Aa history Lovers 2004 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page

the principles we have been discussing. [Big Book, page

87, line 26]

16) The main thing is that he be willing to believe in

a Power greater than himself and that he live by

spiritual principles. [Big Book, page 93, line 10]

17) When dealing with such a person, you had better use

everyday language to describe spiritual principles.

[Big Book, page 93, line 12]

18) We are dealing only with general principles common

to most denominations. [Big Book, page 93, line 12]

19) Should they accept and practice spiritual

principles, there is a much better chance that the head

of the family will recover. [Big Book, page 97, line

29]

20 & 21) When your prospect has made such reparation as

them the new principles by which he is living, he

should proceed to put those principles into action at

home. [Big Book, page 98, lines 26 & 28]

22) The first principle of success is that you should

never be angry. [Big Book, page 111, line 1]

23) If you act upon these principles, your husband may

stop or moderate. [Big Book, page 112, line 20]

24) The same principles which apply to husband number

one should be practiced. [Big Book, page 112, line 22

25) Your new courage, good nature and lack of

self-consciousness will do wonders for you socially.

The same principle applies in dealing with the

children. [Big Book, page 115, line 20]

26) Now we try to put spiritual principles to work in

every department of our lives. [Big Book, page 116,

line 30]

27) Though it is entirely separate from Alcoholics

Anonymous, it uses the general principles of the A.A.

program as a guide for husbands, wives, relatives,

friends, and others close to alcoholics. [Big Book,

page 121, footnote line 3]

28) Another principle we observe carefully is that we

do not relate intimate experiences of another person

unless we are sure he would approve. [Big Book, page

125, line 18]

29) Giving, rather than getting, will become the

guiding principle. [Big Book, page 128, line 2]

30) Whether the family has spiritual convictions or

not, they may do well to examine the principles by

which the alcoholic member is trying to live. [Big

Book, page 130, line 21]

31) They can hardly fail to approve these simple

principles, though the head of the house still fails

somewhat in practicing them. [Big Book, page 130, line

23]

procedure that had helped us. [Big Book, page 139, line

5]

33) The use of spiritual principles in such cases was

156, line 33]

34) Twelve - Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of

all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place

principles before personalities. [Big Book, Appendix I,

page 564, line 32]

35) & 36) There is a principle which is a bar against

all information, which is proof against all arguments

and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting

ignorance -- that principle is contempt prior to

investigation. HERBERT SPENCER [Big Book, Appendix II,

page 570, lines 16 & 19]

[Note: These page numbers are from the 3rd edition, not

the 4th. Nancy]

From: "Arthur Sheehan"

>

Date: Tue May 11, 2004 12:25 pm

Meditation Card

Hi

In comparing the so-called "principles" and

both represent little more than the creative

exercises of individual imagination. Also, the

imagination can go in many well-intended, but

far different, directions. It is easy to go from

"keep it simple" into a realm that can be just a

bit too simplistic.

It's also interesting to note that the

"principles" card was purchased from a "vendor"

yet is being associated with an "AA function."

I'd sure like to see the members who put

together so-called "AA functions" eliminate the

participation of those who sell tapes, trinkets

and t-shirts. Words printed on a card, and sold

by a vendor, are not endowed with any special or

extra insight, authority, validity, accuracy or

historical relevance. The so-called "principles"

and "gifts" cards, do little more than denote

the semantic preferences of the those who did

the word association.

I've seen a number of variations on this theme

(in the form of cards, wall charts, etc.) trying

to reduce the Steps to single words and

asserting that the word represents the

"principle" embodied in the Step. I just don't

see how this rises to the level of an adequate

description.

Much can be gained, and gleaned, from the Steps

(and Traditions and Concepts) both in

understanding and results, when each of them is

viewed as a whole instructive sentence. Each

whole instructive sentence can then be viewed as

a "principle" (i.e. a rule of personal conduct)

that we try to practice in all our affairs as a

means of developing a spiritual condition that

offers a daily reprieve from alcohol. The

resultant God-given gift is something called

"sobriety" (freedom from alcohol).

I'm always amazed at the energy that goes into

reading things into AA's spiritual principles

with perhaps far too much emphasis on cleverness

than clarity. It is often done at the expense of

missing what is written there in rather plain

language. One of our principal principles (rule

#62) is to try to carry a message - not

creatively modify it.

