January 9 in A.A. History

In 1925, in Manchester Center, Vermont, an intoxicated Edwin “Ebby” T., driving home, drove his “straight eight” Packard across a large lot, onto the porch, through the door, and into the kitchen of Mrs. Kate Gilmore and her daughter Elizabeth, striking a stove in the middle of the room, moving it about a foot, and scattering soot. A water pipe was also broken, requiring an immediate call for a plumber to shut off the water. The only damage to the car was a broken fender.
    Neither Ebby, his two passengers, nor the Gilmores were injured. One passenger, realizing they were in a kitchen, “demanded a cup of hot coffee.” Ebby backed the car onto the highway, went to Justice of the Peace Frank Regan in Manchester, and reported the accident. He hadn’t gotten his new driver’s license yet, and the car had a 1924 New York license plate. The next day, Saturday, he was fined $50 [~$901 in 2025] + costs [left: page one article in The Bennington Herald, 12 Jan 1925].

In 1952, the first “Family Groups” office, called the “Clearing-house Committee” began operating out of the 24th Street Clubhouse in New York City. 

January 8 in A.A. History

In 1933, Russell “Bud” Firestone spoke at an Oxford Group meeting at Briarcliff Manor, New York. The next day, the Cleveland Plain Dealer would report:

    From polo player and pleasure-loving young man-about-town to a serious-minded follower of Dr. Frank N. D. Buchman, Princeton University’s famous pastor and leader of undergraduate spiritual thought, was the experience related last night by Russell (Bud) Firestone, son of Harvery S. Firestone, Akron (O.) tire manufacturer.…
    Firestone told of his college days at Princeton University and that his chief aim in life was to have a good time.
    He stated that now he was leading an entirely new life and that he had gained peace and happiness from following the lines of conduct incorporated in the new movement.…

Jim B.

In 1938, James “Jim” B. [right] came out of a two-week binge, “D-Day,” as he later called it. His mother only allowed him to come home (at age 39) if he…

stayed locked in a small storeroom and gave her my clothes and shoes.… That is way Jackie found me, lying on a cot in my skivvies, with hot and cold sweats, pounding heart, and that awful itchy scratchiness all over.

Jackie had been sent by Fitz Mayo, Jim’s old school friend. Jim commented

    Had he come two or three days later, I think I would have thrown him out, but he hit me when I was open for anything.
    Jackie arrived about seven in the evening and talked until three a.m. I don’t remember much of what he said, but I did realize that here was another guy exactly like me… Jackie told me about a group fellows in New York, of whom my old friend Fitz was one, who had the same problem I had, and who, by working together to help each other, were now not drinking and were happy like himself.

Jim would drink again in June, but then get and stay sober from June 16th on. His story in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, was “The Vicious Cycle.”

In 1939, Bill W. and Hank P. bought a pad of blank stock certificates at a stationery store. Back at the Newark, New Jersey office, Hank had Ruth Hock type “One Hundred Men Corporation, par value $25.00” at the top of each certificate. He then signed his name at the bottom: “Henry G. P▒▒▒▒▒, President.” Bill later called these “irregularities,” and said he protested at the time, but Hank replied that there was “no time to waste,” and besides, why bother with such “small details?”

January 7 in A.A. History

In 1939, after working out the details of selling stock in a publishing company to raise money and thereby retain ownership of what would become the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. and Hank P. “burn up the telephone to [Willard Richardson in] New York and even to Ohio where Frank Amos” was presumably enjoying a three-week vacation. They presented an outline of the new company and the stock plan, and asked a simple question, “Would you therefore be in favor that [we] make an effort to secure stock subscriptions for a corporation to take over the book on the terms [we] have just described?” Bill, at least, expected a bad reaction, and that is what they got. Neither Richardson nor Amos agreed, and both advised caution before taking any further steps

Bill's letter

In 1953, Bill W. sent out a manuscript of new essays on the Twelve Steps for “criticisms and suggestions.” His letter [left] reminded recipients that “last spring…” he had “circulated… a similar piece of writing on A.A.’s Twelve Traditions” and said that “since then, following considerable discussion, a plan had evolved to perhaps combine the two manuscripts into a single book [Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions]…” He noted that Harper & Bros. had made “a very favorable offer” to distribute the book to “the outside public,” and that he’d like to have the book approved by the General Service Conference in April.

In 1984, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (AAWS) published Pass It On: The Story of Bill W—and how the A.A. message reached the world. Mel B. was the primary author, with assistance from a number of others.

January 6 in A.A. History

In 1941, Bill W. responded to a letter from Jack Alexander, who had enclosed a manuscript of his article on A.A., written for The Saturday Evening Post. Bill’s eagerness was evident:

    I wish I could adequately convey to you the sense of gratitude that every one of us feels towards you and the Saturday Post for what is about to take place. You can not possibly conceive the direct alleviation of so much misery as will be brought to an end through your pen and your good publishers. For many a day you will be the toast of A.A.—in Coca-Cola, of course!

In 1955, Bill W.’s stepmother, Christine Bock W., 77, died in Los Angeles, California. She would be buried with Bill’s father in the East Dorset (Vermont) Cemetery.

A Concordance to
Alcoholics Anonymous

In 2000, Stephen P., 63, died at Washoe Medical Center, in Reno, Nevada, after a 6½-year battle with chronic myelogenous leukemia. Stephen—with his wife Frances—compiled A Concordance to Alcoholics Anonymous [right], first published in August 1990.
    Under the pseudonym Stephen Whitfield, with minimal contributions from Gene Roddenberry, he also wrote the classic book The Making of Star Trek, the first—and for many years the only—specialized reference book on behind-the-scenes aspects of Star Trek production, published in 1968.

