Aa history Lovers 2004 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
part, Sister regaled us with stories of St. Thomas and
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other days. For, her part, Sister regaled us with stories of St. Thomas and with cherished recollections of Anne and co-founder Dr. Bob. It was unforgettable. Before Sister became too tired we addressed ourselves to our main project. From New York, I had brought an illuminated scroll. Its wording was in the form of a letter addressed by me to Sister, and it was written on behalf of our AA Fellowship worldwide. I stood up, read the scroll aloud, and then held the parchment for her to see. She was taken by complete surprise and could scarcely speak for a time. In a low voice she finally said, "Oh, but this is too much - this is too good for me." Our richest reward of the evening was of course Ignatia's delight; a joy unbounded the moment we assured her that our gift need not be publicized; that if she wished to stow it away in her trunk we would quite understand. It then seemed that this most memorable and moving evening was over. But there was to be another inspiring experience. Making light of her great fatigue, Sister insisted that we all go up to Rosary Hall, there to make a late round of the AA ward. This we did, wondering if any of us would ever again see her at work in the divine vocation to which she had given her all. For each of us this was the end of an epoch; I could think only of her poignant and oft-repeated saying, "Eternity is now." The scroll given to Sister may now be seen at Rosary Hall. This is the inscription: IN GRATITUDE FOR SISTER MARY IGNATIA ON THE OCCASION OF HER GOLDEN JUBILEE Dear Sister, W e of Alcoholics Anonymous look upon you as the finest friend and the greatest spirit we may ever know. We remember your tender ministrations to us in the days when AA was very young. Your partnership with Dr. Bob in that early time has created for us a spiritual heritage of incomparable worth. In all the years since, we have watched you at the bedside of thousands. So watching, we have perceived ourselves to be the beneficiaries of that wondrous light which God has always sent through you to illumine our darkness. You have tirelessly tended our wounds; you have nourished us with your unique understanding and your matchless love. No greater gifts of Grace than these shall we ever have. Speaking for AA members throughout the world, I say: "May God abundantly reward you according to your blessed works - now and forever!' In devotion, March 25,1964 Bill W. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 1726. . . . . . . . . . . . In Memory of Helen (1955) From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 3/31/2004 2:09:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII November 1955 AA Grapevine In Memory of Helen JUST six years ago last month, a girl named Helen made a journey from Boston to New York. She came to this city to join the staff of AA's General Service Headquarters. Her decision to leave Boston's Central Office, where she had for three years been much loved as its first Secretary, was to result in benefits beyond measure to worldwide AA. But for her, this decision proved to be a fateful one.
Helen died in my home at Bedford Hills September 28, 1955. Her death was the climax of a long period of severe exhaustion and of many difficulties. She had come to stay with Lois and me to recuperate for the fresh start about which she had eagerly written to friends only one day before the unexpected attack of illness that did, in a matter of minutes, carry her away from us. All the countless AAs who knew Helen will surely declare her to have been one of the finest servants that we have ever had. Speaking for ourselves here at Headquarters we feel that a void has been left in our lives of the kind which can never quite be filled. With Lois and me, Helen always stood high among our most devoted and treasured friends. One more unforgettable thing: When the crucial decisions were made in 1951 that a Conference of elected AAs should be called to meet yearly with our Trustees, that this Conference should ultimately become the guide and conscience for our entire Society, and the successor to its founders, a most difficult problem had to be faced. Anxiously we asked ourselves, "How can this be done?" Because of her keen sense of AA feeling and reaction, her inborn flair for sound diplomacy, Helen was assigned to help me in the preparation of the Third Legacy. This document, on which the future of AA so much depends, and of which so many of us recently became conscious at St. Louis, will ever bear the stamp of Helen's great perception and devotion. "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Bill W. Helen B. was buried in Rockland, Massachusetts on Saturday, October 1, following a Solemn High Mass of Requiem at the Church of the Holy Family in Rockland. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 1727. . . . . . . . . . . . Traditions Question From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 3/31/2004 2:35:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Does anyone know why the Twelve Traditions are in the order that they are in? Thanks!