Arthur

From: "Dick" [78]

Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] Principles

Meditation Card

Thank you, Arthur. I wish I could have said it so

eloquently.

Whenever I hear the "principles debate", I think of

page 15, the

Forward to Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (Third

paragraph):

"A.A.'s Twelve Steps are a group of principles,

spiritual in

their nature, which, if practiced as a way of life, can

expel the

obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become

happily and usefully whole."

Bill Wilson clearly intended this to be a "Program of

Action".

Practicing these principles with these goals in mind

seems much more important to me than playing word

games.

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++++Message 1806. . . . . . . . . . . . What Causes A Man to Slip? (1948)

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/15/2004 5:43:00 AM

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Aug. 1948 AA Grapevine

What Causes A Man to Slip? The Program?

From Ponca, Neb.

What is there about a man that causes him to slip? Why, having once accepted

something which he so desperately wanted and needed, does he suddenly get

drunk? Surely there can be nothing wrong with the Program. It has been

effective in too many cases to lay the blame on it; it even proved effective

for the slipper for a good period of time. It can and will prove effective for

him again if he chooses to use it. If the fault does not lie within the

Program then it must be that the fault lies within the man himself. Either he

never actually accepted the Program in the first place, or else he accepted it

with reservations.

Too Much Attention

But perhaps, and most likely, he gradually lost sight of the A.A. Program in

favor of some other related activities and thus just as gradually began

re-inflating an ego that had once been satisfactorily deflated.

Perhaps he began paying too much attention to the related activities that have

somehow become attached to A.A. The result being that he began attaching more

and more importance to these related activities and his relation to them and

less and less importance to the real A.A. Program. Perhaps he began to believe

that these activities were the Program.

Over-emphasis

Thus the over-emphasis on the attached but basically unrelated activities

tended to obscure in his mind his continuing need for the basic A.A. Program.

He began to drop his own A.A. in favor of conventionitis and banquetitis to

such an extent that what was once recognized as a desperate need gradually

came to be considered as no need at all. His ego and self-sufficiency began to

build itself up again.

From a program of personal salvation the shift was to a program of personal

glorification. Instead of worrying about the problem of alcohol, he began

worrying about making his speeches click. In-stead of seeking help, he began

to seek applause. Pride began to replace humility. He began to lose his

salvation because he forgot that he needed it. He no longer needed to be saved

because he was saved already. He could now turn his attention to things more

important than the search for God.

God Not Important

God was not so important anymore because he had become important in him-self.

His prayer was no longer "Thy will be done,"' but "My will be done." The

poisonous vapors of self-concern began to cloud his vision. The reliance upon

God was over for he had become a self-sufficient alcoholic again, concerned

about his own importance and welfare. Then lo and behold--he slipped.

In view of these slips it seems essential that we continue to re-examine

ourselves as alcoholics and our relationship as alcoholics to the A.A. Program

as our way of life. - L.T.C.

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++++Message 1807. . . . . . . . . . . . Rowland Hazard

From: NMOlson@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/15/2004 3:04:00 AM

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THE ROUNDTABLE OF AA HISTORY

April 12, 1998

**************

Rowland Hazard (1881-1945)

**************************

[This is being reposted as the original post became garbled. Nancy]

Rowland Hazard was the sober alcoholic who brought the spiritual message of

The Oxford Group to Ebby Thacher. Thacher carried the message to Bill Wilson.

Wilson then based much of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous on Oxford

Group principles. The rest is history; millions have recovered from

alcoholism.

Hazard was born October 29, 1881, into a prominent, enormously wealthy Rhode

Island industrial family. He was the oldest son of Rowland Gibson and Mary

Pierrepont Bushnell Hazard. An unbroken line of Hazard men named Rowland dates

back to 1763. His grandfather and great-great-grandfather had the same name.

So: he sometimes used the name Rowland Hazard III. He named one of his

companies, Rowland Third, Inc. The Hazard family's colonial roots dated back

to 1635 and its members were large-scale landowners, manufacturers and people

of learning in science and literature. They were respected widely as achievers

and as philanthropists.

