http://www.aaprimarypurpose.org/literature/Twelve%20Traditions%20Play.pdf

From: "Bob Schultz" <bsdds@...>
(bsdds at comcast.net)

Also from: "mchugh1652"
<mchugh1652@...>
(mchugh1652 at ameritech.net)

- - - -

From: S Sommers <scmws@...>
(scmws at yahoo.com)

The local districts and occasionally a group
have put on skits at conferences.  The Twelve
Traditions play is a fine skit which teaches
the players and others much about the
traditions and service structure.  I ran
across The Twelve Concepts play somewhere,
but I can't find it right now.

There is a good website:

recoveryskits.com

which might be a place to look.

Thanks.

Sam'l Sommers
Elkhart Indiana

- - - -

From: "gayle" <downtowndoggie@...>
(downtowndoggie at yahoo.com)

Hello to all! this is my first post.  I
requested the script for this play from GSO
back in the 90's & actually performed in it
twice.  I am looking at the script right now.
It's called "Twelve Traditions Play" the
cast is made up of: Narrator, Founder
(oldtimer), Moneybags, Eager Beaver,
Politician, Delegate and Newcomer! It takes
place in Middletown Group.  It also says
"There is no set script or cast for this play.
Like everything in A.A., it is very "loosely"
organized. Ideally there should be seven
players; this version is set up for six
players and a narrator or themesetter who
opens and closes the play."


   ----- Original Message -----
   From: garylock7008
   To: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 4:06 PM
   Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Middletown play presented at AA meetings


   Gary up here in Canada eh!

   One of our AA members - sober over 40 years
   remembers a play that used to move from group
   to group, about Middletown?

   He remembers it being performed at one of the
   Founder's Days a number of years ago - wonder
   if anyone can give me more information, a
   script?

   Best in Recovery - Gary

Multi-District History & Archives Gathering
Lebanon, Pennsylvania, June 21 2008

This year's Gathering is scheduled to begin
at 8 a.m. (registration) on Saturday June 21
2008 at the Social Hall at 750 State Drive in
Lebanon PA (location also in 2006 and 2007).

Suggested topics for panels are:

**The Messengers to Ebby (Rowland H,
   Shep C, Cebra G)

**AA and Baseball

**AA and Films/Theatre

**Early Days in the Mid-Atlantic Region

**AA Pioneers

**And a Panel on Coming into AA in the
   Eastern Pennsylvania Area in October 1970
   (three old friends who have known each
   other in sobriety for more than 35 years).

The Gathering is FREE and morning refreshments
and lunch will be provided.

End time about 4:30-5:00 p.m.

Contact the Chairman at histandarch@...
(histandarch at comcast.net)

Hey guys. Thanks for all of your service here.
I have a pressing question to which I can't
seem to get the answer. Yet.

Most of us AA History lovers are already
familiar with the two doctors in the Big Book
who did the unspeakable: (i) Admitted to a
suffering patient that they didn't know squat
about how to help a real alcoholic and points
out (ii) the existence of a distinction
between the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic.
That would be Silkworth and Jung. We owe our
Fellowship to these men.

But there is one more - a THIRD! In a story
in the back of the Book, "Me an Alcoholic?"
(4th edit. p. 382) the author talks about
his analyst who concluded that the "line
between the heavy drinker and the alcoholic
is not always clear" (385:5) and tells him,
"there is nothing I can do" (386:1) and
"nothing medicine can do".(386:1) The
author points out the analyst's "courage to
admit failure" (386:2)

Is there a name we can ascribe to this third,
courageous and honest physician?

Peace,  Danny Schwarzhoff

- - - -

From the moderator:

"Me an Alcoholic?" is found in the 2nd edition
on page 419, 3rd edition on page 432, and 4th
edition on page 382.  Author Unknown.

See Nancy Olson's biographies of the authors at
http://www.a-1associates.com/aa/Authors.htm
which notes that "This author's date of sobriety
is believed to be November 1947."

Glenn C. (South Bend, Indiana)

It is true that James used the term experiental
rather than educational as Bill's appendix to
the Big Book states.

However, it has always struck me that there
is a far greater problem with this appendix.
Reading it I get the impression that Bill is
implying that it is o.k. if a member's
spiritual experience is not of the 'bolt of
lightning' type as he describes his.

In fact, having read James, it is my
impression that James is saying the exact
opposite: That the most lasting and deep
are experiential and not revival type
surges of emotion as Bill describes his.

Seems to me that Bill acurately reports
that James noted a 'variety' of religious
experiences but not with the same emphasis/
orientation that Bill implies.

Gary up here in Canada eh!

One of our AA members - sober over 40 years
remembers a play that used to move from group
to group, about Middletown?

He remembers it being performed at one of the
Founder's Days a number of years ago - wonder
if anyone can give me more information, a
script?

Best in Recovery - Gary

Hi friends,

The A.A. web-site posts information regarding
Conference-approved and other A.A. literature.
the direct link at the site is:

http://aa.org/en_services_for_members.cfm?PageID=98&SubPage=214

in fellowship,

Buck R.

- - - -

On Mar 29, 2008, at 12:13 PM, James Bliss wrote:

I know that this is a little late, but I was just going through a stack
of material organizing it and came across an interesting item from the
GSO 'Service Material From GSO'. It is document number F-29 dated
10/93. I do not know if it is still available. But it says the
following regarding 'Conference-Approved literature:

<begin quote>
"The term "Conference-approved" describes written or audiovisual
material approved by the Conference for publication by G.S.O. This
process assures that everything in such literature is in accord with
A.A. principles. Conference-approved material always deals with the
recovery program of Alcoholics Anonymous or with information about the
A.A. Fellowship.

"The term has no relation to material not published by G.S.O. It does
_not_ imply Conference Disapproval of other material about A.A. A great
deal of literature helpful to alcoholics is published by others, and
A.A. does not try to tell any individual member what he or she may or
may not read.

"Conference approval assures us that a piece of literature represents
solid A.A. experience. Any Conference-approved booklet or pamphlet goes
through a lengthy and painstaking process, during which a variety of
A.A.s from all over the United States and Canada read and express
opinions at every stage of production."
<end quote>

It states a little later:
<begin quote>
"All "A.A. Literature" Is Not Conference-approved

"Central offices and intergroups do write and distribute pamphlets or
booklets that are not Conference-approved. If such pieces meet the
needs of the local membership, they may be legitimately classified as
"A.A. literature." There is no conflict between A.A. World Services,
Inc. (A.A.W.S. -- publishers of Conference-approved literature), and
central offices or intergroups - rather they complement each other. The
Conference does not _disapprove_ of such material.

"G.S.O. does develop some literature that does not have to be approved
by the Conference, such as service material, Guidelines and bulletins."
<end quote>

Thought this might be of interest to those who were following the
original thread.

Jim






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I know that this is a little late, but I was just going through a stack
of material organizing it and came across an interesting item from the
GSO  'Service Material From GSO'.  It is document number F-29 dated
10/93.  I do not know if it is still available.  But it says the
following regarding 'Conference-Approved literature:

<begin quote>
"The term "Conference-approved" describes written or audiovisual
material approved by the Conference for publication by G.S.O.  This
process assures that everything in such literature is in accord with
A.A. principles.  Conference-approved material always deals with the
recovery program of Alcoholics Anonymous or with information about the
A.A. Fellowship.