Just Love, Barefoot Bill IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 1728. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Traditions Question From: Cloydg . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/1/2004 1:25:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII A.A. Traditions *************** During its first decade, A.A. as a fellowship accumulated substantial experience which indicated that certain group attitudes and principles were particularly valuable in assuring survival of the informal structure of the Fellowship. In 1946, in the Fellowship's international journal, the A.A. Grapevine, these principles were reduced to writing by the founders and early members as the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. They were accepted and endorsed by the membership as a whole at the International Convention of A.A., at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1950. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 1729. . . . . . . . . . . . Harper Brothers From: NMOlson@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/1/2004 1:36:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII The following is a compilation of earlier posts which have been deleted: Nancy
From: John Wikelius Date: Sun Oct 13, 2002 11:32 pm Subject: Harper Brothers In 1953 Harper printed the 12&12 because I believe Bill did not want the controversy associated with getting this book into prints like he went through on the Big Book. If this is true, why did Harper do two more printings since AA published their first printing in 1953 as well. The AA Publishing was established at that time. Was it a contract issue per chance? In 1957 Harper printed the first printing of AA Comes of Age along with AA. Does anyone know why they got involved in printing this book. The answer may be obvious to some but I cannot find any reference to this information to date. From: "tcumming" Date: Mon Oct 14, 2002 10:05 pm Subject: re: Harper Brothers Pass It On has nice fairly succinct history of the writing of our "Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions" on pages 352-56. Far too much for this lazy alcoholic to type out the whole thing for you. But on pages 355-6 you can read: "'Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions' was first published in two editions -- one for distribution through AA groups, and the second edition, costing 50 cents more ($2.75 instead of $2.25), intended for sale in commercial bookstores and distributed through Harper & Brothers (by arrangement with AA's old friend Eugene Exman). AA made a contract with Harper that enabled the Fellowship to retain full control and copyright ownership of both editions." AA Comes of Age, page 219, also has a bit on this: "One more noteworthy event marked this period of quiet; the publication of AA's 'Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions' in 1953. This small volume is strictly a textbook which explains AA's twenty-four basic principles and their application, in detail and with great care. "Helped by my editorial team, Betty L. and Tom P., I had begun work on this project in early 1952. The final draft was widely circulated among our friends of medicine and religion and also among many old-time AA's. This rigorous checkup was topped off by none other than Jack Alexander, who had added the final editorial touch. For group distribution we published the volume ourselves, and our old friend Gene Exman of Harper offered favorable terms for distribution through his firm to bookstores." I'll also include a quote from earlier in AA Comes of Age, pertaining to the publishing of the Big Book, which may well have had an influence on this volume as well. On page 158: "... But Henry was not discouraged. He still had ideas. 'Bill,' he said, 'you and I know this book is going to sell. And Harper thinks it will sell. But these New York drunks just do not believe it. Some take it as a joke, and the rest talk high and holy about mixing a spiritual enterprise with money and promotion. ... .'" Other references pertaining to Harpers include: AA Comes of Age - 153, 156, 158, 219 Language of the Heart - 143-4 Pass It On - 193, 194, 195, 356 (BTW, it is not too difficult to look these up in the index at the back of the books)
That's the official word. Now with salt shaker in hand: What I think I remember being told about Harper publishing the 'Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions' is that it was set up that way to soothe some of those complaints. Where GSO would publish and distribute copies for the fellowship, and Harpers would handle it for those outside the fellowship. That way GSO wouldn't have to engage in promoting the book to bookstores, and money from outside sources wouldn't get mixed in with our self support funds (Traditions 11 & 7). It seemed like a good plan, but in reality it just didn't work. At first Harpers did OK with the book, but eventually some bookstores and institutions outside AA found they could get the book cheaper through GSO than through their regular channels. Printing, distribution and publicity costs may also have gone up. In the end, what I remember being told, Harper's sales were down, costs were up and they knew they had to raise the price to make a profit. They also knew that GSO wasn't going to raise the price. They made the simple business decision that it wasn't profitable to publish the book anymore and they stopped. And so ended our experiment with split distribution, 'within the fellowship' vs. outside the fellowship. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 1730. . . . . . . . . . . . Periodical Literature From: Jim Blair . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/1/2004 9:45:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I have aquired 13 more articles and with post them on successive days ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----