The family resided in a colony of estates at Peace Dale, Rhode Island. Oakwood

was built in the 1800’s by Rowland's paternal grandfather. Rowland lived

from age 11 at Holly House. His Aunt Helen's home, The Acorns, was where 1941

Pulitzer Prize winning poet Leonard Bacon grew up. And, there was Scallop

Shell, the home of Rowland's Aunt Caroline, on her return from serving as

President of Wellesley College.

Rowland was the tenth generation of Hazards born in Rhode Island. The subject

of this writing was a Yale graduate (BA, 1903). Some of his classmates called

him, "Ike" or “Rowley”. He sang in the varsity glee club and chapel choir

and was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. Both his father and paternal

grandfather had graduated from Brown University. The males on his mother's

side of the family favored Yale. One of these was Eli Whitney, who invented

the cotton gin.

Rowland spent the years immediately following Yale learning the various family

businesses. He began at The Peace Dale Manufacturing Company, of Peace Dale

Rhode Island, a woolen mill that produced much of the family wealth. That mill

had made blankets for the Army during the Civil War. Rowland then moved on to

work in family industries producing coke and coke ovens, soda ash, calcium

chloride and soda bicarbonate in Chicago and Syracuse, before returning to

Peace Dale Manufacturing in 1906, as Secretary-Treasurer.

In October 1910, Rowland married his wife, Helen Hamilton Campbell, a Briar

Cliff graduate, the daughter of a Chicago banker. They had one daughter and

three sons. Two of their three sons were killed while serving with the US

armed forces during World War Two.

Like many of his family, Rowland was active in Republican Party politics. He

was a delegate to the 1912 national party convention, which re-nominated

President William Howard Taft. Hazard was a Rhode Island State Senator from

1914 to 1916. Previously he had served as President of the South Kingstown,

Rhode Island Town Council

When World War 1 began, Rowland became a civilian official of the Ordnance

Department. But, he resigned later to accept a commission as Captain in the US

Army's Chemical Warfare Service.

It's unclear precisely when Rowland's drinking problems began. The socially

elite of that time were quite guarded about private family matters. But,

relatives who were alive at the time this research began say they believe

Rowland's alcohol problems began when he was quite young. These relatives note

that covering up his heavy drinking was no problem for Rowland, because he was

a member of the family that owned the businesses. And they conclude that he

probably hit bottom hard before he decided to consult with doctors for help.

Rowland sought treatment for his rapidly progressing alcoholism from all of

the major psychiatrists in the United States. None had an answer that worked.

Dr. Sigmund Freud, according to legend, was too busy to take Rowland's case.

So: in 1931, still drinking, at 50, Hazard traveled to Zurich, Switzerland,

where he consulted Dr. Carl Gustav Jung -- then considered, with the possible

exception of Freud, the finest psychiatrist in the world.

Dr. Jung treated Rowland for his drinking problem. That much is clear from

Jung's correspondence with Bill Wilson, published in the AA book, “Pass It

On”. But, there are at least two different conclusions concerning precisely

when, to what extent and at what intervals the treatment took place.

Some AA historians believe Jung treated Hazard, in Zurich, for almost a year

and that Hazard then felt fully ready to return home to the United States â€"

convinced he had solved his drinking problem, and that the solution was

self-knowledge. They believe Rowland left Zurich by train and got as far as

Paris before he got drunk. Other AA historians believe Rowland returned to the

United States before he drank again. Its generally agreed that Hazard returned

immediately to Zurich and Dr. Jung for an explanation concerning his relapse.

But, records on file among the Hazard Family Papers in the Manuscripts

Division of the Rhode Island Historical Society show that Rowland was in the

United States for part of every month of 1931 and 1932, with the exception of

a family trip to Europe from June 12 to September 10, 1931. During that time

period, Hazard can be traced to France, on July 9, Italy on July 20 and

apparently to England on August 13, 1931. Furthermore, there is no evidence in

the records of the RIHS to suggest Hazard was in Switzerland at all during

1931 or ’32. And RIHS officials note that the Hazard family commented quite

freely, on other occasions, about Rowland's travels and treatment.

That Jung treated Rowland Hazard hardly seems in dispute. In his published

correspondence with Bill Wilson, Jung said he treated him. But, the RIHS

records make it appear unlikely that the treatment was seven days per week,

for an entire year. It is possible the treatment took place over a one-year

period, but was intermittent.

