AA Book Club

  A little AA literature and history - read Bill W.'s 1948 Grapevine article on Tradition Four: Tradition Four    Tradition Four is a specific application of general principles already outlined in Traditions One and Two. Tradition One states : "Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. AA must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward." Tradition Two states: " For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a loving God as he may express himself in our group conscience."    With these concepts in mind, let us look more closely at  Tradition Four. The first sentence guarantees each AA group local autonomy. With respect to its own affairs, the group may make any decisions, adopt any attitudes that it likes. No overall or intergroup authority should challenge this primary privilege. We feel this ought to b...

 Uses of Will/Will power in the Big Book and Twelve and Twelve: Uses of 'will', in terms of human power or character, almost always indicate it is negative or insufficient. Uses of 'will' to describe Step Three ('Turning our will and life over...') are excluded here. A few positive uses of will / will power are at the bottom of the page. Big Book: Faced with this problem, if a doctor is honest with himself, he must sometimes feel his own inadequacy. Although he gives all that is in him, it often is not enough. One feels that something more than human power is needed to produce the essential psychic change." The Doctor's Opinion "It relieved me somewhat to learn that in alcoholics the will is amazingly weakened when it comes to combating liquor, though if often remains strong in other respects." Page 7, Bill's Story "But my friend [Ebby] sat before me, and he made the pointblank declaration that God had done for him what he could not d...

A short bio and a talk by AA historian Ernie Kurtz (From Stories of Recovery.org ):      Dr Ernie Kurtz - (AA) of Ann Arbor, Michigan. (1935-2015) Author of  "Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous"  ,  "The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning"  and  "Shame & Guilt" . On January 19, 2015, at the age of 79, Dr. Ernest Kurtz died of cancer at his home in Ann Arbor, MI. Historian and former Roman Catholic priest, he is perhaps best known today for his many writings on alcoholism, Alcoholics Anonymous, addiction, and spirituality—works informed by his academic brilliance, his deep concern with human spiritual life, and his own struggles with alcohol.           Ernie Kurtz - Spirituality & AA  

  A little AA history - Dr Bob begins working with Clarence Snyder, eventual founder of AA Group #3 in Cleveland:

 In honor of Women's History Month, a short piece on Sister Ignacia:

In honor of Women's History Month, a presentation by Akron AA Archivist Gail LaC on The Women Behind The Men in AA (From Stories of Recovery.org ): Gail LaC - The Women Behind The Men In AA

  Read Bill's 1948 Grapevine article on Tradition Three: Tradition Three                      The Third Tradition is a sweeping statement indeed; it takes                    in a lot of territory. Some people might think it too                    idealistic to be practical. It tells every alcoholic in the                    world that he may become, and remain, a member of Alcoholics                    Anonymous so long as he says so. In short, Alcoholics                    Anonymous has no membership rule.                      Why is this so? Our answer is simple and practical. Even in            ...