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

to be. His monument is not the money he left in the bank, but the gratitude

in the hearts of so many men and women who own more than they can ever repay

to his example.
O GOD we thank Thee for the life and service of Thy dear servant, Doctor

Bob, whom we remember at Thy alter this day. Bless and prosper the work of

Alcoholics Anonymous, in whose founding he played such an all important

part. Prosper the work of this organization that it may reclaim the lives of

many who are ashamed of their own weakness. This we ask in the name of Him

who taught us that no failure ever need be final - our Saviour, Jesus

Christ.
Hail and Farewell...
It is such a little while ago he stood before us, sick unto death and strong

unto faith...

Strong still unto the task begun...

Firm still, and he spoke in a strong, sure voice

Ten minutes. How many thousand times ten minutes

Had he served ten times ten thousands of us who were halt, and sick, and

steeped in fear?

And in ten minutes there again were strengths anew, and old truths

reaffirmed

In the strong, sure voice...in the tired, frail body.

How far from St. Thomas house of healing in Akron

To the surging conclave of Cleveland?

In miles as far as the Marshall isles are far;

As near as the first lengthening step of one drunk taking one clear stride

forward,

And as far as fifteen years are far, and as near as one new ray of hope in

one new breast.

The little man who had sworn Hippocrates great oath

Had helped to heal beyond it.

This be the arch of his memorial: the towering span

Of Fellowship, held high upon the heritage

By which we grow.

And this be the echo of his founding voice:

The weakest knock of whosoever seeks

The opening

Of any AA door...

History-corrected

From: NMOlson@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/5/2004 2:45:00 AM
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Thanks to members from Philadelphia for the correction of the date Jim

Burwell moved to Philadelphia.

date was moved up because of the war.

resigned to get married. She had written approximately 15,000 letters to

people asking for help
FEB. 5:
1941 - Pittsburgh Telegram ran a story on the first AA group's Friday night

meeting of a dozen "former hopeless drunks."

D. Rockefeller,Jr., for money at the Union Club, NY. They got $2,000.

recovery from alcoholism, he became Governor of Iowa, a United States

Senator, and the leading dark horse for the Presidential Democratic

nomination in 1972, until he announced he would not run. He authored the

legislation which created the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and

Alcoholism, and other legislation to help alcoholics and addicts.

his last drink.

("The Unbeliever" in the 1st edition of the Big Book) in New Jersey.

moved to the Philadelphia area and started the first Philadelphia A.A.

group.
FEB 14:
1971 - AA groups worldwide held a memorial service for Bill Wilson.
2000 - William Y., "California Bill" died in Winston Salem, NC.
Feb. 15:
1946 - AA Tribune, Des Moines, IA, reported 36 new members since Marty Mann

had been there.

grown from 3 to 40 members, with five being women.

emergency cases, despite gas rationing.

Rothman.
Feb. 21:

psychiatrists, and others for comment. This was the "multilith" Big Book.

Springfield, IL.

sobriety. Hal testified, anonymously, before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on

Alcoholism and Drug Abuse on December 3, 1970.
Feb. 26:
1999 - Felicia Gizycka, author of "Stars Don't Fall," died. Born Countess

Felicia Gizycka in 1905, she was the daughter of Count Josef Gizycki and

Eleanor Medill Patterson. She married Drew Pearson in 1925 and divorced him

three years later. She married Dudley de Lavigne in 1934, but the marriage

lasted less than a year. In 1958 she married John Kennedy Magruder and

divorced him in 1964. For most of her professional career, she went by the

name Felicia Gizycka.
Other February happenings for which I have no specific date:
1908 - Bill Wilson made boomerang.
1916 - Bill Wilson & sophomore class at Norwich University was suspended for

hazing.
1938 - Rockefeller gave $5,000 to AA.

Hustona's room at 2209 Delaney Street.

San Quentin Prison AA group member.

pamphlet for seamen "on one page the 12 Steps have been streamlined into 5."

on KRNT.
1946 - Pueblo. Colorado, had a second group, composed of alcoholic State

Hospital patients.
1951 - Fortune magazine article about AA was published in pamphlet form.
1959 - AA granted "Recording for the Blind" permission to tape the Big Book.
1963 - Harpers carried article critical of AA.
1981 - 1st issue of "Markings," AA Archives Newsletter, was published, "to

give the Fellowship a sense of its own past and the opportunity to study

it."
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++++Message 1643. . . . . . . . . . . . Carl K. Obituary (1948)

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/5/2004 10:37:00 AM

Carl K., editor of The Empty Jug, died of a cerebral hemorrhage, Saturday

night, July 13, in Memphis, Tenn. Carl was a member of the Chattanooga Group

and was well known throughout the South.

''Social'' Drinkers (1995)

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/5/2004 4:00:00 PM
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This article appeared in the July 29, 1995 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. It

followed shortly after an article featuring an advocate of teaching

alcoholics "responsible drinking" habits.

