July 11 in A.A. History

In 1950, (Lawrence) Morris Markey, the author of the September 1939 Liberty magazine article “Alcoholics and God,” was found dead at his home in Halifax, Virginia, by family members. The local coroner discovered a small-caliber bullet wound behind his right ear and issued an “open verdict,” stating that there was insufficient evidence to determine whether the death was a homicide, suicide, or accident; the case remains open to this day. The next day’s New York Times headlined the article [right] on page 30 with “Morris Markey, 51, Writer, Shot Dead.”

In 1960, Time magazine [left: cover] published an article titled “Passionately Anonymous,” which covered the 25th anniversary celebration of Alcoholics Anonymous in Long Beach, California. The article began:

The 15,000 men and women who thronged California's Long Beach Memorial Stadium last week differed from most conventioneers in one major respect, there was no danger that any of them would get together in a hotel room to kill a bottle. For this was Alcoholics Anonymous, mustering its recovered, sworn-off drinkers, their relatives and well-wishers to celebrate its 25th anniversary.