"The term has no relation to material not published by G.S.O.  It does
_not_ imply Conference Disapproval of other material about A.A.  A great
deal of literature helpful to alcoholics is published by others, and
A.A. does not try to tell any individual member what he or she may or
may not read.

"Conference approval assures us that a piece of literature represents
solid A.A. experience.  Any Conference-approved booklet or pamphlet goes
through a lengthy and painstaking process, during which a variety of
A.A.s from all over the United States and Canada read and express
opinions at every stage of production."
<end quote>

It states a little later:
<begin quote>
"All "A.A. Literature" Is Not Conference-approved

"Central offices and intergroups do write and distribute pamphlets or
booklets that are not Conference-approved.  If such pieces meet the
needs of the local membership, they may be legitimately classified as
"A.A. literature."  There is no conflict between A.A. World Services,
Inc. (A.A.W.S. -- publishers of Conference-approved literature), and
central offices or intergroups - rather they complement each other.  The
Conference does not _disapprove_ of such material.

"G.S.O. does develop some literature that does not have to be approved
by the Conference, such as service material, Guidelines and bulletins."
<end quote>

Thought this might be of interest to those who were following the
original thread.

Jim

I recently obtained printings of the 1st and
2nd reprints of Jack Alexander's SEP (Saturday
Evening Post) article which must have been
the most widely circulasted Can Opener of the
1940's. After the articled appeared in the
magazine the Philadelphia Mother Group ordered
10,000 copies from Judge Curtis Bok, a Phila-
delphia Municipal Court Judge and the owner
of the Curtis publications. One thousand of
these stayed in Philadelphia and nine thousand
went to New York. Our relationship with the
Judge occured with the help from two Non-
Alcoholic members of AA in Philadelphia. They
were referred to as "associate members" and
are listed in the 1st meeting list issued by
the Mother Group. (July 1940) Those two men
were Dr's A Weise Hammer and Dudley Saul.

Has the list of Can Opener's been updated
since the initial post?

Shakey Mike Gwirtz
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
See you in Niagara Falls NY in Sept 2008 ?






- In AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com, "Bruce C." <brucecl2002@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi All
>
> Here is a list of some of the early AA
> pamphlets I have seen. All early can openers
> had a point.
>
> I have seen two "AA" pamphlets or booklets,
> both from Works Publishing:
>
> 1. - The Houston Press reprints of  intro,
> an editorial, and 6 - articles published
> by The Houston Press, with a reprint of
> "A New Approach to Psychotherapy in Chronic
> Alcoholism", by Dr. Silkworth, from "The Journal
> - Lancet, MN.   July, 1939, Vol. LIX, No. 7,
> page 312.(no copyright date, circa. 1940)
>
> 2. - AA pamphlet or booklet, 29 pages,
> Alcoholics Anonymous intro, Am I An
> Alcoholic?, The Doctor's Nightmare, The
> European Drinker, Women Suffer Too, Bill's
> Story, Medicine, Religion and Alcoholics
> Anonymous, The Twelve Steps, Our Friends Say,
> Book Review by Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick.
> copyright 1943.
>
> Other Works Publishing pamphlets or booklets:
>
>   Medicine Looks at A.A. - 1946
>   A.A. Tradition - 1947
>   Sedatives - 1948
>   The Society of Alcoholics Anonymous - 1950
>
> Pamphlets Booklets with "color covers", by
> the  Alcoholic Foundation:
>
>   A.A. for the Woman - 1952
>   Sedatives and the Alcoholic - 1952
>   The Alcoholic Employee - 1952
>   Young People and A.A. - 1953
>
> The items stated earlier reprinted from Akron -
> Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, MI., and Chicago,
> IL. central offices.
>
>
>   Bruce C.
>

Can anyone tell me when the Big Book was
changed to say in the 12th Step in Chapter
Five "Having had a spiritual awakening..."
as versus the earlier phrase "Having had a
spiritual experience..."?

- - - -

FROM OUR PAST MESSAGES:

From: "ArtSheehan" <ArtSheehan@...>
Date: Sat Dec 3, 2005
Subject: RE: Changing "those" to "these"
in 12th step wording

In March 1941, the wording of Step 12 was
changed in the 2nd printing of the 1st
edition Big Book. The term “spiritual
experience” was changed to “spiritual
awakening” and the term “as the result of
these steps” was changed to “as the result
of those steps.”

An appendix titled “Spiritual Experience” was
also added to the Big Book in the 2nd printing
of the 1st edition. This was done because
many members thought they had to have a sudden
and spectacular spiritual experience similar
to the one Bill had in Towns Hospital. The
appendix emphasized that most spiritual
experiences were of the type that the psycho-
logist William James called the “educational
variety.”

There is a very brief mention of the Step 12
wording change from "experience" to "awakening"
in "AA Comes of Age" in the chapter "Religion
Looks at Alcoholics Anonymous" by Father Ed
Dowling (pg 256). Outside of it, I have been
unable to find any further references to the
changes in AA literature.

In 1956, the wording of Step 12 changed again
in the 2nd printing of the 2nd edition Big
Book. The term “as the result of those steps”
was restored to its original form of “as the
result of these steps.”

The 1976 General Service Conference approved
publication of the 3rd edition Big Book.

The 1976 Conference also expanded a 1955
provision of the Conference Charter to specify
that any change to the Steps, Traditions or
Concepts and 6 Warranties of Article 12 of
the General Service Conference Charter, would
require written approval of 75% of the AA
Groups worldwide. The Conference Advisory
Action makes any change whatsoever to the
Steps, Traditions, Concepts and Warranties a
virtual impossibility (even so much as adding
or removing a comma).

Cheers
Arthur

- - - -

Message 3677 from "ArtSheehan"
<ArtSheehan@...> (ArtSheehan at msn.com)
Sept. 4, 2006

There were a number of significant changes
made to the 2nd printing of the 1st edition
Big Book:

In March 1941, in the 2nd printing, the
wording of Step Twelve changed. The term
"spiritual experience" was changed to
"spiritual awakening" and "as the result of
these steps" was changed to "as the result
of those steps." The story "Lone Endeavor"
(of Pat C from CA, ghost written by Ruth
Hock) was removed. Appendix II "Spiritual
Experience" was added. Many members thought
they had to have a sudden, spectacular
spiritual experience similar to the one
Bill had in Towns Hospital. The appendix
emphasized that most spiritual experiences
developed slowly over time and were of the
"educational variety." William James, by
the way did not explicitly use the term
"educational variety" in his 1902 book
titled "The Varieties of Religious
Experience - A Study In Human Nature."

Glenn wrote: Again, someone with access to
the New York AA Archives needs to check the
original letters to make sure that we have
accurate copies to work from.

- - - -

Hello! As you both know, I usually don’t
stick my foot in at AAHistoryLovers but prefer
just to view the wonderful things others
are researching and writing on this list,
only responding or butting in when specifi-
cally requested to do so. That said, since I
certainly have access to AA’s GSO Archives :-),
I thought I would respond to this and hopefully
can help.

