In an unusual edition of “Talking Animals,” Ellen Jaffe Jones—the running coach, speaker and author of such books as the bestselling “Eat Vegan on $4 A Day” and “Kitchen Divided: Vegan Dishes For Semi-Vegan Households”—discusses her own kitchen divided and the ensuing unraveling of her marriage, chiefly tied to growing philosophical differences around her husband being a meat eater while Jones is a vegan, with those differences widening as she shifted from being vegan for health reasons to animal rights reasons.
Jones recounts the medical scare and family history of disease that first prompted
her to drastically change her diet 30-plus years ago, and the response in her immediate family to her second stint when she embraced veganism. She describes the growing tension and diminishing respect that developed around this issue between Jones’ husband and herself, particularly after she was exuding a more dedicated and high-profile commitment through steps like serving as a media consultant for the Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine (PCRM), teaching vegan cooking classes, writing her books, and becoming a busy and popular 
veg-oriented speaker. Against this backdrop, Jones explains, a pivotal chapter in the 
saga of this dwindling marriage arrived when her husband suffered a heart attack, then underwent bypass surgery. All in all, it’s a conversation that involves deconstructing how a marriage came to the end, a hefty load of soul-searching, a good deal of hindsight (some foresight, too), and as one might imagine, more than a little regret and sadness. The conversation may also carry some broader implications, and provide a cautionary tale or two. (www.vegcoach.com)
ALSO: I spoke briefly with Twila Cole, director of development at the Humane Society of Pinellas, about their Pet Festival 2016, taking place Jan. 30 in Saint Petersburg. (www.humanesocietyofpinellas.org/events)
COMEDY CORNER: Maria Bamford’s “Raccoon & Horseback Riding” [excerpts from her set on “Colbert” Jan. 15] (www.mariabamford.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Consolidated’s “The Sexual Politics of Meat,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden”
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