AA Book Club

Throwback Thursday AA history post - The six articles published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer in late 1939 led to tremendous growth in Cleveland's AA Group #3, but also got Clarence kicked out: That fall Clarence smuggled freelance reporter Elrick Davis into meetings of that first Greater Cleveland group and Mr. Davis wrote a series of articles on A.A. which were published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. This resulted in over 500 calls for help to be tended by the only 13 active members... Many members were upset by this workload and by the surreptitious manner in which it was done. So they voted Clarence out of A.A. (which was something that could be done at the time).   (aa.cle.org) Alcoholics Anonymous Makes Its Stand Here       [First of Six Articles] By ELRICK B. DAVIS Much has been written about Alcoholics Anonymous, an organization doing major  work in reclaiming the habitual drinker. This is the first of a series describing the  work t...

  Big Book topics for study, meditation or use with a sponsee (from our online AA literature study guide at AABookClub.org ): Reasonable Disclosure We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God. (Page 46) Faced with alcoholic destruction, we soon became as open minded on spiritual matters as we had tried to be on other questions. In this respect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat us into a state of reasonableness. (Page 48) When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn't. What was our choice to be? (Page 53)    Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be ...

From Stories of Recovery.org , a brief bio of Lois W., wife of Bill W. and co-founder of Al-Anon, and links to several of her talks. The first talk includes Searcy W., Texas AA pioneer and 'Ebby's sponsor.': Lois Burnham Wilson (1891-1988) The co-founder of Al-Anon and married to Bill Wilson. Lois was there from the beginning working the program along side her husband Bill. Lois was the oldest of 6 children, her father a surgeon in Brooklyn NY. Her grandfather was a prominent pastor and scholar in the  Swedenborgian Church , a church Lois was raised in. The affluent Brooklyn Heights family spent their summers at their summer home in Vermont. Her brother Rogers was friends with a Vermont local boy, Bill Wilson. When Lois first met Bill she was engaged, so meeting Bill presented her a challenge. Lois quickly made a choice, one that would completely changed her life. Lois and Bill were married a few months before Bill was deployed to Europe for WWI. Lois' complete life sto...

  Potential Alcoholic Potential alcoholics drink excessively and dangerously, but may not yet have progressed beyond human aid. Many will eventually become Real Alcoholics in time. Big Book: "I studied economics and business as well as law. Potential alcoholic that I was, I nearly failed my law course. At one of the finals I was too drunk to think or write." Page 2, Bill's Story "Potential female alcoholics often turn into the real thing and are gone beyond recall in a few years." Page 33, More About Alcoholism "We who are familiar with the symptoms, see large numbers of potential alcoholics among young people everywhere. But try to get them to see it!" [In later editions, an * leads to a footnote indicating that there are more younger AA members than in the early years of the Program.] Page 33-34, More About Alcoholism Of the idea that knowledge of the disease of alcoholism will protect one from getting it: "That may be true of certain nonalcohol...

                     A short bio of Frank Buchman, founder of the Oxford Group:                                                                                      

  Big Book topics for study, meditation or use with a sponsee (From our online AA literature study guide at AA Book Club.org ): What's The Advantages? Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person. And besides, we are sure that our way of living has its advantages for all. (Page xiii) We know all about liquor as a social lubricant. Some, but not all of us, think it has its advantages when reasonably used. (Page 110) We families of Alcoholics Anonymous keep few skeletons in the closet. Everyone knows about the others alcoholic troubles. This is a condition which, in ordinary life, would produce untold grief; there might be scandalous gossip, laughter at the expense of other people, and a tendency to take advantage of intimate information. Among us, these are rare occurrences. We do talk about each other a great deal, but we almost invariably temper such talk by a spirit of love and tolerance. (Page 125) An alcoholic who has recovered, but holds a rela...

  From Stories of Recovery.org : Father Ed Dowling(1898-1960) The Jesuit priest who served for twenty years as sponsor and spiritual guide to Bill Wilson. Ed was the first to notice the similarities between the 12-step program and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. Dowling showed up at Bill Wilson's door unannounced late one night in NYC. Bill and Father Ed, became close friends, and served as a spiritual advisor to Bill for over 20 years. A talk by Father Dowling: Father Ed Dowling - 1955 at the AA International Convention in St Louis, MO introduced by Bill Wilson