- - - -

We have an original copy of Bobbie Burger’s
November 11, 1944 letter to Barry Collins, and
her words are slightly different than what is
quoted below, and some sentences were removed,
but it’s basically the same. She writes (this
is typed verbatim from her letter):

- - - -

"Dear Barry:

. . . The Washington pamphlet like the new
Cleveland one and the host of others are all
local projects. I doubt that they make
anything on the sale of them for it is only
on a very large distribution that anything
can be made. I know, although we ship thousands
of our own pamphlets, that we actually lose a
little selling at the price we do. Of course,
we do not try to make a profit – the pamphlet
distribution is just another service of this
office. We do not actually approve or
disapprove of these local pieces; by that
I mean that the Foundation feels each Group
is entitled to write up its own 'can opener'
nd [sic] let it stand on its own merits. All
of them have good points and very few have
caused any controversy. But as in all things
of a local nature, we keep hands off, either
pro or con. Personally I’m glad to see the
‘Spnsor’ [sic] pamphlet out of Cleveland. I
know the system there ‘works’ and could be
of benefit to other groups. Frankly I haen’t
[sic] had time to mor [sic] than glance at
the Washington booklet but I’ve heard some
favorable comments about it. I think there
must be at least 25 local pamphlets now being
used and I've yet to see one that hasn't had
some good points. I think it is up to each
individual Group whether it wants to use and
buy these pamphlets from the Group that puts
them out. . . .

Sincerely, Bobbie (Margaret R. Burger)"

- - - -

We have many letters to and from Bill about
this book, but I can’t find the one transcribed
below (also on hindsfoot.org) from November
1950. We have a number of letters from Bill
to Ed Webster and to Barry Collins. They
clearly were communicating with Bill in late
1950; they sent Bill some copies of the new
revision and many letters were exchanged. But
I can’t find Bill’s 1950 letter to Barry with
this quote in it.

However, this is just the sort of thing that
Bill did say in many other letters. I don’t
see any reason at all to think the letter is
not legitimate; we just don’t seem to have it
in our collection. I believe it’s probably
genuine, but without having a copy of it here,
I can’t say for sure.

The Alcoholic Foundation and Bill W. were
always very welcoming of books like this if
they were helpful to AA members, and always
took a very hands-off approach, as we do today.
We have a letter from Bill W. dated November
14, 1946, in which he writes to Ed:

- - - -

“I haven’t had a chance to get at the little
book. Everybody who has read it seems to like
it very much – which of course was to be
expected! Personally I am very glad to see
many people writing about A.A. and circulating
the material about even though some folks
seem to think I should do all the writing.
To me this idea is nonsense. A.A. is not one
point of view, it is many.”

- - - -

On May 31, 1949, Bill writes Ed again to thank
him for sending him some books. He writes,

- - - -

“God forbid that Alcoholics Anonymous ever
become frozen or rigid in its ways of doing
or thinking. Within the framework of our
principles the ways are apparently legion.
There is little doubt that the contribution
you folks have made to our progress will always
be a part of the folk lore of our well-loved
fellowship.”

- - - -

Hope this is helpful. Take care!

Amy

Amy Filiatreau, CA
Archives Director
AA World Services, Inc.

212-870-2568

<filiatreaua@...>
(filiatreaua at aa.org)

Dr. Percy Poliak had indeed been on the staff
of Bellevue Hospital in New York, as Resident
Physician in Charge of the Psychiatric
Division.   At that time he had a brief
contact with Bill W. and had come to possess
a Big Book.

While at Bellvue Dr. Poliak also met a San
Francisco drunk, Ted C, who was in the New
York hospital recovering. That was in 1939.
(Ted C. was among the first four members of
AA in San Francisco.)

By March of 1940, however, according to a
history of the California Northern Coastal
Area written by Dean K. (d. 1984), Dr. Poliak
was on the Staff of the San Francisco General
Hospital.

It was at that time that another local AA
member, Don B., had started to drink again,
and was admitted there. Ted C., now a sober AA
member, went to visit Don in the SF hospital
and ran into Dr. Poliak again.

This led to Dr. Poliak becoming very active
with AA membership in San Francisco. attending
AA meetings and referring numerous patients
to the Fellowship. He is honored by AA in San
Francisco as one of its strongest friends.

Bruce Kennedy
Chair, San Francisco Archives Committee

- - - -

Message 4922 from <lance_1954@...>
(lance_1954 at yahoo.com)

Hi group!

Does anyone have any info on Dr. Percy Poliak?

He gave the "2nd Doctor's Opinion" in the Big
Book in Chapt. 3, "More About Alcoholism,"
page 43. (It is only one paragraph long!)

Thanks, and God's blessings!

Lance, from colorful Colorado!

- - - -

From the moderator: for additional background,
see

http://www.a-1associates.com/aa/BBWhoWhat.htm

http://www.justloveaudio.com/resources/Assorted/Big_Book_Name_and_Date_Reference\
\s.pdf

page 43: staff member world renowned hospital
was Dr. Percy Poliak at Bellevue Hospital,
New York

page 43: "two of you men, whose stories I
have heard," unknown.

Dr. Percy Poliak -- San Francisco psychiatrist
was with Bellevue Hospital New York then
San Francisco Country Hospital, impressed
with A.A., gave A.A. group full support
(Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age page 88)

Good Morning!

I just now joined this group in order to ask
the following question:

In 1942, a man named Dwight Anderson published
what I believe to be one of the most important
articles in the history of the modern
alcoholism movement.  It was titled "Alcohol
and Public Opinion," and published in the
Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol
(3:376-392, 1942).  Near the end of this
article, Anderson discussed the prevailing
apathy and sense of impotence with regard to
alcoholism current among contemporary
physicians in the U.S.  At one point, he
tells an anecdote about the misinterpretation
of slips among physicians (pp. 386-387):

"Too frequently the therapist merely regards
this [i.e., a slip] as evidence of the
impossibility of cure, and gives up.  A
psychiatrist in a municipal hospital so
regarded a lapse in an instance known to the
author.  A member of Alcoholics Anonymous who
had been helped to remain sober for more than
a year, landed back in the psychiatric ward
where she was quite well known from many
previous visits.  The psychiatric intern who
visited her said: 'Well, I see you're back in
here again despite "Alcoholics Anonymous."'
Do we chide a tuberculosis patient who
relapses?"

Might anyone on this list recall anything in
connection with Anderson's anecdote, I wonder?
I'm particularly interested in the name of
the AA member Anderson was referring to.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Ron Roizen
Wallace, Idaho

Am curious to read the current Hazelden edition
of The Little Red Book after reading the recent
posts on it.

My question: is the "nonsexist" language edition
from Hazelden more or less the original text,
or is it significantly altered?

   Charlie C.
   IM, Yahoo = route20guy

"For what do we live, but to make sport for
our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?"
   Pride & Prejudice

Proposal by Bill W. For Twelve Concepts
For World Service

10th General Service Conference – 1960

This proposal, delivered by Bill W. at the closing of the 10th General Service
Conference is of great historical significance as it was the first time that
Bill had spoken to the Fellowship on the subject of the Twelve Concepts.

The original transcript has been retyped for clarity and has been verified
against the voice recording.

-------------------------------------------

  The last of the sand in the hourglass of our time together is about to run its
course. And you have asked me, as of old, to conclude this conference, our
tenth.