January 5 in A.A. History

Tom Uzzell

In 1939, Hank P. wrote to Bill W. after receiving a letter in which Tom Uzzell [left], editor of the book manuscript, wrote 

I spent last evening with the manuscript... on reading additional chapters... I found myself deeply moved, at times full of amazement, almost incredulity, and during most of the reading I was extremely sympathetic. My feeling at the moment is that you should certainly hold on to the production and distribution of this volume... I don't know what else you could want for a good book. I believe in it most em­phatically... The whole book needs the final shaping of a professional hand... I understand better now the enthusiasm your with me about this work. I thought you were exaggerating somewhat but now I have joined the choir invisible.

Shortly thereafter, Uzzell began editing the material that Hank and Bill had sent him, resulting in a pre-publication manuscript that in a few months would become the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

In 1940, Clarence S. wrote to Bill W.,

Have attended two of Doc S.’s meetings since he has been holding them in his home, and they have been very well attended and very inspirational.
    Doc led our meeting, and never have I heard him in such fine fettle. Noticed a vast improvement since he pulled his gang out of the Williamses’. Now speaks with authority and no pussyfooting, and I believe he looks ten years younger.

    In 1977, John R. recalled,

I’m not sure, but I think we had two meetings there. You should have seen Doc’s house! His little living room wasn’t much bigger that this little house we live in. We were crowded up pretty good there

In 1941, Bill and Lois W. were spending the weekend at the home of A.A. members Ruth and Wilbur S. in Chattaqua, New York. The day before the S▒▒▒s had shown the W▒▒▒s an empty house in Bedford Hills owned by the widow Mrs. Helen Griffith (no relation to Bill). She wanted to meet the couple, so they returned to the house to see her. Helen made them an offer: to sell the house to them for $6,500 [~$140,000 in 2025], significantly less than her original asking price, with no down-payment and a $40 [~$860 in 2025] a month mortgage payment with no interest for at least one year. After Bill made some quick mental calculations, he and Lois accepted Helen’s offer. [Lois Remembers says this happened in early March.]

January 4 in A.A. History

In 1939, Bill W. wrote Frank Amos that the One Hundred Men book (which would be published shortly as Alcoholics Anonymous) was nearly finished but that more editing might be needed, that a copy had been given to Tom Uzzell for this work and that “one more consultation with the boys in Akron will be necessary.”

In 1939, Dr. Bob S. wrote to Ruth Hock that A.A. needed “to get away from the Oxford Group atmosphere.” But it would be December before the Akron’s “alcoholic squad” left and began holding their own A.A. meetings. [This may have actually occurred on the 5th or the 10th.]

In 1940, Sarah Klein, 53, daughter of a proud, privileged New York family, non-alcoholic wife of an alcoholic, and alcoholic Archie T. first met in his dingy third-floor walk-up room on Kirby St. between Cass Ave. and 2nd St. to form the first A.A. group in Detroit, Michigan. They would meet weekly and seek prospects together.
    In April 1939, Sarah had received and read an early copy of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Impressed, Sarah wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City asking how they intended to put into practice what was written in the book. The Foundation replied that an unnamed member (Archie) who was sobering up in Akron would be returning home to Detroit in mid-summer. The Foundation also sent a letter to Archie, who was recovering at the home of Clarence S. in Cleveland, Ohio, informing him of the request from Detroit. He assumed that “S. Klein” was not only an alcoholic, but also a man.

In 1941, Bill and Lois W. had been invited to spend the weekend with A.A. friends Ruth and Wilbur S. in Chappaqua, New York. Their hosts picked them up at the local train station. Bill noticed that they’d passed through Chappaqua and were approaching Bedford Hills. Ruth said she had a surprise for them. She and Wilbur wanted to show them a house they thought would be perfect for the still-homeless couple. It was owned by a widow friend of Ruth’s, who admired A.A. greatly after seeing it help one of her friends. They found a charming, unoccupied country house on two acres atop a hill. Bill found an unlocked window, climbed in and pulled Lois in behind him. They stood in front of a fieldstone fireplace in a large wood-paneled living room. There were six more rooms: three bedrooms and a kitchen downstairs, a long library with bookshelves and a bedroom upstairs. Despite their initial misgivings, they fell in love with the place and bought it that spring.

In 1941, Jack Alexander wrote to Bill W., enclosing a manuscript of the article he had written on A.A. for The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1946, the first A.A. group in Suffolk County, New York, held its first meeting in Huntington.

In 1950, The Johnson City (Tennessee) Press briefly reported on a recently aired documentary “presented by” A.A.

In 2023, the newly translated Mongolian service manual was approved by the General Service Office of Alcoholic Anonymous World Services, Inc.

January 3 in A.A. History

Bill W. in France in 1919

In 1919, Bill W. [right: in France, 1919] wrote to Lois that the men of his artillery battery had “paid him special honor,” saying,

    Quite a touching thing happened just before we came here. The men presented Captain S. [Sackville] & I [sic] each with a watch chain and a ring. They lined up the whole battery and I tell you it was equal to promotion and decoration by [General] J. J. Pershing himself! Coming as it did from a clear ploy it was quite overwhelming. Wouldn’t have changed insignia with a Brig. [Brigadier] Gen. [General] It means so much more than promotion. In so far as I know we are the only people in the reg. [regiment] who have been so honored. I know you’ll be as happy and proud as I am. The watch is an elaborate gold and silver affair, the chain a very light gold one which several of the boys _^^rather shyly “opined” would look well against a “[illegible]” vest. The ring is a plain & gold one with a facet for a monogram [sic] Am terribly inflated & stuck up.