At the conclusion of treatment, following Hazard's relapse, Jung told Rowland

that he had done everything he could for him, clinically. He told the

despondent Hazard that psychiatry and medicine could no nothing more for him

and that his only hope would be to have what the psychiatrist called a

“vital spiritual experience”. Dr. Jung further suggested that Rowland find

what we would now call a “self-help group” to help him have such an

experience.

Hazard joined The Oxford Group, a spiritual, evangelical group founded on

first-century Christian principles and practices (prayer, meditation, and

guidance). The Group was then at the height of its success and popularity in

Europe. Through attending meetings and practicing the group's beliefs, Rowland

had a conversion experience such as Dr. Jung had described, an experience that

released him from the obsession/compulsion to drink. (There is disagreement

among A.A. historians over whether Rowland's spiritual experience happened in

Europe or the US. Most believe it happened in Europe.)

Some psychiatric experts call it a blessing that Dr. Freud was too busy to see

Rowland. They say it's fortunate he consulted Dr. Jung. They point out that

while Jung insisted the solution to Rowland's alcoholism was spiritual, a

turning to God, a conversion experience: Freud would have condemned any such

spiritual experience as a neurosis.

In the United States, Hazard connected with The Oxford Group in New York, led

by the Reverend Dr. Samuel Shoemaker, at the mission of Calvary Episcopal

Church, on 23rd. Street, in Manhattan.

In 1932, Rowland moved to Shaftsbury, Vermont. There, during August 1934, he

heard from two other Oxford Groupers about Edwin Throckmorton “Ebby”

Thacher's pending six-month sentence to Windsor Prison for drunkenness and

alcoholic insanity.

Hazard and fellow Oxford Grouper Cebra Graves attended Ebby’s sentencing

hearing in court at Bennington, Vermont. There are two conflicting accounts of

what happened next. The first version says they told the presiding judge,

Judge Collins Graves, Cebra's father, of their group's success in controlling

alcohol problems and asked the Court to release Ebby to Rowland's custody.

This version says Judge Graves consented. The second version says it was Judge

Graves who asked Hazard to take Ebby under his wing and that Rowland

consented. Both versions conclude the same way: that Ebby was released to

Rowland's custody and, Rowland, Cebra and a third Group member, Shep Cornell,

began taking Ebby with them to Oxford Group meetings in Vermont.

Ebby moved with Rowland to New York, later in 1934. And, it was there, during

late November 1934 that Ebby Thacher, sober approximately two months, brought

the message of recovery from alcoholism through the principles of The Oxford

Group, to Bill Wilson, in Wilson's kitchen, at 182 Clinton Street, Brooklyn

Heights. That visit would result, approximately seven months later, in the

founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Yet, Rowland Hazard, who played such a major part in AA's birth, returned to

drinking. Records of the Hazard family indicate he was treated in 1933-1934 by

the well-known lay therapist Courtenay Baylor.

In August 1936, the Hazard family paid to have Rowland brought home to Rhode

Island from his ranch in Alamagordo, New Mexico, because his drinking had

become still more serious. Rowland apparently consented. His younger brother,

Thomas, authorized the use of funds from the family-owned Aguadero Corporation

to cover the expenses.

But, later events tempt one to conclude that Rowland must have stopped

drinking, again, at least for a time. From 1938 to 1939 he was associated with

an engineering firm, Lockwood-Greene Engineers, Inc. From 1940 to 1941 he was

an independent consultant. In 1941 he became vice-president and general

manager of the Bristol Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut.

(Bristol was a leading manufacturer of industrial measuring and recording

devices.)

Rowland Hazard died of a coronary occlusion, (a heart blockage) on Thursday,

December 20, 1945, while at work in his office at Bristol Manufacturing. He

was 64. The fact that he was a top executive of a major corporation at the

time of his death suggests that Rowland had stopped drinking again.

Nonetheless, some A.A. historians question whether he died sober.

He had stayed active in The Oxford Group and remained in the group after it

changed its name to Moral Rearmament (MRA) in 1938. Some early AA members said

they knew Rowland because he sometimes visited the old 24th Street clubhouse,

which Bill, Lois and others had established during early June 1940 in a former

stable at 334½ West 24th Street, in Manhattan. But, there is no evidence that

Rowland Hazard ever joined AA.

