June 21 in A.A. History

In 1938, Jeremiah D. Maguire [right], President of the Federation Bank and Trust Company, received a copy of Hank P.’s “neatly gotten up brochure” from Bill W., which included the latest versions of “There Is A Solution” and “Bill’s Story.” In his reply to Bill, Maguire expressed his approval:

    I have not read [it] intently, but such extracts as I have had opportunity to read prove the document a very interesting one and I shall take the opportunity to read it more at more length.… On my return from the Bankers Convention,…I will try to work out an appointment with you.

1944, the first issue—Vol. I, No. 1—of The Grapevine was published in an edition of 1,200 copies.
    A one-year subscription cost $1.50 [~$27.40 in 2025], resulting in 165 subscriptions. Six volunteers, whom Bill W. referred to as “six ink-stained wretches,” launched it as an 8-page newsletter for members in the New York City area and for GIs overseas.

    An article in that first issue identified these six as “a cashier; a radio script writer [sic]; an author; a bookseller; an art director; a wife and mother of two.” Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age later named them as “Marty [M.], Priscilla [P.], Lois K., Abbott [‘Bud’ T.], Maeve [S.], and Kay,” acknowledging Grace O. and her husband Fulton as “moving spirits.”

    The July/August/September 2007 issue of Culture, Alcohol & Society Quarterly identified the group as “Abbot [sic] (Bud) T.; Lois K., Priscilla P., Chase H., Marty M., and Felicia G.” Priscilla—Marty’s partner, an artist and later art director for prestigious magazines in both the U.S. and Europe—designed the masthead [left].

---

Note: all square brackets ([ ]) are from the original, except for “[sic]”.