James E. Royce, S.J., Ph.D. is professor emeritus of psychology and

addiction studies at Seattle University and author of a leading textbook on

alcoholism.

by James E. Royce

reduction" and "moderation management" that old question has been

resurrected. Moderate drinking is certainly a more appealing goal to many

problem drinkers than total abstinence. But medical professionals and

additions counselors are unanimous in their opposition. Are they just rigid

prohibitionists?

As a lifetime member of the board of directors of the National Council on

Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, I must point out that the big problem is

that alcoholism is a progressive disease, often labeled as "problem

drinking" in its early stages. Monday's cold is the flu on Wednesday and

pneumonia on Friday. Most alcoholics are sure they can control their

drinking on the next occasion. The result is killing alcoholics, who can

expect a normal lifespan if they remain abstinent. For decades I have

defined an alcoholic as one who says, "I can quit any time I want to."

Self-deception is so typical of alcoholics that the American Society of

Addiction Medicine included the term "denial" in its latest definition. Talk

of harm reduction just feeds that denial.

Most research fails to adequately separate true alcoholics from alcohol

abusers or problem drinkers, which makes reports of success misleading. We

can't know how many of the latter may progress into true alcoholism. The

most thorough research (Helzer and Associates, 1985) studied five- and

seven-year outcomes on 1,289 diagnosed and treated alcoholics, and found

only 1.6 percent were successful moderate drinkers. Of that fraction, most

were female and none showed clear symptoms of true alcoholism. In any case,

it would be unethical to suggest to any patient a goal with a failure rate

of 98.4 percent.

We psychologists know that conditioning is limited in its ability to produce

behavioral changes. To attempt to condition alcoholics to drink socially is

asking of behavior modification more than it can do. Some have thought one

value of controlled-drinking experiments could be that the patient learns

for himself what he has not been able to accept from others, that he cannot

drink in moderation - giving all that extra scientific help might destroy

the rationalizations of the alcoholic who still thinks he can drink socially

"if I really tried." Actually, most uses of conditioning in the field have

been to create an aversion against drinking, to condition alcoholics to live

comfortably in a drinking society and to learn how to resist pressure to

drink. In that we have been reasonably successful, since this is in accord

with the physiology and psychology of addiction.

The discussion about turning recovered alcoholics into social drinkers

started in 1962, but no scientific research had been attempted until 1970,

when Mark and Linda Sobell, two psychologist at Patton State Hospital in

California with no clinical experience in treating alcoholics, attempted to

modify the drinking of chronic alcoholics, not as a treatment goal but just

to see whether it could be done. The research literature is largely a record

of failure, indicating that the only realistic goal in treatment is total

abstinence.

The prestigious British alcoholism authority Griffith Edwards (1994)

concluded that research disproved rather than confirmed the Sobell position.

Drs. Ruth Fox, Harry Tiebout, Marvin Block and M.M. Glatt were among the

authorities who responded in a special reprint from the 1963 Quarterly

Journal of Studies on Alcohol to the effect that never in the thousands of

cases they had treated was there ever a clear instance of a true alcoholic

who returned to drinking in moderation. Ewing (1975) was determined to prove

it could be done by using every technique known to behavior modification,

but he also did careful and lengthy follow up - and at the end of four years

every one of Ewing's subjects had gotten drunk and he called off the

experiment. Finally, Pendery and Maltzman (AAAS Science, July 9, 1982)

exposed the failure of the Sobell work, using hospital and police records

and direct contact to show that 19 of the 20 subjects did not maintain

sobriety in social drinking, and the other probably was not a true

alcoholics to begin with.

The Research of Peter Nathan indicates that whereas others may be able to

use internal cues (subjective feelings of intoxication) to estimate

blood-alcohol level while drinking, alcoholics cannot; so that method of

control is not available to them. To ask a recovered addict to engage in

"responsible heroin shooting" or a compulsive gambler to play just for small

amounts is to ignore the whole psychology and physiology of addiction.

Alcoholism is not a simple learned behavior that can be unlearned, but a

habitual disposition that has profoundly modified the whole person, mind and

body. That explains the admitted failure of psychoanalysis to achieve any

notable success in treating alcoholics, and renders vapid the notion of

Claude Steiner in "Games Alcoholics Play" that the alcoholic is a naughty

child rather than a sick adult. Even the Sobells' claimed successful cases

are now reported to have given up controlled drinking. For them abstinence

is easier - for them trying to take one drink and stop is sheer misery. The

reason is that one cannot "unlearn" the instant euphoric reinforcement that

alcohol gives.
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++++Message 1646. . . . . . . . . . . . Alan Guiness/A Members Eye View of

AA

From: burt reynolds . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/6/2004 8:05:00 PM

"A Member's Eye View of AA"?

Do you Yahoo!?

(1952)

So September is the month of remembering! I am glad that you added "reading"

and especially "re-dedication."

I remember...the amazing friendliness of Akron AA in 1938. We were given an

address book with all names listed (few could afford telephones then) and

the earnest invitation to "call at any time." And we did.

