May 21 in A.A. History

In 1945, The New Republic published “Blueplate Gospel,” a review by Dr. Leslie H. Farber [left, c. 1981] of September Remember [right: 1st printing cover], by Eliot Taintor*. The review stated, in part,

    The advantage of the present 300-page pamphlet (disguised as a pulp-style novel) over the shorter booklets distributed by AA, lies in its detailed revelations of group ac­tivity. While the formal weekly meetings are devoted to inspirational talks by ex-alcoholics, coffee is drunk in no blue-nose spirit; good fellowship abounds (“You can get that sense of abandon without liquor”). AA members feel a natural solidarity: the way they would “get up and talk at meetings, really let their hair down, made other contacts seem thin and superficial. Other people shadowy.”

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* “Eliot Taintor” is a pseudonym for Ruth Fitch and Gregory Mason, a married couple.

In 1960, The Saturday Evening Post [right: cover] published “I Always Have Help,” written anonymously. The introduction read:

    A man who has had more than his share of trouble—alcoholism, shattered marriage, tragic losses—tells anonymously how he manages to face life, one day at a time.

The anonymous author wrote, in part,

    As I write this I’m in as warty a financial pickle as a small businessman could contrive—broke, no property, heavy family responsibili­ties, head of a small concern which is also broke, with creditors expecting in a few months to be paid $20,000 [about $190,000 in 2022] it hasn’t got. Less than this has driven highly strung people to break­down and even suicide, and I confess I am a little uneasy. But because of a limited grasp of a philosophy which members of a celebrated secret society call The 24-Hour Plan, I’m fairly confident of pulling through.… I took up with some people who were supposed to know how to lay hold of a situation of this kind. They gave me a book called Alcoholics Anonymous, and my eye fell on a remarkable passage. Be­fore I tell you what it said, let me assure the reader that he doesn’t have to be an alcoholic to proceed with this article; everyone concerned with open-minded living may find something of interest.

May 20 in A.A. History

In 1908, Sybil Doris A. [left: a young Sybil with her two older brothers] was born to Addie Jones and Henry A., poor but hardworking parents, in Melrose, New Mexico (probably at 108 Fifth Street, where the family was living in 1910 [right: 100 block, Aug 2019]). They soon moved to the small oil town of Simmons, Texas.

    Sybil began drinking around the age of 14 after her family relocated to Los Angeles, California, from Texas. She had a child with her first husband, James Stratton, a sailor. She believed that having the child would help her stop drinking, but instead, she drank more than ever. Eventually, her parents took the child from her.

    In 1928, she married Lyle Hart, with whom she had two children—one who died the day she was born in 1929 and another in 1931. They lived at 7319 S. Halldale Street [left, Dec 2017] in Los Angeles. In 1938, she married Richard M., and they lived for many years at 7711 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles [right: Sybil as a young adult].

    As Sybil M., she became the first woman west of the Mississippi to get sober in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.). She later became best known by her fourth and second-to-last married name, Sybil C.

In 1938, two days after receiving an advance from Charles B. Towns, Bill W., who had been sober for less than 3½ years, began writing the book that would eventually become Alcoholics Anonymous. He likely began with his own story, marking the first of three attempts. This initial effort remains as a handwritten manuscript of fourteen paragraphs on eight sheets of yellow legal paper, titled “The Strange Obsession” [left: page 1].

In 1941, the 15th A.A. group in the Cleveland, Ohio area was formed and met at 12214 Detroit Ave. [right, Nov 2015], Lakewood, Ohio, with 16 members. It was the first known women’s group.

May 19 in A.A. History

In 1942, the War Department’s Office of the Adjutant General responded to Bill W.’s request for a commission in World War II, dated 6 March 1942. The reply [right] was a non-responsive form letter that stated, among other things:

All new applicants for the Army or the Army Specialist Corps are now being asked to fill out a revised form of questionnaire in duplicate.