I always approach this hour with mixed feelings. As time has past, each year
succeeding itself, I have found increasing gratitude beyond measure, because of
the increasing sureness that A.A. is safe at last for God, so long as he may
wish this society to endure.

So I stand here among you and feel as you do a sense of security and gratitude
such as we have never known before. There is not a little regret, too, that the
other side of the coin -— that we cannot turn back the clock and renew these
hours. Soon they will become a part of our history.

The three legacies of A.A. -- recovery, unity and service -- in a sense
represent three utter impossibilities, impossibilities that we know became
possible, and possibilities that now have borne this unbelievable fruit. Old
Fitzmayo, one of the early A.A.”s and I visited the Surgeon General of the
United States in the third year of this society, told him of our beginnings. He
was a gentle man, Dr. Lawrence Kolb, since become a great friend of A.A., and he
said: ”I wish you well. Even the sobriety of such a few is almost a miracle. The
government knows that this is one of the greatest health problems we have, one
of the greatest moral problems, one of the greatest spiritual problems. But we
here have considered recovery of alcoholics so impossible that we have given up
and have instead concluded that rehabilitation of narcotic addicts would be the
easier job to tackle.”

Such was the devastating impossibility of our situation.

Now, what had been brought to bear upon this impossibility that it has become
possible? First, the Grace of Him who presides over all of us. Next, the cruel
lash of John Barleycorn who said, “This you must do, or die.” Next, the
intervention of God through friends, at first a few, and now legion, who opened
to us, who in the early days were uncommitted, the whole field of human ideas,
morality and religion, from which we could choose.

These have been the wellsprings of the forces and ideas and emotions and spirit
which were first fused into our Twelve Steps for recovery. And some of us got
well. But no sooner had a few got sober then the old forces began to come into
play. In us rather frail people, they were fearsome: the old forces, the drives,
money, acclaim, prestige.

Would these tear us apart? Besides, we came from every walk of life. Early, we
had begun to be a cross section of all men and women, all differently
conditioned, all so different and yet happily so alike in our kinship of
suffering. Could we hold in unity? To those few who remain who lived in those
earlier times when the Traditions were being forged in the school of hard
experience on its thousands of anvils, we had our very, very dark moments.

It was sure recovery was in sight, but how could there be recovery for many? Or
how could recovery endure if we were to fall into controversy and so into
dissolution and decay? Well, the spirit of the Twelve Steps, which has brought
us release, from one of the grimmest obsessions known -- obviously, this spirit
and these principles of retaining Grace had to be the fundamentals of our unity.
But in order to become fundamental to our unity, these principles had to be
spelled out as they applied to the most prominent and the most grievous of our
problems.

So, out of experience, the need to apply the spirit of our steps to our lives of
working and living together, these were the forces that generated the Traditions
of Alcoholics Anonymous.

But, we had to have more than cohesion. Even for survival, we had to carry this
message. We had to function. In fact, that had become evident in the Twelve
Steps themselves for the last one enjoins us to carry the message. But just how
would we carry this message? How would we communicate, we few, with those
myriad’s who still didn’t know? And how would this communication be handled? And
how could we do these things, how could we authorize these things in such a way
that in this new hot focus of effort and ego we were not again to be shattered
by the forces that had once ruined our lives?

This was the problem of the Third Legacy. From the vital Twelfth Step call right
up through our society to its culmination today. And, again, many of us said:
This can’t be done. It’s all very well for Bill and Bob and a few friends to set
up a Board of Trustees and to provide us with some literature, and look after
our public relations, and do all of those chores for us we can’t do for
ourselves. This is fine, but we can’t go any further than that. This is a job
for our elders. This is a job for our parents. In this direction only can there
be simplicity and security.

And then we came to the day when it was seen that the parents were both fallible
and perishable (although this seems to be a token they are not). And Dr. Bob’s
hour struck. And we suddenly realized that this ganglion, this vital nerve
center of World Service, would lose its sensation the day the communication
between an increasingly unknown Board of Trustees and you was broken. Fresh
links would have to be forged. And at that time many of us said: This is
impossible. This is too hard. Even in transacting the simplest business,
providing the simplest of services, raising the minimum amounts of money, these
excitements to us, in this society so bent on survival have been almost too much
locally. Look at our club brawls. My God, if we have elections countrywide, and
Delegates come down here, and look at the complexity -- thousands of group
representatives, hundreds of committeemen, scores of Delegates -— My God, when
these descend on our parents, the Trustees, what is going to happen then? It
won’t be simplicity; it can’t be. Our experience has spelled it out.

But there was the imperative, the must. And why was there an imperative? Because
we had better have some confusion, we had better have some politicking, than to
have an utter collapse of this center. That was the alternative. And that was
the uncertain and tenuous ground on which this Conference was called into being.

I venture, in the minds of many, sometimes in mine, the Conference could be
symbolized by a great prayer and a faint hope. This was the state of affairs in
1945 to 1950. And then came the day that some of us went up to Boston to watch
an Assembly elect by two thirds vote or lot a Delegate. And prior to the
Assembly, I consulted all the local politicos and those very wise Irishmen in
Boston said, we’re gonna make your prediction Bill, you know us temperamentally,
but we’re going to say that this thing is going to work. And it was the biggest
piece of news and one of the mightiest assurances that I had up to this time
that there could be any survival for these services.

Well, work it has, and we have survived another impossibility. Not only have we
survived the impossibility, we have so far transcended it that I think that
there can be no return in future years to the old uncertainties, come what
perils there may.

Now, as we have seen in this quick review, the spirit of the Twelve Steps was
applied in specific terms to our problems, to living, to working together. This
developed the Traditions. In turn, the Traditions were applied to this problem
of functioning at world levels in harmony and in unity.

And something which had seemed to grow like Topsy took on an increasing
coherence. And through the process of trial and error, refinements began to be
made until the day of the great radical change. Our question here in the old
days was: Is the group conscience for Trustees and for founders? Or are they to
be the parents of Alcoholics Anonymous forever? There is something a little
repugnant --you know, They got it through us, why can’t we go on telling them?

So the great problem, could the group conscience function at world levels? Well,
it can and it does. Today we are still in this process of definition and of
refinement in this matter of functioning. Unlike the Twelve Steps and the Twelve
Traditions which no doubt will be undisturbed from here out, there will always
be room in the functional area for refinements, improvements, adaptations. For
God’s sake, let us never freeze these things. On the other hand, let us look at
yesterday and today, at our experience. Now, just as it was vital to codify in
Twelve Steps the spiritual side of our program, to codify in twelve traditional
principles the forces and ideas that would make for unity, and discourage
disunity, so may it now be necessary to codify, those principles and
relationships upon which our world service function rests, from the group right
up through.

This is what I like to call structuring. People often say, What do you mean by
structuring? What use is it? Why don’t we just get together and do these things?
Well, structure at this level means just what structure means in the Twelve
Steps and in the Twelve Traditions. It is a stated set of principles and
relationships by which we may understand each other, the tasks to be done and
what the principles are for doing them. Therefore, why shouldn’t we take the
broad expanse of the Traditions and use their principles to spell out our
special needs in relationships in this area of function for world service,
indeed, at long last, I trust for all services whatever character?