I remember...meetings. We were from Cleveland, and every Wednesday, rain or

snow or shine, we made the 70-mile round trip to Akron. We made it eagerly,

willingly; anxious to be with new friends. Often there would be pot-luck

supper on Saturday nights. We were too poor in material possessions to

entertain, but how wealthy we were in friendships!

I remember...the emphasis on "morning meditation and morning reading," and

all of us equipped with the 5¢ Upper Room. That was a must.

I remember...every lesson that Anne dished out in her gentle and inimitable

manner. "Dorothy, everyone has been kind to you as a newcomer. Never forget

to pass that friendliness and kindness along!"

I remember...when several manuscript chapters of "The Book" came. Anne and I

read them to each other till 4 a.m., and Anne said: "Pray with me that this

will help others."

I remember...Anne every time I hear the Twelve Steps read, for the fifth

chapter was one that we read so eagerly one night.

I remember our first AA New Year's Eve party in Akron. Anne had gotten two

new dresses, her very first new clothes. When I asked her which dress she

would wear, she said "I can't wear a new dress. There will be so many who

have no new clothes," and she wore the dress we were so accustomed to seeing

on her.

When they arrived we would all be congregated to greet them. They would hide

their weariness (as they still do) and greet us with warmth and affection.

I remember...it says in the Big Book "We are like the passengers of a great

liner the moment after rescue from shipwreck..."

How true it was of us then!

From: NMOlson@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/8/2004 2:43:00 AM

General Service Conference now ending have marked the time when our Society

has taken the first step into the brave new world of our future. Never have

we felt more confident, more assured of the years to come than we do this

afternoon.
This Conference thinks, I am sure, that its main structural concepts are

approximately right. I am thinking of the relation of AA groups to their

Assemblies, the method of choosing Committeemen and Delegates, Directors and

Headquarters Staffs; also the relation of the Trustees, essentially a body

of custody, to the operating services of the Headquarters, the Grapevine,

Service office and AA Publishing. These interlocking relations are something

for high confidence already based on considerable experience. Nevertheless

we shall remain aware that these structures can be changed if they fail to

work. Our Charter can always be amended.
And of course, we shall always be much concerned with those lesser

refinements that can improve the working of our main structure.

this Charter - how our newly formed Budget Committee is a fresh assurance

that we can't go broke, how our new Policy Committee can avert blunders in

this area and take the back breaking load of minor matters off of the

Trustees, how our Nominating Committee can insure good choices of new Staff

members, Directors and Trustees. In short, our Board of Trustees is now

fitted with eyes, ears and a nose that can guarantee a much improved

functioning. So far, so good.

who feel and think and act. Therefore any principles or devices that can

better relate them to each other in a harmonious and effective whole are

worth considering.

services, principles which express tolerance, patience and love of each

other; principles which could do much to avert friction, indecision and

power-driving. These are not really new principles; unconsciously we have

been making use of them right along. I simply propose to name them and, if

you like them, their scope and application can, over coming years, be fully

defined.
Four Key Words:
Here are the words for them: petition, appeal, participation and decision.

Maybe all this sounds a bit vague and abstract. So let's develop the meaning

and application of these four words.
Take petition. Actually this is an ancient device to protect minorities. It

is for the redress of grievances. Every AA member, inside or outside our

services, should have the right to petition his fellows. Some years ago, for

example, a group of my old friends on the outside became violently opposed

to the Conference. They feared it would ruin AA. To put it mildly, they

thought they had a grievance. So they placed their ideas on paper and

petitioned the AA groups to stop the Conference. Lots of our members got

sore; they said this group had no right to do this. But they really did have

the right, didn't they?
Yet in our services, this right is often forgotten or unused. It is my

belief that every person working in AAs services should feel free to

petition for a redress of grievances or an improvement of conditions. I

would like to make this personal right unlimited.

of AA Publishing, the Board of Trustees, or indeed, the whole Conference if

he chose to do so -- and this without the slightest prejudice against him.

Of course, he'd seldom carry this right so far. But its very existence, and

everybody's knowledge of it, would go far to stop those morale breakers of

undue domination and petty tyranny.

deTocqueville, came to this country to look at the new Republic. Despite the

fact that his family had suffered loss of life and property in the French

Revolution, this nobleman-student had begun to love democracy and to believe

in its future. His writing on the subject is still a classic. But he did

express one deep fear for the future: he feared the tyranny of the majority,

especially that of the uninformed, the angry, or the close majority. He

wanted to be sure that minority opinion could always be well heard and never

trampled upon. How very right he was has already been sensed by the

Conference.

right to appeal. Under it, the minority of any committee, corporate Board,

or a minority of the Board of Trustees, or a minority of this Conference,

could continue to appeal, if they wished, all the way forward to the whole

AA movement, thus making the minority voice both clear and loud.
Protective Safeguard:
As a matter of practice, this right, too, would seldom be carried to

extremes. But again, its very existence would make majorities careful of

acting in haste or with too much cocksureness. In this connection we should

note that our Charter already requires in many cases a two-thirds vote (and

in some instances a three-quarter vote) for action. This is to prevent hasty