You will note that the new questionnaire calls for more details than the old form you filled out originally. The reason for asking for more details is that they are needed by the Army Specialist Corps so that the applicant’s training, experience, skills, and interests can be adequately considered by that Corps when the branches of the Army call upon it to locate and appoint civilians fitted for specific technical, professional or administrative duties.

Sending you the new form to fill out does not mean that an offer of appointment will necessarily be made in the immediate future. All that can be said is that the revised system will make it easier to consider your application when men with your qualifications are needed. You are particularly requested not to make inquiries of the War Department as to the probability of your employment.

In 2000, Dr. Paul O. [left, with wife Max], sometimes referred to as “the funniest man in A.A.,” died at the age of 83 in Mission Viejo, California.
    His story, “Bronzed Moccasins,” credited to “A Physician in California,” was published in the May 1975 issue of the A.A. Grapevine. It later appeared in the third edition of Alcoholics Anonymous as “Doctor, Alcoholic, Addict,” and in the fourth edition as “Acceptance Was the Answer.” Dr. Paul began his journey to sobriety in December 1966, sobriety in December 1966, achieving permanent sobriety in July 1967. He started Pills Anonymous and Chemical Dependency Anonymous, but did not attend either group. He did not introduce himself as “an alcoholic and addict.” He was irritated by those who sought to include addictions other than alcoholism in A.A. In a July 1995 interview with the A.A. Grapevine, he expressed that his story may have “overshot the mark” because it was used to justify drug discussions in meetings. He felt “most uncomfortable” when members recognized him and thanked him for providing justification for such discussions. However, he also maintained that there was nothing in his story he would change.

May 18 in A.A. History

In 1926 [Date uncertain^*] Bill and Lois W. [right, 1926, on their Harley] were involved in a serious motorcycle accident while traveling through the eastern U.S. on a Harley-Davidson with a sidecar, as they researched publicly traded companies. The day before, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, they had decided to head straight home to arrive in time for her sister Kitty’s wedding on June 17. Lois later wrote,

    Just outside of Dayton, Tennessee, I was driving on a sandy road, which apparently ran straight ahead, when suddenly, hidden by a large barn, it made a sharp
angled turn to the right. I tried to force the wheels, but the sand was too deep and over we went. Bill, in the sidecar, was thrown over my head, breaking his collarbone as he landed; I twisted my leg, causing water on the knee; the equipment flew in every direction; and the trunk burst open.
    Luckily a man in a car soon came along and drove us, dazed and badly scratched, to a doctor in town who set Bill’s shoulder, bandaged my knee, and there being no hospital, settled us in a hotel room over his office.
    During our week’s stay there, Bill and I tried to picture what the town had been like the year before during the Scopes Evolution trial. We imagined William Jennings Bryan as he paced back and forth on one of the hotel’s five fancy grill-railed balconies rehearsing his speech, and Clarence Darrow with his chair tilted back against the wall and his feet on the rail, haranguing a coterie of youths; while the streets were crowded with visitors come to hear the great orator and see the show.
    It wasn’t too long before we were able to return to the fateful corner. The man who had picked us up had collected all our duffle and put it and the motorcycle into the barn, as he said he would. Although the door was left open, and more than a week had passed, not a single article was missing; even such attractive and easily packed items as the traveling clock, compass and radio were all there.
    We made arrangements to have the motorcycle and most of the gear shipped to Brooklyn. Then in a few days, when the doctor said we could travel, we took the train for home.

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^* Dayton is about 210 miles [~340 km] northeast of Muscle Shoals. The date assigned assumes it took one day to get there.

 

In 1950, Dr. Bob S. told Bill W., “I reckon we ought to be buried like other folks,” after hearing that A.A. members in Akron, Ohio, were hoping to erect a large monument to him. Bill recounted this in his “Dr. Bob” tribute in the January 1951 A.A. Grapevine [left: Dr. Bob and Anne’s grave]:

A year ago, when Anne passed away, the thought of an im­posing shaft came uppermost in the minds of many. People were insistent that something be done. Hear­ing rumors of this, Dr. Bob promptly declared against AAs erecting for Anne and himself any tangible memorials or monument. These usual symbols of personal distinction he brushed aside in a single devas­tating sentence. Said he, “Annie and I plan to be buried just like other folks.”