Well, we’ve been in the process of doing this and two or three years ago it
occurred to me that I should perhaps take another stab --not at another batch of
twelve principles or points, God forbid, but at trying to organize the ideas and
relationships that already exist so as to present them in an easily understood
manner.

As you know the Third Legacy Manual is a manual that largely tells us how; it is
mostly a thing of mere description and of procedure. So I have cooked up in a
very tentative way something which we might call Twelve Concepts for World
Service. This has been a three-year job. I found the material, because of its
ramifications, exceedingly hard to organize. But I have made a stab at it and
the Concepts, which are really bundles of related principles, are on paper and
underneath each is a descriptive article. And I have eleven of the articles and
perhaps will soon wind up the Twelfth.

Now, to give you an idea of what’s cooking, what I’ve been driving at, I’ll
venture to bore you with two or three paragraphs of the introduction to this
thing.

“The Concepts to be discussed in the following pages are primarily an
interpretation of A.A.’s world service structure. They spell out the traditional
practices and the Conference charter principles that relate the component parts
of our world structure into a working whole. Our Third Legacy manual is largely
a document of procedure. Up to now the Manual tells us how to operate our
service structure. But there is considerable lack of detailed information which
would tell us why the structure has developed as it has and why its working
parts are related together in the fashion that our Conference and General
Service Board charters provide.

“These Twelve Concepts therefore represent an attempt to put on paper the why of
our service structure in such a fashion that the highly valuable experience of
the past and the conclusions that we have drawn from it cannot be lost.

“These Concepts are no attempt to freeze our operation against needed change.
They only describe the present situation, the forces and principles that have
molded it. It is to be remembered that in most respects the Conference charter
can be readily amended. This interpretation of the past and present can,
however, have a high value for the future. Every oncoming generation of service
workers will be eager to change and improve our structure and operations. This
is good. No doubt change will be needed. Perhaps unforeseen flaws will emerge.
These will have to be remedied.

But along with this very constructive outlook, there will be bound to be still
another, a destructive one. We shall always be tempted to throw out the baby
with the bath water. We shall suffer the illusion that change, any plausible
change, will necessarily represent progress. When so animated, we may carelessly
cast aside the hard won lessons of early experience and so fall back into many
of the great errors of the past.

Hence, a prime purpose of these Twelve Concepts is to hold the experience and
lessons of the early days constantly before us. This should reduce the chance of
hasty and unnecessary change. And if alterations are made that happen to work
out badly, then it is hoped that these Twelve Concepts will make a point of safe
return.”

Now, quickly, what are they?

Well, the first two deal with: ultimate responsibility and authority for world
services belongs to the A.A. group. That is to say, that’s the A.A. conscience.

The next one deals with the necessity for delegates authority. And perhaps you
haven’t thought of it, but when you re-read Tradition Two, you will see that the
group conscience represents a final and ultimate authority and that the trusted
servant is the delegated authority from the groups in which the servant is
trusted to do the kinds of things for the groups they can’t do for themselves.
So, how that got that way, respecting world services: ultimate authority,
delegated authority is here spelled out.

Then there comes in the next essay this all questioned importance of leadership,
this all important question of what anyway is a trusted servant. Is this gent or
gal a messenger, a housemaid -- or is he to be really trusted? And if so, how is
he going to know how much he can be trusted? And what is going to be your
understanding of it when you hand him the job? Now, these problems are legion.
The extent to which this trust is to be spelled out and applied to each
particular condition has to have some means of interpretation, doesn’t it? So I
have suggested here that, throughout our services, we create what might be
called the principle of decision -— and the root of this principle is trust. The
principle of decision, which says that any executive, committee, board, the
Conference itself, within the state or customary scope of their several duties,
should be able to say what questions they will dispose of themselves —- and
which they will pass on to the next higher authority for guidance, direction,
consultation and whatnot.

This spells out and defines, and makes an automatic means of defining throughout
our structure at all times, what the trust is that any servant could expect. You
say this is dangerous? I don’t think so. It simply means that you are not, out
of your ultimate authority as groups, to be constantly giving a guy directions
who you’ve already trusted to think for himself. Now, if he thinks badly, you
can sack him. But trust him first. That is the big thing.

Now, then, there is another traditional principle, the source of another essay
here called the principle of participation. Our whole lives have been wrecked,
often from childhood, because we have not been participants. There had been too
much of the parental thing, too much of the wrong kind of the parental thing, we
always wanted to belong, we always wanted to participate; and there is going to
be a constant tendency, which we must always forefend against, and that is to
place in our service structure any group, A.A. as a whole, the Conference, the
Board of Trustees, committees, executives -- to place any of these people in
absolutely unqualified authority, one over the other. This is an institutional,
a military, set-up —- and God knows we drunks have rejected institutions and
this kind of authority, for our purpose, haven’t we?

So, therefore, how, as a practical matter, are we going to express this
participation. Right here in this conference it’s burned in; in Article XII
you’ll see this statement in the Conference Charter: nobody is to be set in
utter authority over anybody else. How do we prevent this?

The Trustees here, and the headquarters people here, are in a great minority
over you people. You have the ultimate authority over us. And you say, well
these folks are nicely incorporated, and we ain’t; and they have the dough
legally, so have we got it? Sure, you got it. You can go home and shut the dough
off, can’t you? You’ve got the ultimate authority but -- we’ve got some
delegated authority. Now when you get in this Conference, you find that the
Trustees, and the Directors and the staffs have votes.

And many of you say, why is it; we represent the groups; why the hell shouldn’t
we tell these people? Why should they utter one yip while we’re doing it? Oh,
we’ll let ‘em yip, but not vote. Well, you see, right there we get from the
institutional idea to the corporate idea. And in the corporate business world,
there is participation in these levels. Can you imagine -how much stock would
you buy in General Motors if you knew the president and half the board of
directors couldn’t get into a meeting because they were on the payroll? Or could
just come in and listen to the out-of-town directors? You’d want these people’s
opinions registered. And they can’t really belong unless they vote. This we have
found out by the hardest kind of experience. So therefore, the essay here on
participation deals with the principle that any A.A. servant in any top echelon
of service, regardless of whether they’re paid, unpaid, volunteer or what, shall
be entitled to reasonable voting privileges in accordance with their
responsibility.

And you good politicos are going to say, but these people here hold a balance of
power. Well, we qualified that in one way. We’ll take the balance of power away
from them when it comes to qualifications for their own jobs or voting in
approval of their own actions. But the bulk of the work of this Conference has
to do with plans and policy for the future. So supposing that among you
Delegates there is a split. And supposing these people come in and vote, which,
by the way, they seldom do as a bloc, and they swing it one way or the other on
matters of future policy and planning; well, after all, why shouldn’t they? Are
they any less competent than the rest of us? Of course not. Besides these
technical considerations, there is this deep need in us to belong, to
participate. And you can only participate on the basis of equality -- and one
token of this is voting equality. At first blush, you won’t like the idea. But
you’ll have a chance to think about it.

