September in A.A. History—day unknown

In 1953, the first Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) group in Argentina was founded in Buenos Aires [right: location of Buenos Aires within Argentina].
    After reading the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and getting sober in December 1952, Hector had spent nearly nine months unsuccessfully trying to start an A.A. group. He had maintained contact with the U.S. while he visited alcoholics in jails and hospitals. Through the Alcoholic Foundation's General Service Office (GSO) in New York City, he had met with A.A. members visiting Buenos Aires. He had also obtained unofficial A.A. publications from other countries and corresponded with many individuals. Gradually, Hector had educated himself about Alcoholics Anonymous and strengthened his own sobriety.
    In September 1953, another alcoholic, Arthur M., a British national and lifelong resident of Argentina, reached out to Hector. After traveling to the U.S. to visit family, Arthur had received treatment for alcoholism and subsequently joined A.A. in Dallas, Texas. Before returning to Buenos Aires, he obtained Hector’s name from GSO. Together, the two men worked with renewed vigor, aided by Arthur’s knowledge of A.A. in the U.S. As a result, they successfully founded the first A.A. group in Argentina.

In 1965, the A.A. Grapevine [left: cover] published a short article titled “Best of Bill.” It said, in part,

    About a year ago, we began to think of printing readers’ favorites of Bill’s articles in separate form so that they would be readily available now that some of our back issues containing them are sold out. We chose five articles on subjects which are no strangers to any of us—Fear, Faith, Honesty, Humility, and Love—and had them printed in small booklets (3½ by 5½ inches) all packaged in a little envelope. We hope to add others to the package from time to time, so we gave the group of articles the overall title, “The Best of Bill”.…

    We just returned from the Convention in Toronto, where the “Best of Bill” was introduced to the more than 10,000 people who attended this exciting, important and exhausting gathering of AAs around the world. The Grapevine had two booths on the Convention floors floors which were in continual danger of capsizing beneath the waves of AAs rushing back and forth to panel meetings. We’re pretty certain thousands never saw our booths, or our new “Best of Bill” packet. But we are also certain (because we counted) that thousands stopped to look and to buy. We hope you will like the “Best of Bill,” too. Turn the page to see about prices and ordering [right: order form].

In 1970, [early] Bill W. [left, at April 1970's General Service Conference] became completely bedridden.

In 1974, Bob P. [right] was hired as the General Manager (GM) of the General Service Office (GSO); he served in that role until October 1984.
    He got sober in New York City in 1961. His story, “A.A. Taught Him to Handle Sobriety,” has appeared in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Bob had served on the General Service Board as a Class B (alcoholic) Trustee from 1968 to 1974 and continued working at GSO until 1986.
    After retiring, he contributed to A.A. in many ways. For one, he would write a history of the Fellowship from the publication of Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age in 1957 through A.A.’s 50th [51st?] year in 1985, including some additional early history. Unfortunately, this manuscript would never be published, but it is available online.