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

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++++Message 1678. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Humphry Osmond Passing

From: Jim Burns . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/24/2004 1:05:00 PM

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Hello Group,

Under what circumstances did Bill Wilson withdraw from the LSD experiments?

Was it widely known in The Fellowship that Bill and Lois were participating

in these experiments?

I became curious based on Mel B.'s post that he had found out about Bill's

involvement through Ernest Kurtz's book.

Thank-you

Jim Burns

Orange County, California

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Do you Yahoo!?

Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard [13] - Read only the mail you want.

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++++Message 1679. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Humphry Osmond Passing

From: Arthur . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/25/2004 12:01:00 PM

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There are a few

other books that go in to the LSD experiments in more detail than _Not God_.

Mel, by the way, is the modest

and primary author of _Pass It On_

which covers the matter in some detail. Francis Hartigan's book _Bill W_ and

Nell Wings book _Glad to Have Been There_ offer information

as well. The info below is a composite extract:

British radio

commentator Gerald Heard introduced Bill W to Aldous Huxley and to the

British

orthomolecular

psychiatry). Humphrey and Osmond were working with schizophrenic and

alcoholic

patients at a Canadian hospital.

Bill W joined with Heard

and Huxley and first took LSD in California on Aug 29, 1956. It was

medically supervised

by psychiatrist Sidney Cohen of the Los Angeles VA hospital. The LSD

experiments

occurred well prior to the 'hippie era.'' At the time, LSD was

thought to have psychotherapeutic potential (research was also being funded

by

the National Institutes of Health and National Academy of Sciences).

Osmond and Hoffer was to induce an experience akin to delirium tremens (DTs)

in

hopes that it might shock alcoholics from alcohol.

to experiment with LSD (and who accepted) were Nell Wing, Father Ed Dowling,

(possibly)

Sam Shoemaker and Lois Wilson. Marty M and Helen W (Bill's mistress) and

other AA members participated in NY (under medical supervision by a

psychiatrist from Roosevelt Hospital).

Bill had several

experiments with LSD up to 1959 (perhaps into the 1960's). _Pass It On_

reports that there were

repercussions within AA over these activities. Lois was a reluctant

participant

and claimed to have had no response to the chemical.

Hoffer and Osmond did

research that later influenced Bill, in Dec 1966, to enthusiastically

embrace a

campaign to promote vitamin B3 (niacin - nicotinic acid) therapy. It created

Traditions issues within the Fellowship and caused a bit of an uproar.

The General Service

Board report accepted by the 1967 Conference recommended that 'to insure

separation of AA from non-AA matters by establishing a procedure whereby all

inquiries pertaining to B-3 and niacin are referred directly to an office in

Pleasantville, NY in order that Bill's personal interest in these items

not involve the Fellowship.''

Please reference

the following for more details:

Pass It On - pgs 368-376, 388-391

Not God - pgs 136-138

Bill W by Francis Hartigan - pgs 9,

177-179

Glad To Have Been There

11.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;">Arthur S

-----

*From:* Jim Burns

*Sent:* Tuesday, February 24, 2004

12:06 PM

*To:*

*Subject:* Re: [AAHistoryLovers]

Humphry Osmond Passing

12.0pt;">

12.0pt;">Hello Group,

12.0pt;">Under what circumstances did Bill Wilson withdraw from the LSD

experiments? Was it widely known in The Fellowship that Bill and Lois were

participating in these experiments?

12.0pt;">

12.0pt;">I became curious based on Mel B.'s post that he had found out about

Bill's involvement through Ernest Kurtz's book.

12.0pt;">

12.0pt;">Thank-you

12.0pt;">

12.0pt;">Jim Burns

12.0pt;">Orange County, California

12.0pt;">

-----

Yahoo!

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++++Message 1680. . . . . . . . . . . . Harper''s 12 & 12 (1953)

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/26/2004 2:35:00 PM

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May 1953 AA Grapevine

(Editor's Note: As promised last month, we are pleased to bring you a

special advance notice from General Service Headquarters announcing

publication 'Bill's new book, "The Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions."