One more idea: There came to this country some hundred years ago a French Baron
whose family and himself had been wracked by the French revolution. De
Toqueville. And he was a worshipful admirer of democracy. And in those days
democracy seemed to be mostly expressed in people’s minds by votes of simple
majorities. And he was a worshipful admirer of the spirit of democracy as
expressed by the power of a majority to govern. But, said de Toqueville, a
majority can be ignorant, it can be brutal, it can be tyrannous -- and we have
seen it. Therefore, unless you most carefully protect a minority, large or
small, make sure that minority opinions are voiced, make sure that minorities
have unusual rights, you’re democracy is never going to work and its spirit will
die. This was de Toqueville’s prediction and, considering today’s times, is it
strange that he is not widely read now?

That is why in this Conference we try to get a unanimous consent while we can;
this is why we say the Conference can mandate the Board of Trustees on a
two-thirds vote. But we have said more here. We have said that any Delegate, any
Trustee, any staff member, any service director, -- any board, committee or
whatever --- that wherever there is a minority, it shall always be the right of
this minority to file a minority report so that their views are held up clearly.
And if in the opinion of any such minority, even a minority of one, if the
majority is about to hastily or angrily do something which could be to the
detriment of Alcoholics Anonymous, the serious detriment, it is not only their
right to file a minority appeal, it is their duty.

So, like de Toqueville, neither you nor I want either the tyranny or the
majority, nor the tyranny of the small minority. And steps have been taken here
to balance up these relations.

Now, some of the other things cover topics like this, I touched on this: The
Conference acknowledges the primary administrative responsibility of the
Trustees. We have talked about electing trustees and yet primarily they are a
body of administrators. In a sense, it’s an executive body, isn’t it? Look at
any form of government. (Understand we’re not a form of government, but you have
to pay attention to these forms). The President of the United States is the only
elected executive; all the rest are appointive, aren’t they, subject to
confirmation by, which is the system we got here -- and this goes into that.

And then there is this question taken up in another essay. How can these legal
rights of the Trustees, which haven’t been changed one jot or title by the
appearance of this Conference, if they’ve got the legal right to hang on to your
money and do as they dammed please, what’s going to stop them? Well, the answer
is: Nobody has a vested interest. They have to be volunteers always. They are
amenable to the spirit of this Conference and its power and its prestige --- and
if they are not, there is a provision here by which they can be reorganized;
there is a provision in here by which they can be censored - and you can always
go home and shut off the money spigot.

So, the traditional power of this Conference and the groups is actually superior
to the legal power of the Trustees. That is the balance. But the trustees as a
minority some day, should this Conference get very angry and unreasonable, say:
Boys, we’re going to veto you for the time being, we ain’t gonna do this ---
even as the President of the United States has the veto, so will these fellows.
You go home and think this over. We won’t go along. And if you give them a vote
of no confidence, they can appeal to the groups. These are the balances, see;
this is interpretive, this has all been implicit in our structure but we’re
trying to spell it out.

Well, there are others —- There’s a whole section on leadership, service
leadership from top to bottom, what it’s composed of. In A.A. we wash between
great extremes. On the one side, we’ve got the infallible leader who never makes
any mistakes --- and let us do just as he says. On the other side we have a
concept of leadership which goes and says: What shall I do? What shall I do?
Tell me, what time do —- I’m just a humble servant, not a trusted one, just a
humble one. The hell with either. Leadership in practice works in between -- and
we spell that out. And so on.

This will give you an idea of what’s cooking in the Twelve Concepts for World
Service. The last one which I haven’t done deals with the Conference -- Article
XII of the Conference charter. And you who recall it know that this is several
things. First of all, it’s the substance of the contract the groups made with
the Board of Trustees at the time of St. Louis. And this contract decrees that
this body shall never be a government.

It decrees that we shall be prudent financially. It decrees that we shall be
keepers of the A.A. Tradition —- and so on -- so that it is in part a spiritual
document and in part a contract. And, God willing, because it is both spiritual
and contract, let it be for all time of our existence a sanctified contract.

My own days of active service, like the sands in our last hourglass, are running
out. And this is good. We know that all families have to have parents and we
know that the great unwisdom of all parenthood is to try to remain the parents
of infants in adolescence and keep people in this state forever. We know that
when the parents have done their bit, and said their pieces, and have nursed the
family along, that there comes the point that the parents must say: Now, you go
out and try your wings. You haven’t grown up and we haven’t grown up, but you
have come to the age of responsibility where, with the tools we are leaving you,
you must try to grow up, to grow in God’s image and likeness.

So my feeling is not that I’m withdrawing because I’m tired. My feeling is that
I would like to be another kind of parent, a fellow on the sidelines. If there
is some breach in these walls which we have erected, some unseen flaw or defect,
of course all of us oldsters are going to pitch in for the repairs. But this
business of functioning in the here and now, that is for the new generation.

May God bless Alcoholics Anonymous forever. And I offer a prayer that the
destiny of this society will ever be safe in the hearts of its membership and in
the conscience of its trusted servants. You are the heirs. As I said at the
opening the future belongs to you.

What can anyone tell me about "Lee T." who
wrote a Foreword to "A New Pair of Glasses"
by Chuck C.?

Any background information you have about
"Lee T." and his writing of a Foreword in
Chuck C.'s book would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

- - - -

From the moderator: I assume you have seen
Message 139 from Nancy Olson

"Chuck Chamberlain's Testimony Before a U.S.
Senate Subcommittee, 1969"

Chuck Chamberlain: was born in 1902, and got
sober in A.A. in January 1946.  He wrote a
book called "A New Pair Of Glasses" which
is a transcript of a retreat he gave for
alcoholics in 1975. The Preface is written
by Clancy I. of California.  It can be
purchased through New-Look Publishing Co.,
1960 Fairchild, Irvine, California 92715.
His son [Richard] became a famous actor.
Chuck died in 1984.

Joseph Tandl (Canberra, Australia) wrote:
>
> I have been asked to write a short article
> (i.e. 300 words) for an AA Area newsletter on
> Concept 4. Googling and searching this list's
> archive revealed only the illustrated brochure
> on the 12 concepts.
>
> I would be grateful for pointers to informa-
> tion about the history of and reason for
> this particular concept and anything that
> would make writing about it informative and
> memorable.

- - - -

From: Bill Lash <barefootbill@...>
(barefootbill at optonline.net)

Please go to http://www.justloveaudio.com
and click on "free resources".  There is
a lot of info on the 12 Concepts & the 12
Traditions.  It also has a large amount of
info/exercises/guides on all of the 12 Steps
too.  Peace.

     Just Love,
     Barefoot Bill

- - - -

From: "Debi Ubernosky" <dkuber1990@...>
(dkuber1990 at verizon.net)

Dear friend,

All of the Concepts are in the AA Service
Manual, which you can download from the AA
website at

http://www.aa.org/en_services_for_members.cfm?PageID=101.

Happy reading!

    Debi Ubernosky  (service crazy alkie!)
    DOS:  11-25-1990
    by God's grace and because AA works!

Wait, my apologies, I should have referenced
the service material that is on Australia's
AA website:
http://www.aa.org.au/members/index.php?nav=mb

Here's the link to Australia's AA Service Manual:
http://www.aa.org.au/materials/materials_service_manual.php?nav=mb

Here's a diagram of your service structure:
http://www.aa.org.au/materials/materials_national_structure.php

Your local DCM or Area Delegate would be a
wonderful resource to get some personal input
on the Concepts.

