June 11 in A.A. History

1935: On the first day of the annual American Medical Association Convention in Convention Hall [left, on its opening day in 1929], aka Convention Center or Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dr. Bob S. started drinking in the morning. He likely checked out of his hotel later that day, beginning a binge that could well have lasted for three days.

1938: After what he described as “a very good week” selling car polish in New England, Jim B. [right] was taken out to lunch by two of his customers. He had been sober for just over five months, so when they each ordered a round of beers, he refrained from drinking, leaving both glasses untouched. In his story, “The Vicious Cycle” (in the second, third and fourth editions of Alcoholics Anonymous), he says:

    Then it was my turn—I ordered, “Three beers,” but this time it was different; I had a cash investment of thirty cents [~$6.80 in 2025], and, on a ten-dollar-a-week salary [~$227 in 2025], that’s big thing. So I drank all three beers, one after the other, and said, “I’ll be seeing you, boys,” and went around the corner for a bottle. I never saw either of them again.

    The story of “Ed” on pages 143-45 of Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions is Bill W.’s inaccurate recounting of this part of Jim’s story.

1947: Works Publishing, Inc. published the 11th printing of the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous [left: copyright page]. In this printing, the term ex-alcoholic was replaced throughout with either ex-problem drinker or non-drinker.

1969: Bonna Lee G. [near right], the 23-year-old granddaughter of Anne and Dr. Bob S., shot and killed her six-year-old daughter, Sandy [far right]—Dr. Bob’s great-granddaughter—before killing herself. Bonna was the daughter of Sue S. G. W. and Ernie G. (A.A. #4), whose story, “The Seven Month Slip,” appears in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous. Sue and Ernie had divorced four years prior, and Sue believed Bonna was an alcoholic and abused diet pills.

1971: Ernest “Ernie” G. [left], referred to in the Big Book (p. 159) as “the devil-may-care chap,” died at 66. Sue wrote, “Ernie never got over [Bonna’s death], and he died two years later to the day…”

2016: The Anchorage Dry Dock Club [right], officially incorporated as The Dry Dock of Anchorage, Inc., was established in March 1982 by Alcoholics Anonymous members in Alaska. Its original purpose was “to create a permanent meeting place for meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous available to recovering alcoholics in the South Anchorage area.” Today,

    … the Anchorage Dry Dock operates a social club where recovering alcoholics and addict [sic], their families and friends can spend leisure hours in an alcohol and drug free environment. The Anchorage Dry Dock provides space where groups of Alcoholic Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon, Pills Anonymous or any other recovery group can hold meetings.

June in A.A. History—day unknown

1945: The A.A. Grapevine announced that Bill W. would serve as a senior editorial advisor and, presumably, continue to contribute articles.