-0-

SOURCES: AA publications “Alcoholics Anonymous”, “Pass It On” and

of The Rhode Island Historical Society and Rick Stattler, Curator;

“Not-God” by Ernest Kurtz; “Ebby The Man Who Sponsored Bill W.” by Mel

B; “Lois Remembers” by Lois Burnham Wilson; “Bill W.” by Francis

Hartigan; The Archives of the AA General Service Office and The Providence

Journal. .

-0-

I'm very grateful for the above sources. Any mistakes are my own.

Researched/written for The Roundtable of AA History by: Mike O. (Michael

O'Neil), of The Just Do It Big Book Study Group of Alcoholics Anonymous,

DeBary, Florida. Updated/revised periodically through July 2001.

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++++Message 1808. . . . . . . . . . . . The Towns Hospital

From: apexnomad . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/16/2004 5:51:00 PM

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Is the "old" CHARLES B. TOWNS HOSPITAL still standing?

The adress 293 central west ny ny, is the American Anorexia/Bulima

Association. Is this the same bulding?

I am going to NYC this Fri. and would love some info. if someone

knows.

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From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/16/2004 10:04:00 PM

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December 1975 AA Grapevine

Passing of Jack Alexander

Recalls Early AA Growth

Our Fellowship has reason to be forever grateful to Jack Alexander, who died

on September 17 in St. Petersburg, Fla., at 73. AA was less than six years

old, with a membership around 2,000, when the reporter and magazine writer was

assigned to do a Saturday Evening Post article on the obscure group of

recovering alcoholics.

Jack approached the job skeptically, but ended his research as "a true AA

convert in spirit," in the words of co-founder Bill W. The article (now

re-printed as an AA pamphlet, "The Jack Alexander Article") was published in

the March 1, 1941, issue - and by the end of that year, AA membership had

reached 8,000! In the May 1945 Grapevine, Jack told the

story-behind-the-story, "Were the AAs Pulling My Leg?'

During Jack's 1951-56 service as a non-alcoholic trustee on the AA General

Service Board, he "added the final editorial touch" to the manuscript of the

"Twelve and Twelve." He was a senior editor on the Post at his retirement, in

1964. After he and his wife (who survives him) moved to Florida, he kept in

touch with AA until his health began to fail.

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++++Message 1810. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Jersey Lightning

From: ny-aa@att.net . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/17/2004 8:56:00 AM

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A member asked about Jersey Lightning which Bill was drinking

during one of his failed attempts to stay sober on his own.

What is it?

I remember reading that the engineers were playing cards and

passing around a jug of Jersey Applejack in the hotel while

working on one of Bill's deals. Bill was trying to stay sober

and turned it down several times. Unfortunately, he refused

the jug one less time than it was offered. Here is a history

timeline item on it thanks to the West Baltimore Group:

May 1932, Bill went on a business trip to Bound Brook NJ with

a group of engineers from the Pathe Co. to look at a new

photographic process. It turned into a disaster. In a small

hotel, Bill drank Apple Jack (Jersey Lightning) and was drunk

for three days. His contract with Wheeler and Winans was cancelled.

"Pass It On" pages 91-92

"Bill W." by Robert Thompson (soft cover) pages 165-167

This is probably the incident on Page 5 of the Big Book.

"Someone had pushed a drink my way, and I had taken it.

Was I crazy?"

There are sources on the web that refer to "Jersey Applejack

a.k.a. Jersey Lightning." This is not just hard cider. Applejack

is a brandy distilled from hard cider. It goes back to colonial

times. It was widely distributed in the east during prohibition.

I would give the recipe for a home brew version if everyone

promised not to make it. :-)

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++++Message 1811. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: The Towns Hospital

From: Arthur Sheehan . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/17/2004 7:50:00 AM

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The Charles B Towns Hospital for Drug and Alcohol Addictions opened in NYC in

1901. It was a private "drying out" hospital for the affluent.

It initially opened on 81st and 82nd Sts. and later moved to 293 Central Park

West.

Towns also later opened an annex (behind the Central Park facility) at 119 W

Hospital fees had to be paid in advance, or be guaranteed.

Treatment fees for alcoholism ran from $75 to $150 in the main hospital

($1,560 to $3,120 today) and $50 ($1,040 today) in the annex.

