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++++Message 2030. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: James Houck Article

From: kilroy@ceoexpress.com> . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/26/2004 5:21:00 PM

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I met James Houck in Philadelphia PA when he was 93 yrs.old. He was with Wally

P. and they were doing the Back to Basics talk. He did say that he was at one

time drunk but he also said that "he got sober in the Oxford Group and that he

did not leave the Oxford Group to go with Bill W.

Kilroy W

Philadelphia PA

--- "Bernadette MacLeod" wrote:

I met James Houck at the Wilson House in East Dorset, Vermont at a seminar he

participated in and he told me he was never a member of AA.

Bernadette

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

From: johnpine@comcast.net

To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 11:09 AM

Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] James Houck Article

Has Houck ever been a member of A.A. or identified himself as a recovering

alcoholic in his talks? Thanks. John Pine, Richmond, VA

-------------- Original message --------------

So close yet so far. This James Houck article made the online issue of Time

magazine, but not the circulation copy in magazine stores. It can be found at

www.time.com:

TIME BONUS SECTION OCTOBER 2004: GENERATIONS

Living Recovery

A man who knew the founder of A.A. has had a 70year quest to help other

problem drinkers

By Melissa August/Towson

-From the Sep. 27, 2004 issue of TIME magazine

It was on a cold day in 1934 that James Houck hit bottom. Newly wedded and

living in Frederick, Md., he was getting drunk every weekend - and sometimes

even during the week - on home brew. He had recently been in a drunken-driving

accident in his employer's car, and his drinking had estranged him from his

wife

sorry

sips from his mother's bottle of dandelion wine, then make up the difference

with water. Although he grew up in the middle of Prohibition, his drinking

problem only got worse as the years passed.

On Dec. 11, a friend who thought Houck needed to make some changes took him

to a meeting at the local YMCA of the Oxford Group, an evangelical society

founded in Britain by Frank Buchman that was prominent in the 1920s. Houck was

immediately drawn to the group's teachings, which were based on four

principles:

honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. He was especially moved by the

concept

of "two-way" prayer: the group taught that if you spent quiet time every day

restitution, to "put right what's wrong in your life," says Houck.

It was at those Oxford Group meetings that Houck befriended Bill Wilson,

a.k.a. Bill W., a chronic drinker who would go on to co-found Alcoholics

Anonymous (A.A.) in 1939. Houck joined the Oxford Group and became sober on

Dec.

have attended Oxford Group meetings with Wilson, who died in 1971.

Houck remembers Wilson well, and after a 40-year career as an electrical

engineer and salesman, he has made it his mission to bring the Oxford Group's

teachings to a new generation of recovering alcoholics. In the early 1970s, he

started working with longshoremen on the Baltimore docks, and until recently,

he

traveled every six weeks or so, giving talks to members of 12-step programs,

recovering addicts who telephone from around the world. He still appears at

meetings held within driving distance of his home in Towson, Md., and shares

the

with

Houck wants to restore the old methods the Oxford Group used, in particular

its spiritual aspects, which he believes are stronger and more effective than

the ones currently practiced in A.A. The principles of the group live on in

the

Back to Basics organization, which follows a 12-step program similar to that

techniques

in federal and state prisons and is working directly with 300 prisoners in the

Henrico County Jail East, in Richmond, Va.

Houck knows how much a group like this can mean to someone. After he decided

on Dec. 12, 1934, that he would never drink alcohol again, he made restitution

with his wife and others he had harmed. "I started telling my wife what kind

of

a fellow I was," he says. "I did this for three nights to get all of the

out. I wanted to be honest about everything in my life." He says his wife was

grateful for the talk and then understood his behavior. "Now we could start

our

time

cancer in 1988, but believes the lessons learned from the Oxford Group gave

him

a life he had not been sure was possible. "A marriage that wasn't supposed to

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++++Message 2031. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Big Book Printed

From: Robert Stonebraker . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/26/2004 8:40:00 PM

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Dear

History Lovers,

two more printings of the first edition than listed below, sixteen in all.

10.0pt;font-family:Arial;">The fifteenth printing was,

January, 1954 and the sixteenth printing was August, 1954. Please see the

attachment from my

sixteenth printing of the first edition. .

Bob S.

-----Original

*From:* wilfried antheunis

[mailto:wilant@sympatico.ca]

*Sent:* Saturday, September 25, 2004

3:30 PM

*To:*

*Subject:* Re: [AAHistoryLovers] Big

Book Printed

Hi

Tommy, I should have sent this earlier, was looking for more information and

printings and number of copies printed. But this relates to the first and

second edition. If I find more, I will post it.