Enjoy!

Debi

- - - -

From: Hugh Hyatt <hughhyatt@...>
(hughhyatt at bluehen.udel.edu)

I've found the A.A. Grapevine Digital Archive
to be great too for finding information on
such topics: http://www.aagrapevine.org/da/

- - - -

From: "Lee Nickerson" <snowlily@...>

I have been active in Service at the Area Level and Central
Office for most of my sobriety. Especially at Central Office, I found
that a knowledge of the Concepts was an essential tool. Invaluable,
is a better way to say it. They are certainly a lesson in our history
and are as relevant today as when they were written. Bill's struggles
to have them become a part of us is also a fascinating story.

The Concepts have guided us over many threatening issues and
controversies since their creation. As I read through them I am ever
reminded of Bill's great visionary gift and where that gift came
from. Whenever I am asked to speak about them I never fail to remind
the listeners to read Bill's Essay on Leadership: to me, one of the
finest guides to being an AA leader (or a leader anywhere) that has
ever been written. It is so simple, so direct and so useable.

The Concepts can be used anywhere in the AA service structure,
from the Group to the Conference. The idea that we all have a voice,
the premise that we just must make decisions, the guidance that we
can't expect someone to take a responsibility in AA without
concurrently handing them a certain authority - all these things are
applicable at any level of Alcoholics Anonymous. A thorough knowledge
of the Concepts has given me the precious gift of being able to
survive and appreciate some of the volatile and controversial
decision made at the General Service Office, the Conference, and even
at my Home Group. It is my belief that if all of us had a first-hand
grasp of them, our grasp on our history and our AA Service life would
be easier and more fruitful.

>
> >From Glenn C. <glennccc@...>
>(glennccc at sbcglobal.net)
>
>Jack H. (who has Ed Webster's papers) says
>that after Ed's death in 1971, his widow
>transferred the rights to The Little Red
>Book to Hazelden, to make sure the book
>stayed in print.
>
>Looking at the copyright pages of old
>copies of The Little Red Book, it looks
>like the transfer could have taken place
>a little earlier (i.e. before 1971), but
>Hazelden has always been careless about
>the dates they put down for the copyright
>date of their editions of early AA books.
>
>But as you note, in the early years, The
>Little Red Book was published in Minneapolis
>by Ed Webster and Barry Collins, under
>the sponsorship of the Nicollet Group in
>that city.
>
>Glenn C.
>

The first Hazelden publication of the Little
Red Book was some time in the 1960s and was
as best I can tell the little volume with
rounded corners.  As Glenn points out,
Hazelden was not good at putting useful
information on printing and copyrights in
these early books.

This printing has a 1957 copyright by
Coll-Webb but has the Hazelden logo and
address [Central City, Minn 55012] on the
full title page.  The use of a zip code
indicates the date was 1963 or later.

There are seven different small format LRBs
with the 1957 copyright.  I believe the
rounded corner one was the first as Hazelden
started publishing two other books around the
same time and the first ones of these series
had rounded corners, Richmond Walker's 24
Hours a Day book and Stools and Bottles.  No
copyrights are indicated in the 24 Hour book
and there are at least two printings w/o zip
codes and four with zips.  The rounded corner
S&B has a 1955 copyright held by Coll-Webb.

The Hazelden logo started appearing in the
larger format, Coll-Webb printings of the
LRB in the form of a sticker on the full
title page starting with the twenty-second
printing in 1968, so it may be that the LRB
was turned over to Hazelden prior to Webster's
death in 1971, not that it makes any difference
to anyone but we collectors.  The 23rd thru
25th printings had the Hazelden logo printed
on the full title page.

ISBNs were used in some of the latter LRBs
but not in the rounded corner 24 Hour books
that I know of.  I believe ISBNs started in
1968.

Tommy H in Baton Rouge

I also found God in Minneapolis (though I
heard he is throughout the world hee hee)
with the Little Red Book many years ago.

That and Stools and Bottles is mostly what we
used for literature while Big Books gathered
dust on the shelves. That is sometimes seen
as rather blasphemous these days.

What amazed me was finding out about "The
Nicollet Group" long after I had moved from
Minneapolis. I and a few friends used to
visit different groups once a week never
hearing a word about this group. I have
heard they are listed now with the Minne-
apolis Intergroup.

Bruce

- - - -

NOTE: In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Ed Webster
published "The Little Red Book" in 1946 under
the sponsorship of the Nicollet Group. Ed
also wrote "Stools and Bottles" (1955),
"Barroom Reveries" (1958), and "Our Devilish
Alcoholic Personalities" (in 1970, just a
year before his death). In early A.A., Ed was
one of the four most widely read A.A. authors.

- - - -

FROM: "bob" <bsdds@...>
(bsdds at comcast.net)

It is amazing to me the passion which so many
grasp onto the idea of "conference approved
literature." In my early sobriety I was living
in the "pink cloud" for many years and it has
only been in my retirement that I have become
fascinated with the history and the HUMANNESS
of these men and women.

Learning of the travails of the founders and
the huge part that people like Henry Parkhurst
played makes this thing so much more real.  I
could never go to a movie based on this site
and enjoy it as much as I do reading and
"listening" to y'alls discussions.

Thanks for the Warmth.

bob s
goin' on 32

Hi group!

Does anyone have any info on Dr. Percy Poliak?

He gave the "2nd Doctor's Opinion" in the Big
Book in Chapt. 3, "More About Alcoholism,"
page 43. (It is only one paragraph long!)

Thanks, and God's blessings!

Lance, from colorful Colorado!

- - - -

From the moderator: for additional background,
see

http://www.a-1associates.com/aa/BBWhoWhat.htm

http://www.justloveaudio.com/resources/Assorted/Big_Book_Name_and_Date_Reference\
s.pdf

page 43: staff member world renowned hospital
was Dr. Percy Poliak at Bellevue Hospital,
New York

page 43: "two of you men, whose stories I
have heard," unknown.

Dr. Percy Poliak -- San Francisco psychiatrist
was with Bellevue Hospital New York then
San Francisco Country Hospital, impressed
with A.A., gave A.A. group full support
(Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age page 88)

Hi, I found 2 Grapevine articles on the
Concepts.  One is from January, 1995 and the
article is called "The mystery of the secret
12 (Concepts)" and the other one from January
1993, " Does your group use the Concepts?"

Nell Wings book "Glad to have been there"
also has a Chapter on the Concepts.

I have been very interested in the Concepts
too and Find them very important for service
work.  The Concepts carry Bill W. signature.

Yours in AA

Dolores - Archives Continetal EuropeanRegion

Friends,

I have been asked to write a short article
(i.e. 300 words) for an AA Area newsletter on
Concept 4.  Googling and searching this list's
archive revealed only the illustrated brochure
on the 12 concepts.

I would be grateful for pointers to informa-
tion about the history of and reason for
this particular concept and anything that
would make writing about it informative and
memorable.

Thanks, Joseph
Canberra, Australia

Lynn Sawyer <sawyer7952@...>
(sawyer7952 at yahoo.com)

Hi.

Lynn Sawyer here, from Sacramento, California
now, but originally from Minneapolis,
Minnesota area.  I got sober on the Little
Red Book and other A.A. literature.

