January 20 in A.A. History

In 1841, Gardner Griffith, Bill W.’s maternal grandfather, was born in Dorset, Vermont. He and his wife, Ella Brock Griffith, would raise Bill from the age of about 10.

20 Jan 1933 front page

In 1933, members of the Oxford Group were greeted at the Mayflower Hotel by leading citizens of Akron, Ohio. The following evening, The Akron Beacon Journal reported [right]:

    A formal dinner for 130 preceded the regular meeting and the photographer snapped F. A. Seiberling, president of Seiberling Tire & Rubber Co., and Miss Olivia Jones, member of the group and former president of the National Education association [sic], as they walked from the private dining hall.
    The Oxford movement has been called “religion in every day clothes” and the camera caught three of the group in full evening dress, as they prepared to enter the meeting hall. Mrs. Ruth Buchanan, the fox-hunting member from Virginia is talking to Sir Walter Windham, English business man, while Frau von Cramon, German schoolmistress is adding her comments in a pleasant German accent.

In 1937, articles of Incorporation were granted by the State of Delaware to Henry G. P▒▒▒▒▒, Inc. 

January 19 in A.A. History

In 1939, the first published reference to Alcoholics Anonymous anywhere was in The Hackettstown (New Jersey) Courier-Post in an article titled “There Is Hope.” It was written by Silas B. a noted journalist, book editor, and author who had been the third member of A.A. in New York City, but who would also suffer a “spectacular slip” within a year. In the article,  he tells Hank P.’s story without naming anyone and without providing information on how to contact A.A.

In 1940, Dorothy S. of Cleveland, Ohio wrote to Ruth Hock describing Larry J. as a brilliant newspaperman who, at 40, was down and out “owing to John Barleycorn.” She asked the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City to help Larry start a group in Houston, Texas, which they did.
    Larry’s story began in Cleveland in late 1939. Weighing 100 lbs [45 kg], he had been found in freezing weather with no coat, a collapsed lung from tuberculosis, and near death, in terrible physical condition. In a Cleveland hospital he had been slowly recovering from the DT’s, malnutrition, and exposure. Local A.A. members, including Clarence S., Dorothy’s husband, had visited and cared for him regularly. Because of his ailments, Larry had been advised to move to a warm climate. Without ever having attended an A.A. meeting, he boarded a train for Houston, with only a Big Book. As he read it on the train, he had a spiritual awakening and went on to found A.A. in Texas.

In 1944, Bill W. returned from his first major A.A. tour, which he had begun on 24 October 1943.

In 1999, Francis “Frank” M., G.S.O. Archivist since 1982, died in Vero Beach, Florida, 8 days shy of his 65th birthday. Frank, sober since 10 June 1970, was widely known as a dedicated A.A. member and A.A. historian. He was a 21-year employee of the General Service Office—first as an administrative assistant and, until his retirement in 1998, as G.S.O.’s Archivist. Frank often referred to himself as “the Happy Archivist.” In his many talks about the G.S.O. Archives, he emphasized that the primary reason for having archives is so “we don't forget where we’ve come from.”

In 2015, Dr. Ernest “Ernie” Kurtz, 79, author of Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous, died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

January 18 in A.A. History

In 1939, The Alcoholic Foundation Board of Trustees met. They unanimously agreed to add two trustees to the board, one Class A (non-alcoholic) and one Class B (alcoholic), and then unanimously elected Dr. Leonard V. Strong (Bill W.’s brother-in-law) and Harry B. (whose story is “A Different Slant” in the 1st edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous) to fill the positions. Dr. Strong would serve on the board until October 1954 (as secretary), then become a trustee emeritus until July 1960. Harry was also elected as the second chairman of the board (following William “Bill” R.). He would soon return to drinking and be replaced in December 1939, serving less than a year. From that time until 2024, the Chairman of the Board was always a Class A Trustee. The trustees appointed their own successors and were, as Bill W. said, “chartered to do everything under the sun.”
    Bill gave a lengthy report on the book, tentatively titled 100 Men. The minutes note that “the Alcoholic Foundation does not have any legal connection whatsoever with the organization or operation of this to-be-formed publishing company,” although they agree to accept “a contribution of $0.35 per volume sold if and when the book is published and put on sale” [emphasis added]. However, “the sentiment [of the board] to render all such possible assistance [as individuals] was unanimous, …” and at least three of the Class A trustees would purchase stock in Work Publishing, Inc. within days.

In 1948, a United Press “Wire Brief” on page 2 of The Sunday Morning Star of Wilmington, Delaware, reported on what they called A.A.’s “first international conference”:

DETROIT—The first international conference of members of Alcoholics Anonymous opened here last night in perhaps the driest convention on record. Some 3,000 delegates from throughout the midwest and two Canadian provinces toasted their first meeting with a soft drink punch in an unannounced part of the city.