ciao

*Printing

History of the First Edition*

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

First

Printing, April, 1939

Third Printing, June, 1942

Fourth Printing, March, 1943

Fifth Printing, January, 1944

Sixth Printing, June, 1944

Seventh Printing, January, 1945

Eighth Printing, February, 1945

Ninth Printing, January, 1946

Tenth Printing, August, 1946

Eleventh Printing, June 1947

Twelfth Printing, October, 1948

Thirteenth Printing, February, 1950

Fourteenth Printing, July, 1951

*

12.0pt;color:black;font-weight:bold;">Alcoholics

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, First Printing 1955, (28,000 Printed)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Second Printing 1956, (23,000 Printed)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Third Printing 1957, (21,000 Printed)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Fourth Printing 1960, (20,000 Printed)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Fifth Printing 1962, (Quantity printed is

unknown)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Sixth Printing 1963, (Quantity printed is

unknown)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Seventh Printing 1965, (Quantity printed

is unknown)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Eighth Printing 1966, (Quantity printed

is

unknown)

unknown)

unknown)

is unknown)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Thirteenth Printing 1972, (Quantity

printed is unknown)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Fourteenth Printing 1973, (Total 1973

Printings 1,000,000)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Fifteenth Printing 1973, (Total 1973

Printings 1,000,000)

Alcoholics Anonymous Second Edition, Sixteenth Printing 1974

-----

*

From:

*To:* AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

*Sent:*

Friday, September 24, 2004 10:42 AM

Hi Tommy

following from the final report of

the 2002 General Service Conference (pg 15).

Big Book

1st edition

- 300,000 copies

were distributed from 1939 to 1955

2nd edition

- 1,150,000 copies

were distributed from 1955 to 1976

3rd edition -19,550,000 copies

were distributed from 1976 to 2002

In 2002, the

Conference approved publication of the 4th edition Big Book.

More than

2,000,000 copies of the 4th edition have been distributed so far.

The price of

the 4th edition was initially set at $5.00 as a special introductory price.

It returned to

its regular price this year.

Cheers

-----

*From:* Tom

Hickcox

*To:* AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com

2004 9:46 AM

*Subject:*

[AAHistoryLovers] Big Book Printed

I am interested in the number of Big Books in each of the printings of the

First, Second, Third, and Fourth Editions.

Could someone point me towards the data?

Tommy in Baton Rouge

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++++Message 2032. . . . . . . . . . . . Bill''s Detox from Seconal

From: jimmy . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/27/2004 12:12:00 AM

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I recently was listening to a taped interview of a deceased longtimer in my

area. He mentioned in the interview that four members (Al Marino, Chuck

Chamberlain, and two others) went to New York to detox Bill Wilson off of a

five year long addiction to Seconal.

Can anyone corroborate or refute this second-hand information?

Jimmy

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++++Message 2033. . . . . . . . . . . . more information on first editions

From: bikergaryg@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/27/2004 2:11:00 AM

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since we are on the subject of big books! can any one break down how many of

each first editions where printed, to include how many green, light blue and

dark blue in the first of four printings. why the 1st Ed, 7th printing

{Seventh Printing, January 1945}

so rare? one rumor, most where sent overseas and sunk on a supply ship.

I could be wrong {please correct me}but I was told 4,750 of the big red {1st

edition 1st printing} and then 5000 each until the 11th printing.

thanks for your help

collecting old big books does not keep one sober, it keeps one broke.

Gary

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Part 1 of 3

From: Lash, William \(Bill\) . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/29/2004 9:28:00 AM

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The following book was part of the source material for the writing of the

Big Book in 1938. For instance, on page 59 of the Big Book it says, "Half

measures avail us nothing." What a coincidence, in "The Common Sense of

Drinking" it says, "Halfway measures are of no avail." On page 32 of the Big

Book it tells the story of "A man of thirty...made up his mind that until he

had been successful at business and had retired, he would not touch another

drop (of alcohol)...after a successful and happy business career he then

fell victim to the belief that he could drink like other men...he went to

pieces quickly and was dead within four years." What a shocker, "The Common

Sense of Drinking" includes a story, "Some years ago there lived a man who

decided to give up drinking until he could make a million dollars, at which

time he intended to drink in moderation. It took him five years - of

sobriety - to make the million; then he began his 'moderate' drinking. In

two or three years he lost all his money, and in another three he died of

alcoholism." These are just two examples of many so read on. - Barefoot Bill

The Common Sense of Drinking

By Richard R. Peabody

Boston: Little Brown and Co. (1930)

INTRODUCTION

In the twentieth century, with its high-pressure demands on nervous systems

which have not yet become adapted to big business, mass production,

telephones, automobiles, high economic standards, - in fact, bigger, faster,

and noisier living conditions, -alcohol has come to play an ever-increasing

part as a narcotic, rather than a mere social stimulant. Because so many can

use it in moderation, and because of its social aspect, alcohol is seldom

thought of as a drug -not, at least, until it has done its ruinous work on

certain organisms that have proved unable to resist it.

I propose in this book to define the alcoholic, to show how he arrived at

this condition, and by what method he may rid himself of his habit once and

for all. While aimed primarily at the chronic inebriate the subject will, I

think, be of interest to all who drink, more especially as it may show them

where they stand on the line that separates moderation from excess.

Several years' experience in treating chronic alcoholism has shown me that

it is perfectly possible to cultivate abstinence under certain conditions.