In 1946, Ian MacE. wrote to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City asking for help and became the first A.A. member in New Zealand.
    Previously, he had tried every known treatment for his drinking problem without success. In late 1945 Ian had checked himself into the Nelson Psychiatric Hospital. While in the reading room, he picked up a copy of the No­vem­ber 1944 issue of Reader’s Digest and read an article condensed from Argosy, which had published the full article in October 1944. It was titled “‘Maybe I Can Do It Too!’” by Edward McG., an alcoholic who had recovered with the help of a fellowship called Alcoholics Anonymous. Ian had never heard of A.A. but he identified with the article in a way he had never identified with anyone before. A note at the end of the article said, “A postcard sent to P.O. Box 459, Grand Central Annex, New York 17, N.Y., will bring further information about this organization.” Ian wrote to that address and took the first step in his own recovery, and A.A. in New Zealand was born.

January 2 in A.A. History

In 1889, Bridget Della Mary Gavin was born in Shanvilly, County Mayo, Ireland. After immigrating to the United States, she entered the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in Cleveland, Ohio and was given the religious name Sister Mary Ignatia. An accomplished musician, she was assigned to teach music. She did this for about ten years, but found it “too hectic” and suffered a nervous breakdown.
    After her recovery, her superior assigned her to work in the admissions office at St. Thomas Hospital in Ak­ron, Ohio. Despite the hospital’s policy of not treating drunks, she began secretly doing so in 1934. She would go on to help Dr. Bob S. and thousands of alcoholics, becoming known as “The Drunks’ Little Angel of Hope” [right: Sr. Ignatia interviewing an alcoholic for possible admission].

In 1896, Harry Tiebout was born in Brooklyn, New York. According to the unsigned introduction to Harry Tiebout: The Collected Writings (1999), “He would become the first psychiatrist to publicly recognize and uphold the work of Alcoholics Anonymous” and was “uniquely distinguished for having facilitated communication between the worlds of alcoholism and psychiatry.”

In 1896, Dr. Bob S. wrote to Bill W.,

    Have definitely shaken off the shackles of the Oxford Group and are meeting at my house for the time being. Had 74 Wednesday in my little house, but shall get a hall soon [top right: living room; below right: aerial view of 855 Ardmore Ave, Akron, Ohio].

In 1896, The Mid-Southern California (Area 09) Archives moved to its second location on Brockton Ave. in Riverside.

January 1 in A.A. History

Olney Hymns, p 53

In 1773, “Amazing Grace,” as it is now known, was first performed in public at a prayer meeting in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. It was written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton to illustrate the day’s sermon, originally titled “I Chronicles 17:16-17” [left: from Olney Hymns (1779), p. 53]. It is not known whether the verses were accompanied by music; they may have been chanted by the congregation.
    Newton had grown up without any particular religious beliefs. He had been pressed into service in the Royal Navy. After leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm had battered his ship off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so badly that he cried out to God for mercy. This moment had marked his spiritual conversion, but he continued to trade slaves until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring career. Newton then began to study Christian theology, was ordained in the Church of England in 1764, and later became an abolitionist.

In 1943, The Columbus Dispatch reported on the first anniversary of the Central Group of A.A. in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1946, The A.A. Grapevine raised the cost of an annual subscription from $1.50 to $2.50 [~$26 to $43 in 2025] and of each issue from 15¢ to 25¢ [~$2.60 to $4.30 in 2024].

In 1948, Harry G., an A.A. member from Indiana was in Tokyo, Japan writing a book about the war crimes trials of 1945–48. He started an English-speaking A.A. group, the first in Japan. After an article about A.A. appeared in Pacific Stars and Stripes, the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City was flooded with letters from members of the U.S. Armed Forces in Japan. The Foundation forwarded their names to Harry, who had written the Foundation in December 1947, suggesting that Japan was fertile ground for A.A. This would eventually lead to the establishment of Japanese-language groups throughout the country.

In 1975, Bill W.: My First 40 Years, Bill’s autobiography as told to Robert Thomsen, was published.

In 1988, West Virginia A.A. established the first statewide toll-free telephone hotline.

In 2002, The second meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) was opened. There were 59 participants: 33 group representatives, plus alternates and the Steering Committee. This OSC continued the discussion of many of the issues considered at the first Conference. The agenda included:

1. definition of an “online A.A. group,”
2. online literature publication and AAWS copyrights,
3. using online A.A. to reach those who cannot be served by “face to face” A.A.,

4. anonymity guidelines for the Internet,

5. issues affecting world unity of the A.A. Fellowship, and

6. future OSC participation with other A.A. organizations.

In 2004, The fourth meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) opened. Forty-eight groups were represented, with alternates and Steering Committee members bringing the total to 73.

In 2008,Robert “Bob” P., 90, died peacefully of “old age” at his home in Bellevue, Idaho, with his wife, children, and grandchildren by his side. He had been a writer, veteran, community leader, and longtime trusted servant in A.A. from 1961 until his death. He served on A.A.’s General Service Board from 1968–74 and as G.S.O. General Manager from 1974–84. His story, “A.A. Taught Him to Handle Sobriety,” appeared in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. He also wrote a well-known unpublished manuscript of A.A. history in 1985.
    He is best remembered for his powerful and inspiring closing talk at the 1986 General Service Conference, where he addressed what he considered to be AA's greatest danger: rigidity.