The Traditions appeared serially in The Grapevine in the past twelve

issues.)

After nearly eighteen months of writing, editing, and pre-publication

detail, 'The Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions" is about to be

released. In this new volume, regarded by those familiar with the project as

the most important AA publication since the "Big Book" first appeared in

1939, Bill draws upon his long experience, and upon that of other early

members, to set forth his profound yet spirited interpretation of the

fundamental principles of AA.

Step by Step, Tradition by Tradition - in nearly 200 deeply stirring

pages-Bill offers his unique insight into the full meaning of each of AA's

tested guideposts…the Twelve Steps through which individuals have achieved

sobriety and the Twelve Traditions through which our group structure has

been maintained and strengthened.

Advance interest has been so great that arrangements have been made to issue

the book in two editions - one for distribution by AA groups, and another

for bookstore distribution to the general public by Harper and Brothers. AA

retains full control and copyright ownership of both editions through Works

Publishing, Inc.

When the book is released for sale in late May or early June, the bookstore

price will be $2.75, and our agreement with Harper's is that no books will

be retailed for less than that price.

To AA groups only, the book will be sold for $2.25, enabling the groups to

realize fifty cents on each copy re-sold to individuals. (Although

two-thirds of General Service Conference delegates in a recent poll felt

that this book ought to be sold without profit to the groups, to help build

an adequate Foundation reserve, neither Bill nor those at Headquarters felt

this to be sufficient consent on a matter of such importance; hence the

above discount.)

Orders are now being accepted, by mail only, and all shipments will be made

as soon after May 10 as possible.

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++++Message 1681. . . . . . . . . . . . Bill D. - AA #3 (1954)

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/27/2004 4:27:00 PM

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November 1954 AA Grapevine

HE KEPT THE FAITH

IN MEMORIAM

By Bill W.

BILL D., AA Number Three, died in Akron Friday night, September 17th, 1954.

That is, people say he died, but he really didn't. His spirit and works are

today alive in the hearts of uncounted AAs and who can doubt that Bill

already dwells in one of those many Mansions in the Great Beyond.

Nineteen years ago last summer, Dr. Bob and I saw him for the first time.

Bill lay on his hospital bed and looked at us in wonder.

Two days before this, Dr. Bob had said to me, "If you and I are going to

stay sober, we had better get busy." Straightway Bob called Akron's City

Hospital and asked for the nurse on the receiving ward. He explained that he

and a man from New York had a cure for alcoholism. Did she have an alcoholic

customer on whom it could be tried? Knowing Bob of old, she jokingly

replied, "Well, Doctor, I suppose you've already tried it yourself?"

Yes, she did have a customer - a dandy. He just arrived in D.T.s. Had

blacked the eyes of two nurses, and now they had him strapped down tight.

Would this one do? After prescribing medicines, Dr. Bob ordered, "Put him in

a private room. We'll be down as soon as he clears up."

We found we had a tough customer in Bill. According to the nurse, he had

been a well-known attorney in Akron and a City Councilman. But he had landed

in the Akron City Hospital four times in the last six months. Following each

release, he got drunk even before he could get home.

So here we were, talking to Bill, the first "man on the bed." We told him

about our drinking. We hammered it into him that alcoholism was an obsession

of the mind, coupled to an allergy of the body. The obsession, we explained,

condemned the alcoholic to drink against his will and the allergy, if he

went on drinking, could positively guarantee his insanity or death. How to

unhook that fatal compulsion, how to restore the alcoholic to sanity, was,

of course, the problem.

Hearing this bad news, Bill's swollen eyes opened wide. Then we took the

hopeful tack, we told what we had done: how we got honest with ourselves as

never before, how we had talked our problems out with each other in

confidence, how we tried to make amends for harm done others, how we had

then been miraculously released from the desire to drink as soon as we had

humbly asked God, as we understood him, for guidance and protection.

Bill didn't seem too impressed. Looking sadder than ever, he wearily

ventured, "Well, this is wonderful for you fellows, but can't be for me. My

case is so terrible that I'm scared to go out of this hospital at all. You

don't have to sell me religion, either. I was one time a deacon in the

church and I still believe in God. But I guess He doesn't believe much in

me."