 In 1950, The Fort Payne (Alabama) Journal published a short, unsigned article about two glimpses “inside” Alcoholics Anonymous by two of its members in two different places. The first talk was described as “very fine and impressive;” the second as “a soul stirring [sic] address along the lines of what Alcoholics Anonymous has meant to him and what it can mean to others.” Of A.A. itself, the author said, “We have nothing but praise” and called it “a great organization doing a great work. And we believe it to be an inspired one.”

Hank P.

In 1954, Henry “Hank” P. [left], 58, died at Mercer Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, after a long illness at Glenwood Sanitarium. Lois W. said it was from alcoholism. Ruth Hock wrote, “If it weren’t for Bill W. the Big Book would never have been written. If it weren’t for Hank P. the Big Book would never have been published.” Hank is credited in a number of sources with writing Chapter 10, “To Employers,” in Alcoholics Anonymous. He also hand-wrote a key portion of Bill’s story as an edit to the multilith manuscript master copy.

January 16 in A.A. History

Headline:
"U.S. IS VOTED DRY"

In 1919, with Nebraska’s adoption of the 18th Amendment, the 36th state (of 48) to do so, the 18th Amendment became part of the United States Constitution [right: front page of the Anti-Saloon League’s The American Issue^*, 25 Jan 1919]. This amendment prohibited “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof.” Note that this language did not prohibit the use, possession, or even manufacture of alcohol for private, personal use.
    As Dr. Bob pointed out in his story “Doctor Bob’s Nightmare” in all four editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, he did not realize at first that the government would accommodate his alcoholism by allowing doctors almost unlimited supplies of grain alcohol for “medicinal purposes.” During Prohibition, Dr. Bob would go to the phone book, pick out a name at random, and fill out a prescription to get himself a pint of 100-proof medicinal alcohol.

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^* The total circulation of The American Issue in 1919 was 837,200,172 copies!

In 1920, At midnight, Prohibition went into effect throughout the United States, one year after the ratification of the 18th Amendment. It had provided that the “Congress and the several States” would have the power to enforce Prohibition, but the enabling legislation—the Volstead Act, named for Minnesota’s Rep. Andrew Volstead but written by The Anti-Saloon League’s Wayne Wheeler—left no room for local options or other flexibility. Ironically, the law called for a vast increase in federal intervention in society just as “limited government” advocates were coming into office (Prohibition was in effect during the presidencies of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover). A parsimonious Congress was reluctant to appropriate enough money for effective enforcement.
    The result would be a decade of lawlessness, with citizens flouting the law in speakeasies and bootleggers corrupting public officials. On Capitol Hill, the bootlegger George Cassiday [right, 1930], known as “The Man in the Green Hat,” would operate freely out of the House office building. The Senate successfully prevented his client list from ever being made public!
    Alcohol consumption and deaths from cirrhosis of the liver would both decline during Prohibition, while Bill W., Dr. Bob S. and other A.A. pioneers would do their heaviest drinking during this period. Terms like “rumrunner,” “bootlegger,” “speakeasy” and “bathtub gin” would soon enter the national vocabulary.

In 1945, A meeting was held at the Hotel Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio to elect the first administrative body to open and guide the functions of a Downtown A. A. District [Central] Office. Jack D., Paul J., Charles D., Dr. F. F. and Cliff B. were elected to the first Operating Committee. Dick S., Elmer L. and Abby G. were elected to the Nominating Committee. The Finance Committee reported that in response to a December letter soliciting funds, about 200 members had contributed $3,600, and many pledges had been made to contribute as soon as the office was open.

January 15 in A.A. History

"Fitz" M.

In 1937, John Henry Fitzhugh “Fitz” M. [left] began trying to start an A.A. meeting in Washington, DC. He would do so for much of the next 2½ years. His sister lived in Washington, and he stayed with her for at least part of that time. He had minimal success at first, but by the fall of 1939 he had established the nucleus of a small group.

In 1941, Bill W. asked Ruth Hock to get him a copy of what he called a “spook book”: The Unobstructed Universe, by Stewart Edward White.

In 1942, Jeanne C. held the first A.A. meeting in Springfield, Missouri.
    While living temporarily in Kansas City, Missouri, during World War II, she had seen an advertisement for Alcoholics Anonymous in the classified section of The Kansas City Star. She had written to the P.O. Box, then joined the Kansas City Number One group and got sober. After returning to Springfield, she stayed sober for two years by making frequent trips to Kansas City, despite gas rationing, and by corresponding with Bobbie B. at the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City.
    Eventually she wrote an article about A.A. for the local Springfield paper and got a post office box. When she had a dozen names, she set the place and date for the first meeting in Springfield: at her house on 15 January.
    Later, Jeanne would help A.A. get started in Joplin, Missouri, after receiving a call from Jim S. asking how to start a group. Jeanne would respond by gathering several carloads of members from Springfield and Kansas City and descending on Joplin.

