September 9 in A.A. History

1925: Melvin D. “Mel” B. [left, c. WWII] was born in Norfolk, Nebraska, the eldest son (with an older sister) of the three children of Bertha E. Swish­er and Learner A. B.

One of his schoolmates would be Johnny Carson, the longtime host of The Tonight Show. In 1950, Mel would sober up in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and become a prolific writer, freelancing for Ohio’s The Toledo Blade and authoring numerous books and articles. Writing as “Mel B.,” he contributed dozens of articles to the A.A. Grapevine and published several recovery- and A.A.-related books. Additionally, he served as the primary author, without attribution, of Pass It On [right], the General Service Conference-approved biography of Bill W.

1933: William “Bill” B. was born in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of William and Ruth McLintock B.

He would get sober on 8 April 1962 in Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and become a close friend of Lois W. [left: Bill with Lois] for the last 16 years of her life. He would author The Lois W―― Story: When Love is Not Enough (2005), along with 24 other titles. He would co-write the screenplay for the movie of the same name (2010) and write the screenplay for, as well as act in the role of “Wade” in, My Name Is Bill W. (1989). Additionally, he would produce several other films, including Dog Day Afternoon, Kansas City Bomber, and Serpico. He would serve as a volunteer at Stepping Stones (Bill and Lois’ former home) for half a century and sit on the Stepping Stones Foundation Board of Trustees from 1997 to 2006.

1935: Ernest “Ernie” K. [right] was born in Rochester, New York—just three months after Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) was founded. He was the oldest of two children of Edward and Josephine K. (a 4-syllable Polish name). In 2009, he would reflect back on his surname:

Eight years of grammar school in a German parish shortened that name for practical use, and when I began graduate school bringing transcripts in two names, I was ad­vised to choose one. Tired of too-lengthy phone interactions, I opted for the one that was easier to spell. But I do remain proud of my Polish heritage and advertise it when­ever appropriate.

In 1979, Hazelden Educational Services would publish Ernie’s Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous, a revised and expanded version of his 1978 Harvard University dissertation. He went on to write at least six more books, along with numerous monographs and articles on the intellectual significance of A.A., recovery, and spirituality.

1936: Lois W.’s father, Dr. Clark Burnham [left], age 81, or possibly 80, died of pneumonia [right: New York Times obituary] at Mount Vernon Hospital in Mount Vernon, New York. He had graduated with honors from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and studied medicine at the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), specializing in gynecology. After his death, the Burnham family home at 182 Clinton St., Brooklyn, New York, was taken over by the mortgage company, but they allowed Lois and Bill W. to live there at a reduced rent (due to rent controls in the depressed housing market) until the end of April 1939.

September in A.A. History—day unknown

1948: The A.A. Grapevine published an article titled “And So From My Heart I Say,” by Rev. Sam Shoemaker [left], reflecting on the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.):

It does not seem many years ago since we invited some of our gentleman-drunk friends to come and stay at Calvary House; and when there was a “second floor” to old Calvary Mission, down in the Gas House District, where some of the men who knew better days and were ‘standing’ in the new-found way of life were living together in a kind of starkly simple spiritual community.

We made a lot of mistakes in those old days. Some of the boys helped the others, as we hoped they would; but some helped them downwards instead of upwards. Yet these early experiments had their contribution to make to the beginnings of Alcoholics Anonymous. At least they showed some of the ways not to do it.

Bill often says he saw something in these men which showed him there was a law in operation here, [sic] If a few men could find sobriety through what William James called “a firmer hold on religious realties [sic],” then many might. He went to work to discover what those laws were, and to set about ways of making them available to more people.

Bill is a smart fellow, but I shall always believe there was something way beyond Bill working in the amazing shrewdness with which he gained his insight into alcoholics, into eternal spiritual laws, and into the ways in which one can bring men and women into touch with God without raising needless religious prejudices and creating unnecessary spiritual divisions.