Shelton Herbert: biography and bibliography

The founders of various teachings on healthy lifestyles, whose peak of activity fell in the mid-twentieth century, still evoke genuine public interest. And even the contradictoriness of their biographies, the controversy of preached views, criticism from traditional medicine do not prevent attention and sincere curiosity on the part of the public. One such preacher of health was Herbert Shelton. Despite the fact that this man left the world of the living more than thirty years ago, his books still occupy pride of place on the shelves of adherents of a healthy diet.

The origin of interest in starvation

Herbert McGolfin Shelton was born on October 6, 1895 in the city of Willie , Texas, in a family of deeply religious parents. The boy was born prematurely and very weak. The health situation was also aggravated by the poverty and dilapidation of the parents' home, in which the young child was forced to fight for his health. However, fate was favorable to Herbert, and he grew up quite a strong young man.

Strict religious education did not prevent Shelton from the early years of showing a keen interest in science, including health. He looked at the life of the farm animals and paid attention to how they recover from the disease with the help of fasting.

And only with the move of the family to the larger city of Greenville, Herbert was able to truly develop his knowledge in the field of healthy lifestyles. This was promoted by working in a newsagent, spending time in which, a young man enthusiastically "swallowed" articles on physical culture, starvation, body cleansing. In the same period, Shelton tries to switch to eating unprocessed food-eating raw vegetables and fruits, trying to reduce her weight. His parents condemned him for these attempts, but did not prevent them. In the declining years, Herbert's father also showed a keen interest in the theories preached by his son, in the hope of easing his state, provoked by asthma.

Training and the beginning of literary activity

The next few years, Shelton devotes an active and in-depth study of the works of well-known hygienists of the nineteenth century - McFadden, Troll, Volcker, Oswald and others, and goes to study with a clergyman named Sylvester Graham, known for his commitment to the hygienic movement and the consumption of unprocessed food. Trying a three-day starvation leads him into raptures, and he begins to more confidently propagate his views on a healthy lifestyle.

While serving in the army, Herbert continues to study valeologic literature, and concludes that there is an extreme danger of traditional medicine.

Since 1919, Shelton began to attend educational institutions of the appropriate focus - McFadden College of Physical Education, Crane Sanitarium, Lindlahr College of Natural Therapy and others. As a graduate student in several places at the same time, Shelton does not forget about his personal life, and in 1921 he makes an offer to the beloved Epepe Pape. In two years the couple have their first child. By that time Herbert was awarded two academic degrees: a doctor of naturopathy and a doctor of naturopathic literature, and began to work as a doctor in charge. In the same period, a book was published titled "The Basic Principles of Naturopathy", the attitude of which in various circles was very controversial. However, all the works that Shelton Herbert devoted to her life saw the light (the author's books are still very popular).

The idea of the revival of the doctrine of hygiene

Shelton firmly adhered to the view that the doctrine of a system of hygiene, successfully launched in the nineteenth century by Sylvester Graham and Isaac Jennings, must be revived. And the responsibility for this revival he laid on himself.

Since 1925, Dr. Shelton Herbert, whose bibliography includes more than a dozen books, has been actively writing for popular health magazines. Most of his publications contained criticism of classical medicine and medication management. Despite the fact that during this period Shelton of a believer turned into an agnostic, according to him, his articles contained many messages to the Holy Scripture - somewhere as an example of starvation, somewhere - in the form of an ironic remark with a hint On the inconsistency of religious dogmas.

In 1927 the second son was born to the Shelton family. This period was not easy for the couple, in terms of material well-being. Herbert was three times arrested and fined for illegally practicing treatment, and in the wake of these troubles, magazines that previously willingly published Dr. Shelton's scientific articles broke with him under pressure from the police and representatives of traditional medicine.