    If you were to ask me what is the greatest danger facing A.A. today, I would have to answer: the growing rigidity—the increasing demand for absolute answers to nit-picking questions; pressure for GSO to “enforce” our Traditions; screening alcoholics at closed meetings; prohibiting non-Conference-approved literature, i.e., “banning books;” laying more and more rules on groups and members. And in this trend toward rigidity, we are drifting farther and farther away from our co-founders. Bill, in particular, must be spinning in his grave, for he was perhaps the most permissive person I ever met.

    One of his favorite sayings was, “Every group has the right to be wrong.” He was maddeningly tolerant of his critics, and he had absolute faith that faults in A.A. were self-correcting.
   Bob’s writing career as a writer began in the midst of amid scandal when Scribner's Magazine revealed that he had ghostwritten hundreds of term papers for fellow students at seven universities. “Both the Associated Press and the United Press carried it,” Bob said in a 2004 interview. “It almost cost me my diploma.”
   After the scandal, Shell Oil Co. hired Bob to work in its public relations department until he joined the U.S. Navy during World War ll. During the war, his destroyer escort was part of the historic capture of a German U-boat that contained the hardware and codes for the Enigma radio codes used by the Nazis. The capture took place north of the Azores just days before D-Day. While in the Navy, Bob also wrote speeches for Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and other top Navy officials.

 

 

 

 

 

December 31 in A.A. History

1940 Detroit AA
New Year's Eve party

In 1937, Bill and Lois W. hosted a gala New Year’s Eve party at 182 Clinton St. to which they invited nearly 30 people, including most, if not all, of the members of the New York City A.A. group and a number of other friends and relatives.

In 1940, The very first major A.A. event in Detroit, Michigan, was a New Year’s Eve celebration at Mike E.’s house with about 20 members and their spouses or guests, for a total of about forty people [right: photo taken that night].

December 30 in A.A. History

In 1921, Ella Brock Griffith, 72, Bill W.’s maternal grandmother, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in her bed in Dorset, Vermont. She and her husband, Gardner Fayette Griffith, had raised Bill from the age of 10. She would be buried in East Dorset Cemetery.

In 2001, Arthur S. [left], 81, of Arlington, Texas died after a long illness. Born and raised in Yonkers, New York, Arthur attended one of the first computer schools in the world. He spent his entire professional life working with computers.
    When he retired to Texas, he pursued his avocation as a historian, traveling the country with friends giving history presentations. He authored “A Narrative Timeline of AA History,” perhaps the most detailed and accurate compendium of facts about A.A. history

December 29 in A.A. History

Dr. Bob's letter to Ed W.

In 1946, Dr. Bob S. wrote a two-page note [right] to Ed W., apparently after receiving some kind of gems or jewels:

My Dear Ed, –

    The [illegible] reached me safely & thanks a lot for them. My jeweller [sic] is taking them to NY some time next month to see what can be done with them most advantageously. I imagine that the red one will wind up as a pendant. It was swell of you to send them. I have enjoyed your little book very much & know that it will prove to be of a lot of help to many. I had a number of letters & cards from folks at camp, [illegible], McCombs, Dr. Bennett, [illegible] Schneiders, Muenknoellers, et al. Wish we could go up next year but have serious misgivings about it. It does not look now as tho we could. Am following your advice and leave in ten days for Florida for a month.

    Love to Hazel
        Most sincerely

            Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob’s reference to “your little book,” was to a book with the full title The Little Red Book: A Suggested Outline for Ref­erence and Study of the Working Mechanics of the Twelve Steps. Ed was the primary author of this book, and Dr. Bob was one of several who assisted in its writing and editing.

December 28 in A.A. History

In 1890, Frank Horace C. [right], known as “Horace,” was born in Manhattan, New

Horace C.

York, to Frances Moore and Joseph C., the 2nd of 4 children, all boys.
    He would become an A.A. member (#81?) in December 1938, shortly after Bill W. had written the Twelve Steps for what would become the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.
    Bill and Lois W., homeless from April 1939 to April 1941, would stay at his bungalow in Green Pond, New Jersey, in the spring of 1939.
    In 1940, with Bert T., he would find the site and guarantee the rent for what would become the first A.A. clubhouse on 24th Street in Manhattan.
    That same year, he would become a Class B (alcoholic) Trustee of the Alcoholic Foundation. He would be Vice-President of Works Publishing, Inc. at the time its financial report was published in June 1940.
    His picture would appear in Jack Alexander’s March 1941 article in The Saturday Evening Post, “Alcoholics Anonymous: Freed Slaves of Drink, Now They Free Others.”
    After Jack C. gave Ruth Hock a newspaper clipping of the Serenity Prayer, Horace would suggest that it be printed on wallet cards and then pay for the printing.
    In the early 1940s, the Alcoholic Foundation would send him to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. to sound out groups about and obtain support for the Alcoholic Foundation’s headquarters in New York City.

 In 1988, John “Captain Jack” S. died in Portland, Maine, where he had retired.        He became an oil tanker captain in the mid-1930s and got sober in Alcoholics Anonymous in 1946. He was instrumental in founding what became the Loners Internationalists Meeting and its confidential bulletin, a meeting in print for “Loners,” “Homers,” “Internationalists,” “Port Contacts” (who served as contacts for Internationalists coming to their port city), and “Loner Sponsors.” He and hundreds of Internationalists like him sailed the seven seas, carrying the A.A. message wherever they dropped anchor and playing a key role in A.A.’s phenomenal worldwide growth.