Reference Slaying the Dragon pgs 84-85, and Silkworth pg 125.

----- Original Message -----

From: apexnomad

To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2004 5:51 PM

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] The Towns Hospital

Is the "old" CHARLES B. TOWNS HOSPITAL still standing?

The adress 293 central west ny ny, is the American Anorexia/Bulima

Association. Is this the same bulding?

I am going to NYC this Fri. and would love some info. if someone

knows.

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From: Jim K. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/17/2004 1:59:00 PM

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Towns Hospital at 293 Central Park West is still standing but as a

Co-op apartment building. It is one door north of the intersection

of West 89th Street and CPW. Best viewed from the park side of CPW

it is steps north of the northern exit of the 8th Avenue (B, C, D

trains) subway line station at 86th street.

For more info you may email me offlist at jknyc@hotmail.com

Jim K.

Manhattan, NY

>>Is the "old" CHARLES B. TOWNS HOSPITAL still standing?<<

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++++Message 1813. . . . . . . . . . . . Fitz M

From: Jim Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/17/2004 5:30:00 PM

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Hello group,

I am interested in why Fitz M.'s story was not put in the Pioneer section

until the 4th edition.

Also, is there any addition information on Dr. Jim S. from " Jim's Story?"

Thank you,

Jim

Orange County, California

Do you Yahoo!?

SBC Yahoo! [79] - Internet access at a great low price.

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++++Message 1814. . . . . . . . . . . . Grapevine Magazine, May 1945

From: Charles Knapp . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/17/2004 11:58:00 PM

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In post # 560, the December 1975 AA Grapevine article about Jack Alexander

passing, it mentioned a May 1945 Grapevine article by Jack. Here is a copy

of that article.

Hope you enjoy

Charles from California

*******************************************************************

JACK ALEXANDER OF SAT EVE POST FAME

THOUGHT A.A.s WERE PULLING HIS LEG

Grapevine Magazine, May 1945

Ordinarily, diabetes isn't rated as one of the hazards of reporting, but the

Alcoholics Anonymous article in the Saturday Evening Post came close to

costing me my liver, and maybe A.A. neophytes ought to be told this when

they are handed copies of the article to read. It might impress them. In the

course of my fact gathering, I drank enough Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, ginger

ale, Moxie and Sweetie to float the Saratoga. Then there was the thickly

frosted cake so beloved of A.A. gatherings, and the heavily sweetened

coffee, and the candy. Nobody can tell me that alcoholism isn't due solely

to an abnormal craving for sugar, not even a learned psychiatrist. Otherwise

the A.A. assignment was a pleasure.

It began when the Post asked me to look into A.A. as a possible article

subject. All I knew of alcoholism at the time was that, like most other

non-alcoholics, I had my hand bitten (and my nose punched) on numerous

occasions by alcoholic pals to whom I had extended a hand --unwisely, it

always seemed afterward. Anyway, I had an understandable skepticism about

the whole business.

My first contact, with actual A.A.s came when a group of four of them called

at my apartment one afternoon. This session was pleasant, but it didn't help

my skepticism any. Each one introduced himself as an alcoholic who had gone

"dry," as the official expression has it. They were good-looking and well

dressed and, as we sat around drinking Coca-Cola (which was all they would

take), they spun yarns about their horrendous drinking misadventures. The

stories sounded spurious, and after the visitors had left, I had a strong

suspicion that my leg was being pulled. They had behaved like a bunch of

actors sent out by some Broadway casting agency.

Next morning I look the subway to the headquarters Alcoholics Anonymous in

downtown Manhattan, where I met Bill W. This Bill W. is a very disarming guy

and an expert at indoctrinating the stranger into the psychology,

psychiatry, physiology, pharmacology and folklore of alcoholism. He spent

the good part of a couple of days telling me what it was all about. It was

an interesting experience, but at the end of it my fingers were still

crossed. He knew it, of course, without my saying it, and in the days that

followed he took me to the homes of some of the A.A.s, where I got a chance

to talk to the wives, too. My skepticism suffered a few minor scratches, but

not enough to hurt. Then Bill shepherded me to a few A.A. meetings at a

clubhouse somewhere in the West Twenties. Here were all manner of

alcoholics, many of them, the nibblers at the fringe of the movement, still

fragrant of liquor and needing a shave. Now I knew I was among a few genuine

alcoholics anyway. The bearded, fume-breathing lads were A.A. skeptics, too,

and now I had some company.