In 1978, at 1:10 a.m., an explosive device, believed to be dynamite, detonated at the front door of what the FBI identified as “the Alcoholics Anonymous^* Faith Club” [right] at 2814 Clovis Road, Lubbock, Texas. Fortunately, there were no injuries; however, property damage was estimated at $2,500 [~$12,000 in 2024].

    Lubbock police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the scene. The FBI, Secret Service, and an Assistant U.S. District Attorney for the Northern District of Texas were also notified. The ATF agreed that the “FBI would assume jurisdiction… due to possible terrorist involvement.” The FBI attempted to determine whether any “known militant Mexican-American organizations operating in the Lubbock area, or any incidents which would create a climate for militant activity,” However, no suspects were ever identified, and no charges were filed [left: first non-cover page, redacted, of 37-page FOIA response regarding this incident].

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^* It appears that other activities, in addition to A.A., were taking place at the Faith Club.

May 17 in A.A. History

In 1926, Bill and Lois Wilson were in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Lois’s entry in her Diary of Two Motorcycle Hobos for this date reads:

    We are not stopping in Pittsburgh as first planned, but are driving straight home, in order to be on time for Kitty’s [her sister’s] wedding. Now that we are on the home stretch, we can hardly wait to get there.

In 1942, a newspaper in New Haven, Connecticut, published an article about Alcoholics Anonymous that included a photo of members sitting in a circle.

In 1942, The Journal-Herald in Dayton, Ohio, published a series of stories [right] about Alcoholics Anonymous, including titles such as “‘Alcoholics Anonymous’,” “EXTRA! AA Clubs in Northwest to Gather June 14th for Picnic at Madison, Wisconsin,” and “‘AA’—National Organization Without Officers and Dues.” Several of these articles featured photos of members wearing Halloween masks to protect their anonymity.

In 1942, The Denver Post in Colorado published an article [left] in its Sunday magazine section titled “Cured by their own ‘HORRIBLE EXAMPLES’” about Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.).

 

In 1942, this photo [right: front, back] was taken and sold exclusively to Saturday Home Magazine, but it may not have been used, according to a note on the back. The text, which could have served as a caption or “cutline” for the photo, states:

    Members of ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ are not reformers. They find that helping others, as this member is doing for the hospitalized man on the bed, is a vital part of the cure for themselves. It's all a part of their own courageous battle which, experience has taught, can be won through confidence and comradeship.

    The date “May 17, [19]42” appears on the back. This usually indicates the intended publishing date, the date the photo was taken, or when the magazine obtained it. However, this photo was featured in an article in Denver, Colorado's The Denver Post on that same date, which is likely what it signifies.
    The individual in the photo certainly appears to be Bill W.

May 16 in A.A. History

In 1941, Ruth Hock learns that Joseph Hooker W., Jr. had a “wet brain.”^*

    Joe was an early member of New York City A.A., referred to by Bill W. as “our first literary light”—a former writer for Metropolitan Magazine^† [right: Sep 1917 cover]—who was “recently scraped out of the Bowery.” He is sometimes credited‡ with coining the title Alcoholics Anonymous, inspired by members’ habit of calling themselves “a nameless bunch of drunks” around October 1938. According to Bill, he made “a burning issue” of it but remained sober only “on and off.”

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^* Known more formally as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, this condition is caused by chronic alcohol intake, resulting in a deficiency of vitamin B1—thiamine—and reduced enzyme activity. Contributing factors include inadequate dietary intake, malabsorption of B1 from the gastrointestinal tract, and impaired utilization of B1 in cells. Without B1, the brain cannot process glucose, depriving it of energy and function.
^† There is no evidence that, as some have speculated, he was a founder of Metropolitan Magazine or a founder and writer for The New Yorker.
^‡ Schaberg identifies the first week of June 1938 as the “likely” earliest documented use of the term “Alcoholics Anonymous,” referring to both the name of the group and the title of the book, as well as any other applications they could think up. The term appears in Bill W.’s first draft of “There Is A Solution” and in Hank P.’s handwritten notes for the book, both written in early June. Lois W. dated the first use to June 15, 1938. Additionally, in a letter dated 24 June 1938, to Albert Scott, Frank Amos—both future Trustees of the Alcoholic Foundation—used the term.