December 19 in A.A. History

In 1922, Lt. Junius C. and Marjorie Dickerson were married in Pike County, Mississippi. He would become a founder of Alcoholics Anonymous in Jacksonville, Florida.

In 1939, Kaye M., a nonalcoholic, held the first A.A. meeting in Los Angeles, California, at her home on Benecia Street in Westwood.
    Kaye became involved with A.A. earlier in the year while trying to help her ex-husband, Ty, get sober. She visited Akron and New York City, attending meetings and talking with members, including Bill W. in New York. After divorcing Ty and returning to Los Angeles by freighter via the Panama Canal, she began spreading the word about A.A. to newspapers and public officials. She fell in with two other nonalcoholics who were trying to help parolees get and stay sober: Genevieve Dodge, a social worker, and Johnny Howe, a psychologist. They had persuaded the Superior Court to allow them to treat alcoholics at Los Angeles County General Hospital [below, c. 1931] Kaye taught them A.A. from her experience and from the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, which she had brought with her. Early successes included Barney H. (or B.) and Hal S.
    Then in December, Chuck and Lee T., members of New York City A.A., visited Los Angeles. Bill W. had given them Kaye's number and they looked her up. Kaye decided it was time to have an A.A. meeting in Los Angeles, which was held on this date. Besides Kaye, Johnny Howe and three other social workers, there were Chuck and Lee T., Barney and Ethel H., Hal S., Chauncey and Edna C., Joy S., Dwight S. and Walter K. Kaye telegraphed news of the meeting—“Los Angeles held its first meeting tonight. Fifteen present.”—to Bill W. in New York.

 

December 18 in A.A. History

In 1917, the U.S. Senate voted 47–8 in favor of a joint resolution to override President Wilson's veto of the Volstead Act; the House had passed the same resolution the day before. The Volstead Act, officially known as the National Prohibition Enforcement Act, would amend the Constitution to prohibit “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes.”^* It then went to the 48 states for ratification. On 9 January 1919, Nebraska would become the 36th state to ratify it, and one year later, on 9 January 1920, it would become the 18th Amendment.
^* Note that it did not prohibit consumption, possession, or production for personal use.

In 1934, Bill W. was discharged from Charles B. Towns Hospital for the last time. The charge for his one-week stay was $125 [~$2,945 in 2024], paid in advance by his brother-in-law, Dr. Leonard V. Strong.

In 1952, ector C. wrote to the General Service Office (G.S.O.) in New York City from Buenos Aires, Argentina, asking for help. Hector had been in treatment for alcoholism there since September. His letter immediately sparked a lively and ongoing correspondence, primarily with staff member Ann M., whom Hector came to consider his sponsor. (At one point, Ann M.’s first letter was framed and displayed in Buenos Aires to commemorate the birth of A.A. in Argentina.)

Supporting A.A. in Ukraine

[Note that this post was written in March 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion of the Ukraine by the Russian Federation.]

An A.A. friend sent me a very well-done flyer for an online A.A. meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine. It's shown to the left, but I've removed the Meeting ID and Passcode; I don't want to make it that  easy to attend. When I first saw it, I thought, "I only wish that we could do something similar for all the Russian alcoholics, who must also be terribly distressed at this time" (especially those in the Russian military).

This flyer was immediately followed by a less well-done message, shown below, purporting to be from "Ukrainian AA Service Center and the Ukrainian AA Service Board" to "the AA World Community." I was skeptical. This looked so much like a myth that I expected to find it debunked at Snopes ("the internet’s definitive fact-checking resource"). I did not. But I did find an article titled, "UKRAINE: New Crisis, Grimly Familiar Disinformation Trends", which said, in part, 

It is a grim measure of the frequency of crisis events in recent years, and the ubiquity of online disinformation, that when a major story breaks — a terrorist attack, a mass shooting, or an act of war — the writers and editors at Snopes can typically predict what comes next. Recycled videos and photographs, stripped from their proper context, and the same old tropes, all designed to inflame or confuse, or even amuse, the reader.

This is followed by a "grim overview of the familiar disinformation trends and recurring memes… in the opening days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."

But, as I said, I only later looked on Snopes. First I searched the Internet. To my surprise, I immediately got a hit that looked very promising. It was on the aa.lviv.ua website and looked like this:

Since I don't know what I presumed was Ukrainian, and not having much patience, I immediately had the page automatically translated into English. It is indeed Ukrainian, and here's the English translation I got:

It was only later that I noticed that an English translation of the message follows the Ukrainian on the original, one click further down. I felt stupid and impatient for not looking.

Ultimately, I decided I'd check into the Kyiv online meeting and see if there was some way I could be helpful. I tried to log in a few minutes before it was to start. Due to the meeting having reached capacity, it was impossible to get in. It then occurred to me, If I'm having this much trouble getting in, there are probably Ukrainians who are also unable to get in. It horrified me to think that I could have had a part in disrupting their meeting. If, by some miracle, I had been able to get in, I sure hope I would have realized that the meeting was at capacity and left. But even if I had, my spot would have been filled by a non-Ukrainian.

I tried joining after the meeting was over. It was bedlam. It appeared that most people were unmuted and there were multiple conversations going on at the same time. I saw one man, who appeared to be that single Ukrainian member. He appeared to be quite stressed out. I also saw some A.A.friends of mine, which was disappointing. I only stayed a minute. The last thing they needed at that point was yet one more non-Ukrainian A.A. to join the fray.

