October 25 in A.A. History

1939: The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ohio) published the fourth article [right] in Elrick B. Davis’s five-part series titled “Alcoholics Anonymous Makes Its Stand Here.” It read, in part,

What gets the pathological drinker who finally has reached such state that he is willing to listen to a cured rummy member of Alcoholics Anonymous, is that the retrieved alcoholic not only understands what only another alcoholic can understand, but a great deal that the unreformed drunk thinks no one else could know because he has never told anyone, and his difficulties or escapades must be private to his own history.

Fact is the history of all alcoholics is the same; some have been addicts longer than others, and some have painted brighter red patches around the town — that is all. What they have heard in the “cure” hospitals they have frequented, or from the psychoanalysts they have consulted, or the physicians who have tapered them off one bender or another at home, has convinced them that alcoholism is a disease. But they are sure (a) that their version of the disease differs from everyone else’s and (b) that in them it hasn’t reached the incurable stage anyway.…

He presents his excuses to the retrieved alcoholic who has come to talk. Can’t sleep without liquor. Worry. Business troubles. Debt. Alimentary pains. Overwork. Nerves too high strung. Grief. Disappointment. Deep dark phobic fears. Fatigue. Family difficulties. Loneliness.

The catalog has got no farther than that when the member of Alcoholics Anonymous begins rattling off an additional list.

“Hogwash,” he says. “Don’t try those alibis on me. I have used them all myself.”

2007: Joe McQ. [left], the original “Joe” of the “Joe & Charley Big Book Studies,” died at 78.

October in A.A. History—day unknown

1953: At a meeting of English-speaking and Belgian alcoholics in Brussels, the capital of Belgium^* [left: Sint-Joost-Ten-Noode, a municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, just NE of the City of Brussels. 1953], Jean L. (a French speaker) introduced the book Alcoholics Anonymous and the principles of the A.A. program. Within months, A.A. groups were meeting not only in the Belgian capital but also in cities and towns throughout Flanders and Wallonia.

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^* Belgium is multilingual, having three official languages—Dutch (1st language of ~50%, 2nd of ~13%), French or Belgian French (1st language of ~36%, 2nd of ~46%), and German (1st language of ~1%, 2nd of ~17%)—and, unofficially, four Romance languages (Walloon, Picard, Champenois, Lorraine), two Germanic languages (Marollian or Marois, Yiddish), three Dutch dialects (Brabantian, West Flemish, East Flemish), two German dialects (Limburgish, Luxembourgish), and three sign languages (French Belgian, Flemish, German). A number of foreign languages are also in use, mostly as second languages (population percentages given in parentheses): English (~49–58%), Spanish (~4–9%), Italian (~4%), Arabic (~2–3%), Russian (~2%), Polish (~1%), Portuguese (~1%), and Turkish (~1%) [right: ethnic/linguistic map of Belgium].

1954: The Alcoholic Foundation was renamed the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous.

1954: The Al-Anon Family Groups Clearing House was incorporated as Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.

1954: Arthur M., co-founder of A.A. in Argentina, died suddenly. By that time, a small group of eight A.A. members had formed in Buenos Aires.