Today in A.A. History—May 16–19

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 70th General Service Conference, a so-called “virtual event,” was held online over four days [left: Michele Grinberg, Class A Trustee and A.A. Grapevine Chair, addresses the 70th GSC]. With only a month’s notice, the General Service Office staff had to scramble to make the conference happen, resulting in a very limited number of agenda items being addressed.

May 15 in A.A. History

In 1945, the Canadian magazine Maclean’s [right: cover] published “I Was a Drunk,” as told to J. J. Dingman. The piece was subtitled “A Personal Experience of Reclamation by Cooperation: The Story of a Practical Fellowship—Alcoholics Anonymous.”

In 1949, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ed W. [far left], the principal author of The Little Red Book [right], wrote a note to Bill W. to inform him that Barry C. [near left] had made significant progress. He also wanted to confirm that Bill had received the copies of The Little Red Book that Ed had sent.

    Published in 1946 by Ed W. and Barry C., The Little Red Book was intended to serve as a guide to A.A.’s Twelve Steps. Dr. Bob Smith contributed to its editing, consulted on the text, and is known to have distributed copies. It was A.A.’s first step book, intended as a companion to the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, just as Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions would later be. Together with the Akron guides and pamphlets, The Little Red Book offers insight into how Dr. Bob worked the steps and guided others through them.
    Although Bill spoke highly of The Little Red Book, the Alcoholic Foundation declined to take over its publication because the Trustees sought a book that A.A. could own. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions was eventually published in 1952.

In 1954, the Baltimore, Maryland Area Groups of Alcoholics Anonymous held their 9th Annual Banquet [left: program] at the Emerson Hotel, located at the intersection of Baltimore and Calvert Streets.

In 1961, Bill W.’s mother, Dr. Emily Ella Griffith Strobell [far right, with Bill in Yosemite National Park, 1947], 91, died at a nursing home in Dobbs Ferry, New York [near right: her gravestone].

1962. in a letter to the Calix Society^*, Bill Wilson wrote:

As you know I always have been personally partial to all persons or organizations whose good will and helpfulness to A.A. is beyond question. You need not have said that you strive to keep your efforts within the framework of the traditions of Alcoholics Anony­mous. I know you have tried and have succeeded.

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^*  A Catholic organization that supports people recovering from alcoholism and other addictions, their families, and friends. Founded in the 1940s, Calix helps members maintain sobriety by integrating their Catholic faith with the principles of 12-Step recovery.

May 14 in A.A. History

In 1939, the first A.A. meeting in New Jersey, and the fourth in the world, was held in Upper Montclair.

In 1948. the Long Beach (California) Central Office [right, 1128 Dawson Ave., Apr 2011] opened with 10 known groups at the time. It was listed in the Long Beach Telephone Directory as:

Alcoholics Anonymous Harbor District
1128 Dawson Ave. — Long Beach, California
Telephone number 305-150 [later changed to 905-150]

According to the story, Jack J. grew tired of traveling to Los Angeles whenever they needed something. So he collaborated with the group in Signal Hill to propose the establishment of a Central Office in Long Beach for the mutual benefit of the groups in the Harbor Area.

In 1998. Sybil C. [far left: 1940s; near left: 1961] died just six days shy of her 90th birthday. A former bootlegger, dance hall girl, and the first woman in Alcoholics Anonymous west of the Mississippi, she also served as Long Beach (California) Archivist and the first executive secretary of California A.A. Sybil got sober on 23 March 1941. Having been married several times, she would often begin her later talks by saying, “My name is Sybil Doris Adams Stratton Hart Maxwell Willis C—–, and I’m an alcoholic.”

