November 9 in A.A. History

In 1944, four months before his 58th birthday, James “Jim” R., co-founder of the first A.A. group in Baltimore, Maryland, died [near right: headstone; far right: obituary, Baltimore’s The Evening Sun] of a heart attack after playing handball at the Baltimore’s Central YMCA. He had gotten sober on 7 Jun 1933, more than 18 months before Bill W., and he never drank again.

In 2001, the General Service Office (GSO) sent a complimentary copy of the 4th edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous [left], to every registered group in the United States and Canada.