The week spent with Bill W. was a success from one standpoint. I knew I had

the makings of a readable report but, unfortunately, I didn't quite believe

in it and told Bill so. He asked why I didn't look in on the A.A.s in other

cities and see what went on there. I agreed to do this, and we mapped out an

itinerary. I went to Philadelphia, first, and some of the local A.A. a took

me to the psychopathic ward of Philadelphia General Hospital and showed me

how they work on the alcoholic Inmates. In that gloomy place, it was an

impressive thing to see men who had bounced in and out of the ward

themselves patiently jawing a man who was still haggard and shaking from a

binge that wound up in the gutter.

Akron was the next stop. Bill met me there and promptly introduced me to Doc

S., who is another hard man to disbelieve. There were more hospital visits,

an A.A, meeting, and interviews with people who a year or two before were

undergoing varying forms of the blind staggers. Now they seemed calm,

well-spoken, stead-handed and prosperous, al least mildly prosperous.

Doe S. drove us both from Akron to Cleveland one night and the same pattern

was repeated. The universality of alcoholism was more apparent here. In

Akron it had been mostly factory workers. In Cleveland there were lawyers,

accountants and oilier professional men, in addition to laborers. And again

the same stories. The pattern was repeated also in Chicago, the only

variation there being the presence at the meetings of a number of

newspapermen, I had spent most of my working life on newspapers and I could

really talk to these men. The real clincher, though, came in St. Louis,

which is my hometown. Here I met a number of my own friends who were A.A.s,

and the last remnants of skepticism vanished. Once rollicking rumpots, they

were now sober. It didn't seem possible, but there it was.

When the article was published, the reader mail was astonishing. Meat of it

came from desperate drinkers or their wives, or mothers, fathers or

interested friends. The letters were forwarded to the A.A. office in New

York and from there were sent on to A.A. groups nearest the writers of the

letters. I don't know exactly how many letters came in, all told, but the

lust time I checked, a year or so ago, it was around 6,000. They still

trickle in from time to time, from people who have carried the article in

their pockets all this time, or kept it in the bureau drawer under the

handkerchief case intending to do something about it.

I guess the letters will keep coming in for years, and I hope they do,

because now I know that every one of them springs from a mind, either of an

alcoholic or of someone close to him, which is undergoing a type of hell

that Dante would have gagged at. And I know, too, that this victim is on the

way to recovery, if he really wants to recover. There is something very

heartening about this, particularly in a world which has been struggling

toward peace for centuries without ever achieving it for very long periods

of lime.

Jack Alexander

The Saturday Evening Post

Philadelphia, Pa.

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++++Message 1815. . . . . . . . . . . . Promises

From: Cloydg . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/17/2004 6:43:00 PM

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I'm told there are 118 promises in the BB, not just the 12 we refer to on

pages 63-64. Does anyone have a complete list with page numbers?

In sobriety, Clyde G.

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++++Message 1816. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Fitz M

From: goldentextpro@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/17/2004 7:03:00 PM

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Hello Jim,

Here's the summary:

In the second and third editions of the book, the same twelve stories appeared

in the section "Pioneers of AA." They were:

STORY - MEMBER - DOS

Dr. Bob's Nightmare - Dr. Bob Smith - June 1935

Alcoholic Anonymous Number Three - Bill Dotson - June 1935

He Had to Be Shown - Dick Stanley - Feb. 1937 (1st Ed. story called "The Car

Smasher")

He Thought He Could Drink... - Abby Goldrick - May 1938

Women Suffer Too - Marty Mann - March 1939

The European Drinker - Joe Doppler - April 1936

The Vicious Cycle - Jim Burwell - Jan. 1938

The News Hawk - Jim Scott - July 1937 (1st Ed. story - "Traveler, Editor,

Scholar")

From Farm to City - Ethel Macy - May 1941

The Man Who Mastered Fear - Archie Trowbridge - Sept. 1938 (1st Ed. "The

Fearful One")

He Sold Himself Short - Earl Treat - April 1937

Home Brewmeister - Clarence Snyder - Feb. 1938

The Keys of the Kingdom - Sylvia Kaufman - Aug. 1939

The fourth edition removed Dick, Abby, Joe, Jim Scott, Ethel, and Clarence.