Dr. Shelton Health School

Despite the trouble with the law, the popularity of Shelton, as a practicing hygienist, was growing rapidly. Therefore, in 1928, a family with two children moved to the city of San Antonio in their native for Herbert Texas and opened there its first "Shelton's School of Health". At the same time, his second book, entitled "Human Life, Its Philosophy and Laws", was published. A year later, Ida gave birth to Herbert's third child - daughter Vaylodin. This period became the most difficult for a young large family - the Great Depression did not give such a scientist as Shelton a chance to live a normal life, and they had a very miserable existence. But the doctor did not lose heart, and, tirelessly, he worked on new books and publications, which gradually gained authority in the reader's environment.

Dedication to work and need

He actively lectured, collecting tens and hundreds of grateful listeners, but that did not bring money. At the beginning of the forties he received an offer to conduct an author's program on the radio, at the end of which an advertisement of a laxative drug was to sound. These conditions ran counter to the scientific and life philosophy of the well-known humanist, and, of course, he refused, despite the fact that it promised a significant improvement in the financial situation of the Shelton family. Herbert, whose biography is permeated with poverty and vegetation since childhood, was so in need of money that even cleaning the school premises, washing bed linens for patients lay on his wife's shoulders.

Lecture activity. Successes and failures

Later years, until 1972, Shelton held in away lectures, which he read without interruption for 10-12 hours a day. A person advocating a careful attitude to health, brought his body to complete exhaustion, tirelessly giving himself to work. This was Shelton Herbert.

Separate nutrition, which he so actively promoted, is still the subject of a huge number of disputes both in scientific circles and among those who have practiced it. During the life of Dr. Shelton, several scandals related to his method of treatment also erupted. So, in 1942 a trial took place over him. The charge of murder as a result of negligence was based on the death of the patient at the School of Health, but at that time Shelton was fully acquitted.

Skeptics and critics of the movement of hygiene were equally numerous. Herbert was repeatedly ridiculed by them for the way in which he moved from one principle of a healthy lifestyle to another. So, in 1945, Shelton was injured by the jaw from hitting the horse's hoof. This led to the loss of teeth and the inability to consume meat in the future, as a result, the doctor began to actively promote vegetarianism, according to many, not to be alone in the face of new restrictions. His refusal of sex and the belief that he does not need a man, many attributed banal impotence.

Growth of popularity against the backdrop of failure

However, the number of followers grew. This was due, in many ways, to Shelton's strong oratorical charm. Several tricks, mastered by him at the very beginning of the lecture experience, became the key to the success of his performances. In 1948 Vivian Vetrano joined the movement. Being a talented and successful dancer, she discovered the School of Health as a patient and became the most loyal follower of Shelton's teachings, actively studied his theory, also lectured and wrote articles. Paradoxically and almost comical, Shelton received a grant to create another school from Frito, the company that made chips. Its founder was a patient at the school and was so shocked by the results of starvation that, without hesitation, he allocated fifty thousand dollars.

The wrong ending of the right life did not refute the teachings of Shelton

1978 became fatal for the School of Health - one of the patients died from a heart attack, and after a five-year trial, Shelton and Vetrano were accused of his death. The court sentenced them to pay the widow of the deceased about nine hundred thousand dollars, as a result, on the slope of the years, Shelton was a sick, ruined man whose own infirmity outwitted the works of his entire life. Parkinson's disease chained him to bed for many years, during which he tirelessly continued to develop his teaching. Herbert Shelton passed away in 1985. It can be confidently asserted that his youthful dream of reviving the hygienic movement was realized. Until now, a huge number of people have practiced separate meals, despite a lot of controversy about its practical suitability, which Shelton Herbert argued. All books of the author are published to this day and enjoy stable demand.

The founders of various teachings on healthy lifestyles, whose peak of activity fell in the mid-twentieth century, still evoke genuine public interest. And even the contradictoriness of their biographies, the controversy of preached views, criticism from traditional medicine, do not interfere with attention and sincere curiosity on the part of the public.