Alcoholics take steps to cure themselves..... Alcoholics Anonymous From The Illinois Medical Journal, Oak Park, Ill. A new approach to the problem of chronic alcoholism has been taken by the alcoholics themselves. Calling their group "Alcoholics Anonymous," they first realized the utter hopelessness of their condition and then set out to do something about it. All of them had been in sanitoria, and many of them had been confined to institutions for the insane. They recognized their addiction to be a disease which medicines alone were unable to cure. They also realized that by themselves they were unable to break the hold alcohol had upon them. The chronic alcoholic has lost his friends by his drinking. He feels that no one-not even his family-understands his plight. He is truly alone-and finds solace and companionship only in his bottle. Most chronic alcoholics really want to stop. When they openly admit this, and are willing to let others help, then the members of Alcoholics Anonymous can enter the picture. The chronic alcoholic in talking to a member of the group finds a person who understands" - who has had the same experiences. The new member is introduced to the fellowship of the group. "Business" gatherings are held weekly to talk over common problems. "Social" gatherings are held several other nights of the week where companionship is sincere and bridge, poker and conversation abound. There are no officers in the group. Each member has equal standing. There are no fees, dues, nor expenses whatsoever. When a new member has become thoroughly acquainted with the meaning of his new life he should go out himself and work with other unfortunates. This giving of himself, without thought of remuneration gives him strength to combat his own desire. It is indeed a miracle when a person who for years has been more or less constantly under the influence of alcohol and in whom his friends have lost all confidence, will sit up all night with a "drunk" and at stated intervals administer a small amount of liquor in accordance with a doctor's order without taking a drop himself. Full co-operation is given to the medical profession. In dealing with patients who are ill the family physician is called in who assumes charge until the patient has recovered. About six years ago "Alcoholics Anonymous" was started in New York. The group gained headway slowly, but now there are about a thousand members with groups in nearly every large city. The first member in Chicago joined the group on Akron, Ohio, about three years ago. One year ago Chicago had eight members; now there are 150 and the group grows daily. Of alcoholics who are contacted about 80% join "Alcoholics Anonymous." Of the first 40 to join the Chicago group 23 have not tasted alcohol since being admitted. This covers a period of time of from six months to three years. Eleven have had one "slip." Three have had from two to four "slips" and three have been lost. A new member may feel so well physically and so strong mentally that in his new condition he may believe he can drink moderately as many people do. In trying to do so he re-discovers his complete lack of power to combat this disease. After such an experience he usually remains firmly attached to his new found heaven. It seems unbelievable, when one considers that in people who were "hopeless alcoholics" 58% have attained complete sobriety and 92% practical sobriety. Broken minds and bodies that have been a weight on society have been rehabilitated. Broken homes have been restored-innocent families no longer suffer. A movement that is strong enough to make rehabilitated men, some of high position and great wealth, give themselves to help restore other broken lives without thought of remuneration, is indeed a powerful thing, worthy of our attention. Source: Current Digest, April 1941 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 1731. . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Ed Dowling Obituary (1960) From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/1/2004 1:30:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AA Grapevine June 1960 To Father Ed - Godspeed! By Bill W. EARLY Sunday morning, April 3rd, Father Edward Dowling died peacefully in his sleep. The place was Memphis, Tennessee. Cheerfully unmindful of his ebbing health, he had been visiting one of his "Cana'' groups (a favorite undertaking which he founded, Father Ed's Cana groups are dedicated, under Church auspices, to the solution of difficult family problems through the practice o f AA's Twelve Steps.). Never was there a gayer evening than in the hours before. He would have wanted to take his leave of us in just that way. This was one of the most gentle souls and finest friends we AAs may ever know. He left a heritage of inspiration and grace which will be with us always. Father Ed had planned to be at our 1960 Long Beach Convention, come July. This prospect, now to be unfulfilled, brings a moving recollection of his appearance at AA's St. Louis International Convention of 1955. It seems altogether fitting that I repeat the introduction I then made of him, together with an account