Then Dr. Bob said, "Well. Bill, maybe you'll feel better tomorrow. Wouldn't

"Sure I would," replied Bill, "Maybe it won't do any good. But I'd like to

see you both, anyhow. You certainly know what you are talking about."

Looking in next day, we found Bill with his wife, Henrietta. Eagerly he

pointed to us saying, "These are the fellows I told you about, they are the

ones who understand."

Bill then related how he had lain awake nearly all night. Down in the pit of

his depression, new hope had somehow been born. The thought flashed thorough

his mind, "If they can do it, I can do it." Over and over he said this to

himself. Finally, out of his hope, there burst conviction. Now he was sure.

Then came a great joy. At length peace stole over him and he slept.

Before our visit was over Bill suddenly turned to his wife and said, "Go

fetch my clothes, dear. We're going to get up and get out of here." Bill D.

walked out of that hospital a free man, never to drink again. AA's Number

One Group dates from that very day.

The force of the great example that Bill set in our pioneering time will

last as long as AA itself.

Bill kept the faith - what more could we say?

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++++Message 1682. . . . . . . . . . . . Review of "My Name is Bill"

From: NMOlson@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/28/2004 2:26:00 AM

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A friend sent me this review of Susan Cheever's book "My Name is Bill." The

review is written by Carolyn See. See was a stepdaughter of Wynn Laws, the

author of "Freedom From Bondage." See my short bio of Wynn at this post:

Yahoo! Groups : AAHistoryLovers Messages : Message 135 of 1680 [15]

Nancy

Teetotal Devotion

who can be reached at www.carolynsee.com

Friday, February 27, 2004; Page C02

MY NAME IS BILL

Bill Wilson: His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous

By Susan Cheever

Simon & Schuster. 306 pp. $24

When a wonderful writer with a unique voice undertakes to record the

official life of an institutional icon, something interesting is bound to

happen. Susan Cheever is exquisitely smart, amazingly curious and a master

of the telling image. She can paint a picture of six or eight young married

people dining on chicken baked in cream, and in that half a page recall --

and perfectly delineate -- a particular decade in American life. Her father

was John Cheever, that literary expert on Northeastern class distinctions,

and she has beautifully carried on his legacy.

The elder Cheever was also a hard drinker, until he quit, and his daughter

carried on that legacy, too. In her memoirs she often makes the distinction

between the rapscallion she was and the sober citizen she became, but again,

her work comes to far more than that. She is a perfect, natural storyteller,

and that narrative gift is enlivened by an extremely keen mind.

On the other hand, Bill Wilson, "Bill W.," co-founder of Alcoholics

Anonymous, is an iconic figure. His life has traditionally been described in

terms befitting a saint. His organization has been concerned with

"anonymity" -- which can turn, with a single shift of light, into secrecy.

The devotion of Bill's followers is legendary. This biography, then, is both

"life" and an act of devotion. (Even as I write these words I feel my

shoulders hunching, because there's probably no group of people more irate

on general principle than AA members, who are keen to any sense that their

group has been slighted in even the most glancing way.)

Full disclosure: I grew up with a stepmom, Wynn, who had been fully prepared

to marry Bill. He disengaged himself but put her "story" in the second

edition of "Alcoholics Anonymous," in which the accounts of recovering

alcoholics were included for the first time. She married my dad, her fifth

husband, as a sort of consolation prize. Wynn was a wonderful woman, but I

saw AA then from the point of view of a prissy, still-sober teenager,

watching members bicker about whether taking an aspirin for a headache

constituted a "slip," listening to stories of their friendships with a

Personal God -- "I told God to have you call me today," my stepmother would

say after I moved out of the house. (And what could I possibly say? Maybe

she had, and maybe He did.) But they didn't worry much about sex.

The first two parts, "A Rural Childhood" and "Drinking," seem to me to be

absolutely brilliant. Bill Wilson was born in a Vermont town, to a family

not quite yet up in the middle class. Cheever knows this material inside and

out; she, again, is a scholar of the exquisite, merciless permutations of

class. Bill suffered greatly.