Tonight, I learned from a reliable source that only one of the seven or eight regular Ukrainian group members was able to get into the meeting (presumably, the Zoom host). No doubt, many of the attendees had good intentions, although I'm also pretty sure some did not. Clearly, many also didn't think through the consequences of their actions.

And then, very late last night, My friend said that another friend of hers had found a Facebook post about the A.A. meeting in Kyiv earlier, shown at the left. It was so disheartening to read. Yes, many non-Ukrainians—maybe hundreds of them—got to feel good for a minute. Meanwhile, seven or eight locals never got to their meeting.

God As We Understand Him?

 I recently read Bill W.'s essay, “God As We Understand Him: The Dilemma of No Faith”, in The Language of the Heart (originally published as “The Dilemma of No Faith” in the April 1961 issue of the A.A. Grapevine). He begins this essay by saying, “The phrase ‛God As We Understand Him’ is perhaps the most important expression to be found in our whole AA vocabulary.”

For a long time, I've been vaguely uncomfortable with this wording, even though I knew what it meant the first time I heard it. In the last few years, but not in my early sobriety, I've sometimes heard newcomers asking about this expression, “How can anyone understand God?”  in a way that led me to think that perhaps this was an impediment for them. I realized my discomfort is just that. Perhaps understanding is not the best word. I think “God As We Conceive of God” is closer to the intended meaning. It will be interesting to see how the proposed plain language Big Book^* (i.e., Alcoholics Anonymous) will deal with this phrase. If at all.

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^* If you don't know what this is or what it means, check out Advisory Action #28 (on p 7) in this document: Conference Advisory Actions of the 71st General Service Conference, a list of all such actions adopted at the 71st General Service Conference last April.

19,560 days

Yes, I am still sober, still above ground. My posts slowed down drastically and then stopped altogether because I feared it would become too easy to identify who I was from my posts, due to circumstances of my life. Already, my brother had figured out this was me. For those who don't realize it, I was doing my best to respect Tradition 12. My brother already knew I was a deeply involved member of A.A.

Future posts will probably be less personal, on the whole. I hope this is, at least in part, because I have less interest in myself and more interest in others [v. Alcoholics Anonymous, p 84].

A.A. in these times of pandemic has been a great experience for me personally. Since mid-March 2020, I've attended online meetings on every continent that has them (Antarctica does not, due to insufficient bandwidth). I've been regularly attending meetings all over the US and Canada, as well as in Australia and South Africa. It has also become much easier to find workshops, conventions, conferences, and meetings that focus on topics like Traditions, Concepts, The A.A. Service Manual, and A.A. history. These are topics that I love learning about. I've been sober almost 29 years, been involved in General Service for 25½ of those years, but I sometimes think I've learned more about General Service in the last 16 months than in all the time before. Maybe not. Maybe it just feels that way.

Eighteen years

Still here, still sober, even if I'm not posting. Yesterday I celebrated 18 years of continuous sobriety.

Seventeen years

Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of my first A.A. meeting, which marked the beginning of my current spell of continuous sobriety. I can't say I celebrated, because I was too busy doing things that are little more than the blessings of a sober life:

• Took my car in to have the oil changed and the engine light checked—I not only have a driver's license, I also have a car
• Worked—I am employable today
• Chaired a meeting of the local chapter of a professional organization—not only employed, but on the Board of Directors and also Program Chair
• Attended a funeral

The funeral, ironically enough, was for Bumblebee, someone I sponsored for a while. I suspect I was his last sponsor. I hadn't seem him in at least a year, and sometimes wondered if he named me when asked if he had a sponsor. Then I would wonder if he was even making meetings.

Apparently not. He was definitely out there. He committed suicide by stabbing himself to death in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he lived. In the femoral artery. Thank you, Bumblebee, for keeping it green for me on my anniversary.

Tonight I will celebrate with dinner and a meeting! Praise HP, from whom all blessings flow!

Is A.A. a religion?

On 17 March 2009, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an opinion in an appeal of the case of Glenside Center, Inc. [a clubhouse hosting meetings of various twelve-step programs] v. Abington Township. A lower court had found that the Glenside Center violated local zoning laws, after the Township received numerous complaints regarding an "adverse parking situation" that "made driving difficult and dangerous and prevented emergency traffic from getting through." There were also complaints about "urinating in public, using obscene language and trash which had been left by members attending meetings." Excessive noise and loitering are also mentioned in the opinion. (Clearly demonstrating the danger of these kinds of totally inappropriate, inconsiderate and non-sober behavior at any A.A. meeting.)

The appeal was on the basis of four issues, namely that the Zoning Board:

1. had incorrectly found that the use of the building did not meet the requirement of being primarily used as an "office,"
2. had denied the clubhouse its rights under RLUIPA¹,
3. had violated the clubhouse's right to free exercise of religion by determining that the clubhouse was a "Community Center," and
   
4. had failed to prove a compelling governmental interest and had failed to use the least restrictive means to further that interest.
   

My interest is only in the 2^nd and 3^rd issues insofar as they relate to whether or not A.A. can legally be considered a religion. In its opinion, the Court essentially determined that Alcoholics Anonymous is not a religion:

Glenside argues... it is a protected entity under RLUIPA because its activities are a religious exercise.... Glenside argues that AA is not a religion, but its activities and programs constitute a free exercise of religion under RLUIPA. It contends that the 12-step program that AA follows is certainly based upon a belief in a higher power, and various AA members testified that they found a connection with God by attending AA meetings. Glenside directs our attention to a New York Court of Appeals case, Griffin v. Coughlin,... which held that an AA meeting constituted an exercise of religion.