In 1945, Newsweek magazine published  “It’s Fun to be Sober” in its MEDICINE section, about Joe, a seaman, who formed his own “club”—the A.A. Seamen’s Group in the clubhouse on W. 24th St. in New York City, the site of the original A.A. clubhouse.

In 1946, the Times-Herald of Washington, DC reported,

    Eight new patients and six who were formerly treated at the Force School presented themselves as willing subjects for an alcoholic cure when the Polk Health Center Alcoholic Clinic for Negroes went into operation January 15. Co-operating with the new clinic is the Washington Negro Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, which meets Fridays and Sundays at 8:30 p.m. in the Y.M.C.A. at 1816 Twelfth St. NW. The group supplies volunteer clerical help for the clinic, and alcoholics who require group therapy are referred to the organization by the doctors.

In 1958, Ernest Jacoby died in Boston, Massachusetts. He had been the founder of the Jacoby Club, which helped alcoholic men and indigent older men in Boston, Massachusetts. His wife, Alice G. Hovey Jacoby, died about a day later.

In 2005, Esther C., 95, died in Kissimmee, Florida, with her family by her side. She got sober on 23 Jul 1943, when she was 12th-stepped by Clarence S. and four other A.A. members in Cleveland, Ohio. She used to ride from Cleveland to meetings in Akron on a “Little Indian Scout” motorcycle.

January 14 in A.A. History

Ruth Hock

In 1941, Ruth Hock [right] sent out A.A. Bulletin #2 noting that A.A. was starting in five more cities—St. Louis, Missouri already had ten members—and that there was some activity in Vancouver, British Columbia. The bulletin included a “Flash!!!” lead item that The Saturday Evening Post would be publishing an article on Alcoholics Anonymous by Jack Alexander and that there would likely be many inquiries in response to the article. Members and groups were warned to “stand by for active duty.”

Also in 1941, the Waterbury (CT) Democrat published an item about Alcoholics Anonymous in the eponymous syndicated column “Walter Winchell On Broadway”:

    There is a group called “Alcoholics Anonymous” in New York, the moving spirit being a well known transatlantic flyer [sic] … The group’s aim is to “straighten out any fellow who will even admit he drinks too much … They meet at an illustrator’s place and have big “rallies”. These “rallies” are attended sometimes by hundreds of lushes many of whom have been in institutions for alcoholics etc. … They’ve succeeded where doctors and psychiatrists have failed, working on the theory that only a drunk know [sic] hohw [sic] to talk to a drunk.

January 13 in A.A. History

In 1941, just three months after the founding of A.A. in Toledo, Ohio, the nine original members who had gone to Akron to “learn” A.A. (and become what were then called “Trainers”), rented space on the 3rd floor of the J. George Kapp Building at 413 Summit St., and decided on a name: The Downtown Group. There were thirteen members at the time.
    A few months later, Jack Alexander’s article about A.A. appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. Soon, membership and recognition of A.A. increased substantially throughout the country, including Toledo. In just over a year, the Downtown Group grew to over 100 members. Weekly meetings averaged more than 40 attendees. It soon became apparent that the group had outgrown its meeting space, and it was decided to break up into smaller groups. Thus, A.A. in Toledo was born and began to grow.

In 1943, the first A.A. meeting in Toronto, Ontario was held without fanfare at the Little Denmark Restaurant at 720 Bay St. between Gerrard and College Streets. The non-alcoholic Revs. George Little and Percy Price met with six alcoholics. There was enough interest that a second meeting was scheduled for a week later. This was the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous in Ontario. Harry Emerson Fosdick's very positive review of the newly published Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, in January 1940…

    … stirred an interest in Dr. George A. Little, D.D., then a fifty-six year old Minister of the United Church of Toronto. Dr. Little had been a caring man who had unsuccessfully attempted to help alcoholics gain sobriety. Fosdick's review led him first to make copies of the book, then to order a personal copy of the Big Book for himself. Having read the book, he began in earnest mimeographing portions of it which he distributed to anyone he felt could further the cause or more importantly, to those he felt might be helped themselves. With his good intentions and tireless effort, people started to want more, and as a result, he ordered five copies of the Big Book in June, 1941. As an enthusiastic supporter of A.A., Dr. Little continued to be the alcoholics’ friend—so much so that he enrolled at the Yale University School of Alcoholic Studies from which he graduated in 1941.