May 13 in A.A. History

In 1935, the day after first meeting each other, Bill W. and Dr. Bob S. had dinner together.

May 12 in A.A. History

In 1935 , on this Mother’s Day, Bill W. [near right] (age 39) met Dr. Bob S. [far right] (age 55), his wife Anne, and their son Smitty (age 17) at the home of Oxford Group member Henrietta Buckler Seiberling [far left] —the Gate Lodge [near left] of the Stan Hywet estate^*—at 5 p.m.

     Dr. Bob was so badly hungover that he could not eat dinner and planned to stay only 15 minutes. Left alone in the library, Bill told Bob he was not there to help him but to keep himself sober. He then shared his own experience as an alcoholic, as suggested by Dr. Silkworth, i.e., to emphasize the medical hopelessness rather than preach. Dr. Bob opened up, and he and Bill talked until after 11 p.m., extending Dr. Bob’s planned 15 minutes to over 6 hours. As Dr. Bob would say in his story “Doctor Bob’s Nightmare” (included in all four editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous ) [emphasis is Dr. Bob’s]:

    … he was the first living human with whom I had ever talked, who knew what he was talking about in regard to alcoholism from actual experience. In other words, he talked my language. He knew all the answers, and certainly not because he had picked them up in his reading

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^*  This was the estate of Franklin Augustus “Frank” Seiberling (1859–1955), co-founder of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in 1898 and of the Seiberling Rubber Company in 1921. Estate features include the historic 65-room Tudor Revival Manor House, the Gate Lodge, historic gardens, and the Corbin Conservatory. Frank was father to John Fredrick “Fred” Seiberling (1888–1962), who married Henrietta (1888–1979) in 1917. They separated in 1935, and he moved back into the Manor House; they never divorced.

In 1956, the First Annual A.A. Convention for England and Wales was a two-day event held at the Belle Vue Hotel [right, 1956] in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. At that time, there were 56 registered English groups at the UK headquarters. Sackville M. and Richard P., both from Ireland, served as speakers at the convention.

May 11 in A.A. History

In 1935, it was Saturday. Bill W. [right], not quite five months sober, stood in the lobby of the Mayflower Hotel in Akron, Ohio. Howard Tompkins of Baer and Company had involved Bill in a complicated proxy fight for control of the National Rubber Machinery Company^* in Akron, which, if successful, could have made Bill president and lifted him and Lois out of their dire financial situation. However, the deal fell through, possibly due to rumors of Bill’s drinking. Dejected and distressed, he returned to the Mayflower Hotel where he had been staying.

    In the lobby, Bill found himself powerfully tempted by the lure of the bar. After a few moments of indecision, he suddenly realized that while his work with alcoholics at Towns Hospital had not helped them achieve sobriety, it had helped him remain sober.^† Turning away from the bar, he approached the public phone in the lobby and began calling ministers listed in a church directory by the phone, seeking someone he could work with. He finally reached Rev. Walter Tunks [left], who connected him with a local member of the Oxford Group, Henrietta Seiberling [right].

    Henrietta had recently begun praying for a particular Oxford Group member who was unable to stop drinking. When Bill introduced himself by saying, “I’m from the Oxford Group, and I’m a rum hound from New York,” Henrietta felt her prayer had been  answered, thinking to herself, “This is really like manna from heaven.” She had been praying for someone who could help Dr. Bob S. [left], a surgeon who had been attending her Oxford Group meetings for two and a half years, struggling unsuccessfully to get sober. She told Bill about this doctor. Although she would have invited them both over for dinner, the doctor was already too drunk to meet anyone that night, so Henrietta made plans for the two men to meet the following evening at her home, the Gate Lodge [right] at Stan Hywet, the Seiberling estate.

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^* T. Henry Williams—at whose home the Oxford Group that included Henrietta, the doctor, and the doctor’s wife met—had lost his job as Chief Engineer of the National Rubber Machinery Company in a reorganization earlier that spring.
^† There is no basis for believing that it was Lois who pointed this out, as much as many of us would have wanted it that way.