The Board, however, argues and we agree that Glenside presents no binding authority for its proposition that an AA meeting is a religious exercise as that term is used in RLUIPA.² Glenside failed to prove that any of the meetings are administered by a religious leader, i.e., a minister, priest, rabbi or other spiritual leader. Glenside does not hold any religious services or have any religious affiliations. Its Articles of Incorporation state nothing about being incorporated for a religious purpose, but only to assist people in recovering from addiction. Similarly, Glenside’s printed materials state that Glenside is not a religious organization and do not require that members possess any religious belief to participate. While Glenside argues that members have found a connection with God at its meetings, clearly, the primary purpose of the group meetings, whether they be for AA, NA or DA, is to support individuals who are recovering from alcohol, drug, gambling and debtor addictions, not to advance religion. Particularly where AA and NA meetings are concerned, the primary concern of those meetings is to treat substance abuse. Moreover, Glenside and others on its behalf testified that members come from all religious walks of life whether they be Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim or non-believers in a higher power. The fact that the 12-step program is used and it contains references to “God” and a “Higher Power” does not mean that all members believe that they are partaking in a religious experience when they are attending an AA or NA meeting.

Good for the Court, bad for Glenside Center, Inc. Bad, not because they lost their appeal, but for (1) encouraging the courts to consider A.A. a religion, (2) giving the appearance of violating A.A. tradition of having no opinion on outside issues, and (3) for providing a forum for a number of members of A.A. to violate A.A.'s tradition of anonymity at the level of press, radio and film (not to mention on television and on the Internet).

Glenside Center is not in any sense A.A. or part of A.A. It is a separately organized enterprise with the [presumable] purpose of providing meeting space for various twelve-step organizations. From the point of view of A.A. groups, it is in no respect different from a church, municipal building or community center providing space for meetings—all these entities are nothing more than landlords.

However, I suspect that all the principals of the Glenside Center are members of A.A. As stated in the opinion, many of those who testified on behalf of the Glenside Center are also members of A.A. One was identified by full name as a member of A.A. for 53 years (you'd think he'd know better after that long). The Center's argument included the following:

While AA or its related organizations do not claim to be an established religion, the constituent groups can and have been viewed as engaging in an exercise of religion. The Act broadly defines religious exercise to include "any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious beliefs."

I became aware of this ruling when a friend in A.A. sent me a link to an entry about it in a Washington Post blog named "Under God." In it, David Waters argues that the Court made a mistake on the basis of four objections. After each objection, I'll give my objections to Mr Waters' objections.

Objection 1: Any person of faith can be a spiritual leader.

Actually, I would go even further than Mr Waters. Lack of "a religious leader, i.e., a minister, priest, rabbi or other spiritual leader" should not preclude a gathering from being religious. A prime example would be an unprogrammed meeting for worship of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers.

Objection 2: Assisting people in recovering from any addiction is a religious (and spiritual) purpose.

Accepting this argument would make every rehab and detox in the U.S. a religious organization. It would also make seeing any health-care practitioner for help with an addiction into a religious activity.

Objection 3: Any group that advances the healing of bodies and souls (and the forgiveness of debts and debtors) also advances religion.

By this argument, entering into any course of psychiatric or psychological therapy, participating in any of numerous self-help organizations or classes, going to see the doctor, going to the gym to work out, or seeking credit counseling would be considered a religious activity. This is patently absurd.

Objection 4: Clearly the court is unaware of the history and purpose of AA.

Clearly Mr Waters is not fully aware of the history and purpose of A.A. Let me address each of the facts he cites in support of his objection.

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded as a spiritual program, direct outgrowth of the Oxford Group at Calvary Episcopal Church in New York.

True. But it's also true that the Oxford Group (known since 2001 as Initiatives of Change) considered itself non-religious. Furthermore A.A. separated from the Oxford Group at least in part due to the latter's belief that alcoholism was a sin rather than a disease, and to sever what might appear as ties to a Christian organization.

AA meetings include recitations of The Lord's Prayer and the Serenity Prayer.

Actually, this seems to me to be a reasonably good argument. It's one reason I do not participate in saying the Lord's Prayer at meetings. Not all meetings use the Lord's Prayer, though I'd have to say that most in the U.S.³ do. As for the Serenity Prayer, so far as I know, it is not perceived to be associated with Christianity, despite its purported author being a Christian theologian. As insightful as it may be to us drunks, the idea would seem to be quite universal in thought and application among those who consider and practice such things. Indeed, the essential idea can be found in a Mother Goose rhyme:

For every ailment under the sun

There is a remedy, or there is none;

If there be one, try to find it;

If there be none, never mind it.

Back to Mr Waters' argument:

"AA indirectly derived much of its inspiration from the Church," Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Rector of Calvary Church, said in 1955.

Key word: indirectly. I'd say that a huge number of institutions of Western civilization were indirectly derived from Christianity, not the least of which is the United States of America. Furthermore, citing a single person—a non-A.A. member at that—saying this in a single speech is not much of an argument. Bill W., co-founder of A.A. and a much better source to cite, said of the phrase God as we understood him that it was "tremendously important," "a ten-strike," enabling "thousands to join AA who would have otherwise gone away," opening the door to "those of fine religious training and those of none at all," making "one’s religion the business of the AA member himself and not that of his society."⁴

AA's Twelve Traditions includes No. 2: "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience." Seven of AA's famous Twelve Steps reference God, including:

• 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
• 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
• 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
• 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Newcomers to A.A. are commonly encourage to find a power greater than themselves even if that power is nothing more than a doorknob or an ashtray. Many A.A. members attain long-term sobriety using A.A. itself as a higher power (God is sometimes identified as an acronym, standing for "Group of Drunks"). Even casual acquaintance with A.A.'s program makes it clear that this higher power can be of whatever conception one so chooses. See also the quote of Bill W.'s referred to above.