Cheever perfectly captures the undereducated, inferior-feeling young World

War I recruit discovering pretty girls and iridescent cocktails; becoming,

in his mind at least, a sophisticated man of the world -- as long as he has

a drink in his hand. Then the drinking gets out of hand, and the Great

Depression hits (together with his own personal depression). Bill's wife

hangs on for dear life. It's such an American story. Cheever tells it

brilliantly.

Part 3, "Alcoholics Anonymous," is an entirely different story, told by

another sort of writer. It's a tale like "The Boston Tea Party," or "How

Jazz Came Up the River from New Orleans." It's good -- and good for us. AA

is not a religion, the author assures the reader repeatedly, even though

Bill and AA's other co-founder, "Dr. Bob" Smith, spent a lot of time on

their knees. Men sometimes got disillusioned with Bill and went their own

separate ways, the author tells us as well. But what really happened? What

were their complaints? Did it have something to do with sex?

Though he was married for more than 50 years, Bill W. was reputed to have

had many girlfriends. But "some people believe," Cheever writes, "that none

of it is true." She devotes less time to his womanizing than to his

chain-smoking, and mentions only two women at any length. (One safely a

lesbian; another one, coincidentally, named Wynn.) She then includes a

shamefaced page or two on sexual possibilities. But there's no "evidence."

Again, what an American story! What a Clintonian, "Death of a Salesman"

story.

any other AA publication) that early AA, at least on the West Coast, was

full of raucous men and women bursting with the physical energy that drying

out brings. I speak now for Wynn (the Wynn I knew), who wrote "Freedom From

Bondage" in the Book, and who, though she had five husbands, considered the

high point of her life her amorous connection to Bill.

Wynn stood on our front steps one bright Christmas morning enthusiastically

kissing a different handsome AA swain as others crowded past them, pushing

inside to a party, where they would drink tomato juice and laugh like

banshees, delirious with joy. They had found God (as they understood Him),

and as long as they stayed away from booze and aspirin, they were okay; they

were in the clear. They weren't ashamed of sex; they gloried in it.

I know. Even the very brilliant and accomplished Susan Cheever couldn't take

on this material, which is in no way "conference-approved literature." The

second half of this very fine book is burdened by the "official story."

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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++++Message 1685. . . . . . . . . . . . AA Grapevine Announcement

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 3/1/2004 11:30:00 AM

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Dear Grapevine Web Friend:

The entire AA Grapevine Digital Archive continues to be built on our website

and is

scheduled to launch June 2004, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the

12,000

From February, 1963:

"When rivalry threatens to cause an open fight between two Eskimo men, they

use

wittiest is declared the winner and a fight is averted. Psychologist Dr.

Glenn

says we can change the direction of an action started in the mind. If, for

action by song. A married couple developed a tendency to indulge in spats.

They

were made to promise, at the first sign of rising temperature, to sing the

"Row Your Boat" picking up speed as they went along, until out of breath.

The

most violent rage can be sidetracked by a hearty song."

recital of the Serenity Prayer. From July 1957, someone had these thoughts:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change . . .

"To be aware that the irritations and disappointments of each day are not a

perverse plot aimed at me by the world. To understand that this world is not

operated for my benefit; that my importance and its debt to me exist in

direct

ratio to my contributions and my adjustment to it."

"To eliminate from my environment and its associations things I know to be

harmful, attitudes I know to be insupportable and, no matter how well I

thought

And the wisdom to know the difference . . ..

"To understand, with neither prejudice, self-justification nor pity, why

changes

alcohol."

J.K., Los Angeles, Calif.

Check out the latest cartoon for your one-liner contribution to Grapevine

history:

http://www.aagrapevine.org/Rule.html

Also, exciting news: In early March, the website will have a new look. Not

only

available, our very own Victor E. So be sure to come back and visit.

That's all for now.

Best Regards,

The Grapevine Web Manager

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++++Message 1686. . . . . . . . . . . . Herbert Spencer Biography

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 3/1/2004 12:18:00 PM