersburg, Florida. I knew this wasn’t the ultimate profession for me. The marriage lasted only a year and a half. I started going to school at junior college while working at the post office and then planned to transfer to a 4-year school. I then noticed that most of my colleagues who were getting hired at the post office had 4-year degrees so I couldn’t see the point of investing time and money for a degree that would get me only to the same place I already was. But I had to do something and make some kind of change. The racial disparity at the post office became intolerable. Of approximately 1,000 employees there were maybe 50 black people.

A friend of mine and I took it upon ourselves to advocate for the hiring of more people of color. The post office wasn’t interested in our point of view, so we decided to picket the post office. I was no longer married, working at the post office wasn’t my life’s dream, and I was willing to risk my job in order to stand up for my beliefs. I had a lot of stress and wasn’t feeling my best.

Serendipitously, one day I came out of a store and noticed a health food store that had a vitamin sign that seemed to wink at me. I had never been into a health food store before. I went in and told the clerk that I thought I should be feeling better than I do. I felt like I didn’t have enough of what I needed to feel good. The clerk explained that my stressful and partying lifestyle was leaching nutrients from my body and that’s why I was feeling sluggish. He suggested a multi-vitamin for a month. I kept my lifestyle and added the multi-vitamin and nothing changed. So I went back to the store and the clerk gave me a business card for a massage clinic. I had never had a massage before.

This guy Richard worked on me and it was such an eye-opening experience. When I stood up afterwards I felt great and wanted to come back for more. So I went for weekly massages and it changed my life. Richard suggested some books for me about vegetarianism and I was ready to make some deliberate changes in my life. I had a taste of feeling better and I wanted more so I was very open to whatever Richard suggested.

I cleaned up my lifestyle at 20-years old, stopped eating meat, lost a girlfriend in the process, my friend group changed, and I was so grateful for Richard for tipping me off to a better way of living. I was ready. After about 10 sessions with Richard, I asked him if he thought I could learn his technique. That’s how I found myself studying with Paul St. John to learn neuromuscular therapy. I signed up for a weekend seminar and it was so over my head but something kept me there. I took another seminar two months later and soon realized that I needed to attend massage school.

Three or four weeks into massage school in Florida, I met a girl there from Boston, Massachusetts. It’s always a girl! (laughter) She finished six months before I did and moved back home. I followed her there in 1983 and moved from Florida with my massage table, my cat Gypsy, and my clothes. I arrived with just a couple hundred dollars to my name. It was September and it was tough to find an apartment with all the students returning to school. We found one but they would not accept Gypsy and I wouldn’t abandon her so the two of us – Gypsy and me – slept in my car for about a month. My girlfriend dumped me, I found an apartment, and I got a job working at Bread & Circus (now Whole Foods) where I ended up working for 3 years.

When I got to Boston no one would hire me as a massage therapist because I didn’t have any experience. So I settled in at Bread & Circus and in the break room I’d work on my co-workers and they’d recommend me to family and friends. That’s how I started to build my practice.

In 1985 along came another girl (laughter) who I met at work. We ended up having two sons together. Paul St. John starting coming from Florida to Boston to teach his neurosomatic massage seminars. I studied with him again, eventually becoming part of his teaching staff and traveling around the country.

Carla: At what point did you become vegan?

Randy: From 1979/80 to 1985 I was vegetarian thanks to Richard the massage therapist. While I was working at Bread & Circus/Whole Foods I saw a book about allergies and dairy products which I read. I had allergies every season like so many people, so I eliminated all dairy products and felt 100% better. So I’ve been vegan since 1985..so for 25 years now. It was all about my health. It wasn’t until several years later that I started thinking about animals and what they endure to become food. My sons were raised vegan until their mother and I split up. I hope as adults they will get back to what they know.

For about five years now I’ve been practicing food combining as recommended by Harvey Diamond in Fit for Life. I have fruit in the morning, mostly watermelon and mango, until at least until noon.

[Randy showed me his kitchen where five whole watermelons were sitting on the shelf, two on the floor, and two in the refrigerator as well as four stacked cases of mangos!]

After that I have just one meal. Currently I’m eating just four vegetables: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, kale greens all steamed together with some avocados and seaweed on top. I haven’t had a snack in probably five years. My body is getting everything it needs from whole plants. I no longer take any supplements.

Carla: Why just those four vegetables?

Randy: It was also a woman. (laughter) Whenever I’d get out of a relationship, I would fast to clear my emotions, to reboot, and reconnect. In 2014 when I came out of a break-up and a fast, those were the four vegetables in my refrigerator. (laughter) So I steamed them and they’ve just been great to me so I’ve stuck with them.

Carla: I know from Facebook that you love to dance. When did that enter your life?

Randy: I started dancing in 1995 with West Coast Swing which I love to do. I started tango about four years ago which I have a love/hate relationship with right now because it’s so hard and subtle. I go to the milongas (tango dance events) and love to watch the dancers who make it look so easy. I was supposed to go with a group of 15 dancers to Argentina in March for tango and the night before we were to leave, travel was shut down due to COVID19.

Carla: In addition to dancing, your time is filled with your neuromuscular massage practice, yes?

Randy: I was in Clearwater, Florida, at the end of February this year for more training with Paul St. John. It was wonderful! I’m hoping to go back in September for two more courses. He was teaching again for the first time in 20 years. In my private practice I work 7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, and my food sustains me. Additionally I dance 4 or 5 nights a week. My private practice is at home and I love my commute! (laughter) Everyone needs bodywork and normally I stay very busy.

Carla: How old are you and are you aging better than your contemporaries?

Randy: I’m 69 years old. When I go home my colleagues and extended family demand to know my secret. They’re all still eating the same way we ate as young people and are all having health problems now sadly. In the beginning I tried to turn them on to what I was doing, but there was total resistance. Now that they are having problems like heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension they ask for my secrets which really are not secret. It’s the food!

Early on in the first year that I changed my diet, I gave all my sisters a copy of Dr. Norman Walker’s book on colon health. I wrote in the book that while this book may not make sense now, keep it. It may make sense and be helpful in ten years. My one sister who went to massage school recently told me that she found her copy of the book and it made a little sense to her now.

Carla: How would you say that self-discipline has played a role in your life with your food and health decisions?

Randy: I’m definitely disciplined about my health and my professional practice but not as much in other areas in my life. I am very discipline with the cornerstones of my life. I love what I do and how I eat. They work together and mean everything to me.

I value my health so much because I love feeling good. I don’t have headaches or anything. It’s important to me to stay very hydrated with alkaline water. That’s why I eat so much fruit, especially watermelon, every day. It keeps me fit, energetic, and well. You can’t ask for much more than that!

Carla: Stay happy and healthy Randy. It’s been great chatting with you!

Readers, to access all the posts in this interview series, please click HERE.