(Interestingly, they were all part of the Akron root.) One story was added:

Dave B., Gratitude In Action, 1944.

The fourth edition's pioneer section is noticeably more condensed, as

apparently the GSC was going for a more "eclectic" feel. (My word for it.)

Simply put, Fitz Mayo (Oct. 1935) fit the bill as a pioneer, and the New

Yorker was kept in the pool. As to the details behind the selection process,

Valerie O. at GSO could probably be of help, as she was on the committee.

As to why Fitz wasn't in the second and third editions as a "pioneer," the

committee probably felt that the early women pioneers (Marty, Ethel and

Sylvia) were needed to be representative of the lower percentage of women at

that time, and the only woman from the first edition (Florence Rankin) later

resumed drinking and committed suicide.

Regards,

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++++Message 1817. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Promises

From: Diz Titcher . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/18/2004 7:19:00 AM

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Go to:

Best,

----- Original Message -----

From: Cloydg

To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 7:43 PM

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Promises

I'm told there are 118 promises in the BB, not just the 12 we refer to on

pages 63-64. Does anyone have a complete list with page numbers?

In sobriety, Clyde G.

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++++Message 1818. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Fitz M

From: J. Lobdell . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/18/2004 9:22:00 AM

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It's not clear why Bill put "Our Southern Friend" in "They Lost Nearly All"

rather than "Pioneers of AA" -- especially since Fitz is identified as an "AA

pioneer" and given that Fitz was Bill's first NY success. We can't say this

question will be answered at our panel on Fitz (9:10-10:10 a.m.) at our June 5

2004 Multi-District History & Archives Gathering in Elizabethtown PA, but we

thought we'd remind HistoryLovers of the panel and of the Gathering. My email

is jaredlobdell@aol.com or jaredlobdell@comcast.net or call 717-367-4985 (not

after 9:30 p.m. EDT). The Gathering also includes Eastern PA oldtimers (50

yrs+), plus Nancy O., Rick T., exhibits from Areas 29, 44, 59, Philadelphia

Intergroup, a panel on Coming Into AA Before Jan 24 1971. 8:00 registration.

Over at 5:00 p.m. Free. Hope to see you there. -- Jared Lobdell

>From: Jim Burns

>Reply-To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

>To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

>Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Fitz M

>Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 15:30:00 -0700 (PDT)

>

>Hello group,

until the 4th edition.

>

>Also, is there any addition information on Dr. Jim S. from " Jim's Story?"

>Thank you,

>Jim

>Orange County, California

>

>---------------------------------

>SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price.

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++++Message 1819. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Fitz M

From: Arthur Sheehan . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/18/2004 8:43:00 PM

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Hi Jim

and all editions of the Big Book. His story was moved to Part I (Pioneers of

AA) of the Personal Stories in the 4th edition. It was previously in Part III

(They Nearly Lost All). I don't believe that the appearance of his story in

Part III, as opposed to Part I, represented any form of diminished stature in

the scheme of things. Fitz M's sober life was rather brief. He died in 1943

(of cancer). AA Comes of Age (pgs 17-18) contains some of Bill W's

recollections of Fitz M (he and Bill, and their wives, were reputedly very

close friends). Fitz started AA in Washington DC and helped get AA started in

Maryland as well.

Jim S, the black physician (Jim's Story), is mentioned briefly in AA Comes of

Age on page 37.

Arthur

----- Original Message -----

To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 5:30 PM

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Fitz M

Hello group,

I am interested in why Fitz M.'s story was not put in the Pioneer section

until the 4th edition.

Also, is there any addition information on Dr. Jim S. from " Jim's Story?"

Thank you,

Jim

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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SBC Yahoo! [79] - Internet access at a great low price.

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++++Message 1820. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Promises

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/18/2004 10:36:00 AM

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Promises, promises! How often we hear the incorrect phrase "The Twelve

Promises of AA" used in meetings when referring to the Ninth Step promises on

pages 83 & 84. What about all the OTHER promises found in the Big Book, like

the ones associated with working Steps 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12? As a matter of

fact, the Ninth Step promises are only SOME of the better ones! Well, Dave F.