"Would that the Church were like this," Shoemaker said in 1955, "ordinary men and women with great need who have found a great Answer, and do not hesitate to make it known wherever they can - a trained army of enthusiastic, humble, human workers whose efforts make life a different thing for other people!"

Is Mr Waters saying that a non-religious group of people cannot exhibit these same characteristics? I suspect that any number of political activists would be happy with such a description.

If a group that meets under spiritual precepts, performs rituals, and seeks to heal its members isn't religious, what else is it?

Rituals? To what rituals does Mr Waters refer? He hasn't mentioned any up to this point in the article and doesn't mention any after this either. And without rituals, all that's left is a group that uses spiritual precepts and seeks to heal its members. In at least one sense of the word spiritual, a vast number of groups satisfy this description.

Indeed, much of the argument comes down to whether or not there is a difference between spirituality and religion, and what that difference might be. From the American Heritage Dictionary:

spir·i·tu·al
ADJECTIVE:1. Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not tangible or material. See synonyms at immaterial. 2. Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul. 3. Of, from, or relating to God; deific. 4. Of or belonging to a church or religion; sacred. 5. Relating to or having the nature of spirits or a spirit; supernatural.

As will be clear to anyone who is familiar with A.A. and its program of recovery, A.A. itself would not accept any definition other than one with the broadest possible meaning. The meaning of A.A. being a spiritual program could be that it is religious to the member who is herself religious. That meaning could be only that it is intangible or immaterial to the member who is himself not religious. A.A. itself doesn't care. A.A. is areligious.

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¹Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act—a federal statute passed in 2000 to provide stronger protection for religious freedom in the land-use and prison contexts.

²The opinion footnotes this sentence with the following:

RLUIPA defines “Religious exercise” as follows:

(A) In general. The term “religious exercise” includes any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.

(B) Rule. The use, building, or conversion of real property for the purpose of religious exercise shall be considered to be religious exercise of the person or entity that uses or intends to use the property for that purpose.

³I know from personal experience that the Lord's Prayer is rarely used in Australia, and that because of this Australian members of A.A. pride themselves on being more consistent with A.A. principles than A.A. in the U.S. is.

⁴Full quote, from A Conversation with Bill W., A Synopsis of the Question-Answer Period following Bill W.'s talk at the NCCA Syposium in New York in 1960:

When these Steps were shown to my friends, their reactions were mixed indeed. Some argued that six steps had worked fine, so why twelve? From our agnostic contingent there were loud cries of too much “God.” Others objected to an expression which I had included which suggested getting on one’s knees while in prayer. I heavily resisted these objections for months. But I finally did my statement about a suitable prayerful posture and finally went along with that now tremendously important expression, “God as we understand Him” — this expression having been coined, I think, by one of our former atheist members. This was indeed a ten-strike. That one has since enabled thousands to join AA who would have otherwise gone away. It enabled people of fine religious training and those of none at all to associate freely and to work together. It made one’s religion the business of the AA member himself and not that of his society.

Still above ground and sober

For anyone who's wondering, I'm doing okay. I got elected to another Area office and expect to continue in General Service for another two years. Nimue is divorcing me after nearly three years of separation. Despite that, I feel as good as I have in a long time. Despite some heavy bouts of depression over the last nine months, I recently thought to myself, "Ah, so this is what it feels like not to be depressed! I had forgotten."

Despite the fact that I haven't posted for over nine months, every now and then, someone adds a comment to an old post. This, if nothing else, sporadically reminds me that I'd like to taking up at least semi-regular posting again. Absolutely no promises, we'll see.

Today's reflection

The entry for March 4th in Daily Reflections has long been among my favorites:

The essence of all growth is a willingness to make a change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115

By the time I had reached Step Three I had been freed of my dependence on alcohol, but bitter experience has shown me that continuous sobriety requires continuous effort. Every now and then I pause to take a good look at my progress. More and more of my garden is weeded each time I look, but each time I also find new weeds sprouting where I thought I had made my final pass with the blade. As I head back to get the newly sprouted weed (it’s easier when they are young), I take a moment to admire how lush the growing vegetables and flowers are, and my labors are rewarded. My sobriety grows and bears fruit.

The Bill W. quote inspires me, and the garden metaphor is beautiful and accurate. It describes where I am, where I have mostly been for quite some time.

I am a product of God's grace and mercy. Of his grace, because I got something I didn't deserve; of his mercy, because I didn't get what I did deserve.

Bad language in meetings

The groups in one of the Districts in our Area are having trouble finding locations in which to meet. They've been kicked out of certain churches and the word seems to be spreading among those churches that we're not very good tenants. The two primary issues are (a) too much bad language and (b) smokers congregating around the entrances and leaving butts lying around.

My home group has a requests in our format bearing on these issues and we have [usually] dealt with abuses as they come up. It's something I highly suggest that other groups consider with regard to what their group conscience should be. Every time I hear someone using language generally considered impolite I shudder, imagining some pillar of the church congregation passing by in the hallway at that moment and overhearing us. Personally I have little objection to people using whatever language they wish, but I also think it's important that many people do take offense at such language and that we need to be especially wary with regard to our landlords.

Not too long ago I heard something that covers my feelings on this subject very well:

The absence of profanity offends no one.