of the unforgettable impression he left upon me the very first time we met - a fragment of history recorded years afterward in AA Comes o f Age: "With deep joy, I present to you Father Ed Dowling who lives at the Jesuit House right here in St. Louis. Father Ed, knowing whence comes his strength, is definitely allergic to praise. Nonetheless I think that certain facts about him should be put into our record - facts that new generations of AAs ought to hear, read, and know. "Father Ed helped to start the first AA group in this town; he was the first clergyman of his faith to note the surprising resemblance between the spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (founder of the Jesuit order) and the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. As a result, he was quick to write in 1940 the first Catholic recommendation of AA of which we have any knowledge. "Since then, his labor for us has been a prodigy. Not only have his recommendations been heard worldwide, but he has himself worked at AA and for AA. Travels, AA meetings, wise and tender counsel - these works of his can be measured in thousands of miles and thousands of hours. "In my entire acquaintance, our friend Father Ed is the only one from whom I have never heard a resentful word and of whom I have never heard a single criticism. In my own life he has been a friend, adviser, great example, and the source of more inspiration than I can say. "Father Ed is made of the stuff of the saints. * * * 'A great cheer of welcome greeted Father Ed Dowling as, indifferent to his grievous lameness, he made his way to the lectern. Father Dowling of the Jesuit order in St. Louis is intimately known to AAs for a thousand miles and more around. Many in the Convention audience remembered with gratitude his ministry to their spiritual needs. St. Louis old-timers recalled how he helped start their group; it had turned out to be largely Protestant, but this fazed him not a bit. Some of us could remember his first piece about us in The Queen's Work, the Sodality's magazine. He had been the first to note how closely in principle AA's Twelve Steps paralleled a part of the Exercises of St. Ignatius, a basic spiritual discipline of the Jesuit order. He had boldly written in effect to a11 alcoholics and especially to those of his own faith: 'Folks, AA is good. Come and get it.' And this they certainly had done. His first written words were the beginning of a wonderfully benign influence in favor of our fellowship, the total of which no one will ever be able to compute.
"Father Ed's talk to us at the Convention that Sunday morning flashed with humor and deep insight. As he spoke, the memory of his first appearance in my own life came back to me as fresh as though it were yesterday: One wintry night in 1940 in AA's Old Twenty-Fourth Street Club in New York I had gone to bed at about ten o'clock with a severe dose of self-pity and my imaginary ulcer. Lois was out somewhere. Hail and sleet beat on the tin roof over my head; it was a wild night. The Club was deserted except for old Tom, the retired fireman, that diamond in the rough lately salvaged from Rockland asylum. The front doorbell clanged, and a moment later Toni pushed open my bedroom door. 'Some bum,' said he, 'from St. Louis is down there and wants to see you.' 'Oh, Lord!' I said. 'Not another one! And at this time of night. Oh, well, bring him up.' "I heard labored steps on the stairs. Then, balanced precariously on his cane, he came into the room, carrying a battered black hat that was shapeless as a cabbage leaf and plastered with sleet. He lowered himself into my solitary chair, and when he opened his overcoat I saw his clerical collar. He brushed back a shock of white hair and looked at me through the most remarkable pair of eyes I have ever seen. We talked about a lot of things, and my spirits kept on rising, and presently I began to realize that this man radiated a grace that filled the room with a sense of presence. I felt this with great intensity; it was a moving and mysterious experience. In years since I have seen much of this great friend, and whether I was in joy or in pain he always brought to me the same sense of grace and the presence of God. My case is no exception. Many who meet Father Ed experience this touch of the eternal. It is no wonder that he, was able to fill all of us there in the Kiel Auditorium with his inimitable spirit on that wonderful Sunday morning." Everyone then present will remember this famous quote from Father Ed's St. Louis talk: "There is a negative approach from agnosticism. This was the approach of Peter the Apostle. 'Lord, to whom shall we go'?" doubt if there is anybody in this hall who really ever sought sobriety. I think we were trying to get away from drunkenness. I don't think we should despise the negative. I have a feeling that if I ever find myself in Heaven, it will be from backing away from Hell." (End)
Just before his death, Father Ed had completed the article he wrote for AA TODAY, the twenty-fifth anniversary commemorative book prepared by the Grapevine. The article will appear in the book under the title, "AA's Steps for the Underprivileged Non-AA." - THE EDITORS. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 1732. . . . . . . . . . . . Eddie Shill From: Carter Elliott . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/2/2004 8:01:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Download 4.17 Mb. Share with your friends:
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