In 1988, Dr. John L. “Jack” Norris, 85, died of complications from pneumonia at New London Hospital in New London, New Hampshire.
    Dr. Jack was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and graduated from Dartmouth College and McGill University Medical School. From 1943 to 1969, he was medical director of the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, N.Y. During this time, he developed expertise in the treatment of alcoholism, which he considered one of the nation’s most pressing medical problems. After retiring from Eastman Kodak in 1969, he founded Lake Sunapee Home Health Care Inc. of New London, a visiting nurse service, and the Hospice of the Kearsarge Valley, for terminally ill patients. He was chairman of Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller's Advisory Council on Alcoholism from 1961 to 1971, a Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustee of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous from 1951 to 1961, its chairman from 1961 to 1978, and a Trustee Emeritus until his death.

Dr. Earle M.

In 2003, Dr. Earle M. [left], 91, died in Walnut Creek, California. He sobered up on 15 June 1953; Bill W. was his sponsor and close friend. Earle’s story, “Physician Heal Thyself,” appeared in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. He was buried at sea.

January 12 in A.A. History

Bill's 3rd pledge
written in the family Bible

In 1929, Bill W. wrote a third pledge [right] in the family Bible: “To tell you once more that I am finished with it. I love you.”

In 1966, Horace C., 75, died in Readington, New Jersey. He joined A.A. (#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., who were homeless from April 1939 to April 1941, lived in his bungalow in Green Pond, New Jersey, in the spring of 1939.
    In 1940, Horace and Bert T. found the site and guaranteed the rent for the first A.A. clubhouse on 24th Street in Manhattan.
    That same year he became a Class B (alcoholic) Trustee of the Alcoholic Foundation. He was Vice-President of Works Publishing, Inc. when its financial report was published in June 1940.
    His picture appeared 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 suggested that they print it on wallet cards and then paid for the printing.       In the early 1940s, the Alcoholic Foundation sent him to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. to sound out groups and gain support for the Alcoholic Foundation’s headquarters in New York City.

January 11 in A.A. History

In 2008, a memorial service honoring Robert “Bob” P. was held in Sun Valley, Idaho following his death on January 1. Bob made significant contributions to Alcoholics Anonymous, serving on the General Service Board from 1968 to 1974 and as General Service Office (G.S.O.) General Manager from 1974 to 1984. His personal story, “A.A. Taught Him to Handle Sobriety,” is in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous [see January 1 for more about Bob P.].

 

January 10 in A.A. History

In 1944, a letter, presumably sent to the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City, announced the first meeting of a group in Burlington, Iowa, with five members and a contingent from Des Moines, Iowa, to start them off. Also present was a Catholic priest, Father T. J. Lew, who was so taken with what he saw that he preached his Sunday sermon on A.A. By the end of the month, Des Moines membership would be up to 50, and a group would have started in Marshalltown, Iowa.

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.

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.

Studying the steps as laid out in the Big Book

IMNSHO, there's no way to become familiar with the program of Alcoholics Anonymous like doing a study of the Big Book, paragraph by paragraph, in a group, with plenty of time to comment and discuss with each other.

Tuesday night my sponsor, in his home, started [what I think is] the fourth such annual study group. Most years, including this year, we use what I recently learned is the Hyannis rotation to determine which pages in the Big Book to read for which steps. It comprises "The Doctor's Opinion" and chapters 3 ("More About Alcoholism"), 4 ("We Agnostics"), 5 ("How It Works"), 6 ("Into Action") and 7 ("Working with Others"). While not specified we usually read Appendix II ("Spiritual Experience"), which of course was added after the first printing of the first edition to clarify that not every alcoholic need have a as vivid an experience as Bill W. had in order to recover. Last year we also used Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

It was originally my suggestion that we follow the Hyannis rotation. I knew about it because of a regular Big Book Step Study group that I attend whenever I can. At that group's meeting, we read a page at a time rather than a paragraph at a time, but the discussion generally stays focused on the step being studied and is usually quite excellent. I've learned a tremendous amount there.

That Big Book Step Study group was started about a dozen years ago and originally used the chairperson's guidelines (somewhat loosely I believe—I only started attending later) and the Hyannis Preamble, modified so that only those who had worked all twelve steps could share. Early on, by group conscience, they abandoned that requirement, as well as the one in the Hyannis Preamble that only those who had worked the step being studied could share.

So far as I know this group was never—and is still not—listed in the Hyannis directory of "official" Big Book Step Study meetings. I'm just as glad. The idea of putting an "official" seal of approval on any group disturbs me. I'm not exactly sure why, though the first—and, so far, only—thought that comes to mind is that it may violate the Third Tradition: an A.A. group can have no other affiliation than that with A.A. itself.

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P.S. On an entirely unrelated note, the fortune cookie that came with my Thai lunch said, "You are the master of every situation." Ha!