It is a far easier task than the alcoholic has any idea of, provided that a

scientific approach is made to the problem. Vague theories based on

undirected will power are ineffective in the long run. Above all it must be

remembered that eradication of the habit and temporary abstinence represent

two totally different states of mind.

This book is in no way concerned with the arguments for and against

Prohibition, which roar louder and louder throughout the land. Needless to

say, after ten years of the Volstead Act there still seem to be a great many

men who are unable to regulate properly their consumption of the liquor they

so easily obtain.

Drinking is a manifestation of the wish to escape from reality. The illusory

charm of drink comes from the fact that the mental reactions to alcohol are

extremely satisfying to certain basic psychological urges. Let any man

reflect on his sensations subsequent to taking a drink and I think he will

agree that the resultant feelings consist (1) of calmness, poise, and

relaxation; (2) of self-satisfaction, self-confidence, and self-importance.

While the satisfaction of the demands for peace of mind and ego-maximation

by alcohol may be legitimate for the average man who can control the use of

it, certain individuals, normal in other ways, have an abnormal reaction to

drinking. It is too fascinating to them. It poisons their nervous systems.

Those who react in this manner must eliminate drink from their lives or

suffer very serious consequences. If they are willing, these people can be

shown how to train their minds so that they no longer wish to drink. They

can learn to relax and to satisfy their egos in a manner that is

constructive and permanent.

I have taken care to omit from my discussion all moralizing, knowing full

well that the uncontrolled drinker is surfeited with it already, however

true and justified it may be. He must be aware of all the reasons that his

well-meaning friends and relatives have given him in regard to the harm that

he is doing himself, to say nothing of his neglected obligations toward

others.

Neither is the subject approached from the physiological side. Much

effects of alcohol on the bodily tissues. If these books should not be

accessible to the individual seeking such information, a short conversation

with a physician will shed sufficient light upon this important phase of the

subject to leave no doubt in his mind of the harm that results from

persistently subjecting the body to large and continuous doses of alcohol.

The explanation of excessive drinking lies in the field of abnormal

psychology rather than in that of physiology or ethics. As a background to

almost every case of chronic alcoholism there exists an inner nervous

condition akin to the " unreasonable" feelings of anxiety and inferiority

suffered by the abnormally nervous. It is precisely this condition - of

which moderate drinkers and other so-called normal people are fortunately

unaware - that makes hard and persistent drinking (on the part of those who

cannot stand it) so incomprehensible. If friends and relatives wish to be of

assistance, they must learn to realize that the nervous person with

"imaginary" troubles is just as much in need of help as if he had an acute

organic malady. Indeed, those who have experienced both forms of suffering

would prefer to repeat the physical rather than the mental if they had to

choose between the two evils. It is for the former alone, however, that they

customarily receive sympathy.

The more the problem is imaginary, unreasonable, illogical, the harder it is

to bear, because the individual suffering from it has neither the respect

nor the sympathy of the outside world. What is worse, he has lost caste in

his own eyes: he criticizes himself mercilessly, so that the resulting state

of mind is one of fear and depression often bordering on terror. While the

alcoholic in many cases may not seem to be deserving of pity, he

nevertheless to some extent belongs to an unhappy class of neurotics,

however much he may keep his mental discomfiture from the outside world or

try to pretend to himself that he is free from it. It does him no good to be

told that his troubles are his own fault and that all he has to do to get

over them is to stop drinking. Though in a sense this may be true, it is of

no help, because he is often motivated by inner forces of which he is

unaware and over which, without scientific assistance, he has no sustained

control.

mind as intelligently as it does for the body, and that the pain resulting

from a broken spirit should no more be faced courageously alone than that

resulting from a broken leg. Yet what could be more indicative of a broken

spirit than the perpetual attempt to escape from reality through excessive

drinking ?

Reality must be faced unaided by alcohol or any other drug. For the more.

Responsible concerns of life, a state of mind wherein the individual

actually doe; not want to drink must be attained. Such a possibility may

seem so remote to a man who has been habitually drinking to excess that its

mere suggestion is sufficient to make him shrug his shoulders in

contemptuous skepticism, even though he would be free to admit that his

present way of life is far from satisfactory. Yet it has been demonstrated

over and over again that, in spite of the desires of the moment, sincere men

and women anxious to work faithfully toward the goal of not drinking because

they do not want to can create this relatively serene attitude of mind with

far less hardship than they probably imagine.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I THE CONDITION

1 THE PERSONAL PROBLEM

2 THE "ALCOHOLIC" DEFINED

3 TYPES OF DRINKERS

4 THE EFFECT OF INHERITANCE

5 THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT

6 THE ATTITUDE OF MIND

7 DANGER SIGNALS

II DIAGNOSIS

1 A TYPICAL CASE

2 SELF-ANALYSIS

3 THE ROOTS OF THE TROUBLE

4 WINE WOMEN AND INTERIORITY

5 PSYCHOANALYSIS

III FIRST STEPS