In 1939, the first group to adopt the name “Alcoholics Anonymous” (after the title of the recently published book) met at the home of Albert “Abby” G. [left], located at 2345 Stillman Rd. in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

    This group would come to be known by various names, including the Cleveland Group, the Stillman Road Group, and the “G” Group. Prior to this meeting, the Cleveland A.A. members had been part of the Akron, Ohio, Oxford Group’s “alcoholic squad,” attending weekly meetings on Wednesdays. During the previous night’s meetin Akron, Clarence S. [right] announced their decision to leave the Akron group and start their own. Clarence later reflected,

    I made the mistake of telling these people the address. They invaded the house and tried to break up our meeting. One fellow was going to whip me. All in the spirit of pure Christian love! But we stood our ground.

May 10 in A.A. History

In 1939, at the regular Wednesday night meeting of the Oxford Group in Akron, Ohio, Clarence S. [right] announced, as he later recounted:

    … that this was the last time the Cleveland [Ohio] bunch was down as a contingent—that we were starting a group in Cleveland that would only be open to alcoholics and their families. Also that we were taking the name from the book Alcoholics Anonymous.
    The roof came off the house. “Clarence, you can’t do this!” someone said.
    “It’s done.”
    “We’ve got to talk about his!”
    “It’s too late,” I said.…
    I made the mistake of telling these people the address.

    Newly sober Albert “Abby” G., [left] a patent attorney from Cleveland, was still in Akron City Hospital, but his wife, Grace, had offered their large home to host the new Cleveland meeting.

In 1946, Searcy W. [right] took his last drink and went on to accumulate 57 years of sobriety before his death on 30 Sep 2003.

In 1969, for Searcy W.’s 23rd anniversary, Bill Wilson gave him a signed copy of his paper promoting vitamin B-3 (niacin) therapy, inscribing it: “For Searcy W. May 10, 1969, Bill W.”

May 9 in A.A. History

In 1882, Silas B. was born in Millersburg, Kentucky, the youngest of three known children of Rev. James McClelland and Sarah Ann “Sallie” Burnam B. He became a journalist, sobered up as A.A. #3 (or 4) in New York City, and wrote an early story about Alcoholics Anonymous titled “There Is Hope” [below], published in the 19 Jan 1939, issue of The Hackettstown (NJ) Courier-Post. He would relapse within a year and died in 1945.

In 1944, at the invitation of Drs. Silkworth and Tiebout, Bill W. gave a talk to the Section on Neurology and Psychiatry at the annual meeting of the Medical Society of the State of New York.

    In 1949, this talk, along with another presented to the American Psychiatric Association, was published as a pamphlet titled “Alcoholism the Illness.” Later, a third talk on alcoholism given by Bill to the New York City Medical Society in 1958 was included, and the pamphlet was retitled “Three Talks to Medical Societies by Bill W.” [left]. This pamphlet was “retired” by a General Service Conference Advisory Action in 2017, as the committee deemed the content “dated” and “not helpful for today’s communication about A.A.”

May 8 in A.A. History

In 1935, five hundred sober alcoholics gathered in Akron, Ohio, to celebrate the 8th anniversary^* of A.A.’s first group, which Bill W. referred to as “Akron Number One” and is now known as “King School Group #1.” After splitting from the Oxford Group in Dec 1939, the A.A. group initially met a few times at Dr. Bob S.’s home before relocating to the King School [right] in Jan 1940, where it remained for many years, possibly until the building closed in 2018.

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^* The official founding date was 4 Jul 1935, the day Bill D., A.A. #3, was discharged from Akron City Hospital. 

 

In 1971, after a church memorial service [left: white-haired Lois, front right], Bill W. was buried [right: gravesite] in a private ceremony at East Dorset Cemetery in East Dorset, Vermont. Bill had always wanted to be buried there with his family, so his body was kept in cold storage in Miami, Florida, inside a Vermont oak casket until the New England ground thawed enough for the burial.

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.