I didn't realize the Little Red Book was a
local [Minneapolis] publication.  Thanks
again for your wealth of information for us
alkies.

Lynn

- - - -

From: "Don Cobb" <don@...>
(don at doncobb.com)

I remember when some of our local AAers were
ADAMANT about 15 years ago, that we were NOT
to support "a private company" by buying it.
It was frowned on big time and in fact,
people were outright confrontational about
it, openly and angrily so.

So it's interesting to me to see that Dr. Bob
approved it.

Don C.

- - - -

From Glenn C. <glennccc@...>
(glennccc at sbcglobal.net)

Jack H. (who has Ed Webster's papers) says
that after Ed's death in 1971, his widow
transferred the rights to The Little Red
Book to Hazelden, to make sure the book
stayed in print.

Looking at the copyright pages of old
copies of The Little Red Book, it looks
like the transfer could have taken place
a little earlier (i.e. before 1971), but
Hazelden has always been careless about
the dates they put down for the copyright
date of their editions of early AA books.

But as you note, in the early years, The
Little Red Book was published in Minneapolis
by Ed Webster and Barry Collins, under
the sponsorship of the Nicollet Group in
that city.

Glenn C.

There is an inconsistency here. Margaret R
Burger (AA's second National Secretary)
signed herself as "Bobbie" not "Bobby."

If there is a letter from her signed "Bobby"
it might not be genuine. I have a substantial
set of correspondence between her and Esther
E of Dallas. They are all signed "Bobbie."

Cheers
Arthur

- - - -

Arthur,

We need somebody to check the New York AA
Archives on BOTH of the letters which
Bill Pittman reproduced in the 1996
Hazelden Anniversary Edition of The Little
Red Book.

Bill Pittman said on the copyright page
that this was the:

"50th Anniversary edition 1996
(from 1946 edition published by
Coll-Webb Company, Minneapolis)"

but Jack H. (Scottsdale, Arizona) showed
that it was a reproduction of the 1949
edition, NOT the 1946 edition as Bill
Pittman claimed.

I have verified this by comparison with
a photocopy of the 1946 edition which
I was sent. See:

http://hindsfoot.org/ed02.html

Jack H. told me over the telephone that
he had checked with one of the archivists
at the New York AA Archives (also over the
telephone) and had discovered that Bill
Pittman had also inserted a phrase into
the Burger letter that was not in the
original:

"as is Nicollet's 'An Interpretation
of the Twelve Steps.'"

But the New York archivist reading the
original letter over the phone to Jack H.
would have pronounced "Bobby" and "Bobbie"
identically, so there would have been no
reason for Jack to have caught that.

Anyway, we KNOW that Bill Pittman was very
careless indeed in his preparation of
that anniversary edition.

The Foreword which Bill wrote runs from
page vii to page xviii.

The Burger letter is reproduced on pages
xiii-xiv.  The Bill Wilson letter is on
pages xvi-xvii.

Again, someone with access to the New York
AA Archives needs to check the original
letters to make sure that we have accurate
copies to work from.

More than that, we need a good AA historian
to do a book on Ed Webster, somebody who
will take the time and care to check all
the documents out, and do a good scholarly
job.

At this point, I am committed to finishing
my book on Richmond Walker, the author of
the Twenty-Four book, and would not be able
to take on that additional task.

But Ed Webster was very important to the
fellowship, and very much deserves to have
a book written about him.

Glenn Chesnut (South Bend, Indiana)


-----Original Message-----
From: AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Glenn Chesnut
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 3:12 PM
To: AAHistoryLovers group
Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Re: Little Red Book

The Little Red Book was published by "the
Coll-Webb Co.," which meant that Barry Collins
(an important early figure in Minneapolis
A.A., who had gotten sober in A.A. on April
14, 1941) and Ed Webster were paying for
publishing it themselves. They were fellow
members of the Nicollet Group in Minneapolis.

A letter from Bobby Burger, the secretary at
the New York A.A. headquarters (then called
the Alcoholic Foundation), dated November 11,
1944, written to Barry Collins in Minneapolis,
gives their full approval to the idea of
Minneapolis publishing and using an A.A.
pamphlet or booklet which the Minneapolis
A.A. people had written themselves:

"Dear Barry:
. . . The Washington D.C. pamphlet and the
new Cleveland 'Sponsorship' pamphlet and a
host of others are all local projects. We do
not actually approve or disapprove of these
local pieces; by that I mean that the Founda-
tion feels each Group is entitled to write up
its own 'can opener' and let it stand on its
own merits. All of them have good points and
very few have caused any controversy. But as
in all things of a local nature, we keep hands
off, either pro or con. I think there must be
at least 25 local pamphlets now being used
and I've yet to see one that hasn't had some
good points. I think it is up to each indivi-
dual Group whether it wants to use and buy
these pamphlets from the Group that puts
them out.
      Sincerely, Bobby (Margaret R. Burger)"

When The Little Red Book did come out, its use
in A.A. meetings had the full approval both
of Dr. Bob and the New York A.A. office. Dr.
Bob actually helped Ed Webster write it, as
we have already noted, but in addition, Jack
H. (Scottsdale AZ) has discovered from Ed
Webster's papers that Dr. Bob was sending
large numbers of copies of The Little Red
Book to A.A. groups in other parts of the
country. Jack H. has also discovered from Ed
Webster's papers that in the late 1940's, the
New York A.A. office was regularly ordering
quantities of The Little Red Book for resale
in New York.

Bill W. wrote Barry Collins about the
Minneapolis book in November 1950:

"The Little Red Book does fill a definite
need and has wide circulation. Therefore,
its usefulness is unquestioned. AA has a
definite place for such a book. Someday I
may try to write an introduction book myself
which I hope might complement favorably with
The Little Red Book. Here at the Foundation
we are not policemen; we're a service and
AAs are free to read any book they choose."
____________________

   SOURCE:  http://hindsfoot.org/ed01.html





Yahoo! Groups Links

In what resources have you found this data?

- - - -

Please read all of the article that was cited:

http://hindsfoot.org/ed01.html

Down towards the bottom it says:

"Bill Pittman, in the introduction to the
Hazelden Anniversary Edition (the reprinting
in 1996 of the 1949 edition of The Little Red
Book), gave the text of Bobby Burger's letter."

Jack H. (Scottsdale, Arizona) contacted the
New York AA Archives and discovered that Bill
Pittman had added one phrase to the letter
without indicating that he had added it:

      "as is Nicollet’s 'An Interpretation
      of the Twelve Steps'"

The version given on the Hindsfoot site is
the letter as Jack H. found it to be in the
New York AA Archives.

There is more about the Pittman Anniversary
Edition at:

http://hindsfoot.org/ed02.html
____________________

The other sources of this information:

Jack H. got Ed Webster's papers from Ed's
daughter, so much of the other information
comes from letters and billing information
and other documents in those papers: i.e.,
records of repeated orders from the New York
AA office for another box of copies of The
Little Red Book.  Jack also has copies of
various editions of The Little Red Book with
handwritten suggestions from Dr. Bob for
rewording sentences or adding additional
comments.  Jack H. also made a detailed
study of the Minneapolis AA archives, with
the help of a very good AA archivist there.

The text of the Bill W. letter about The
Little Red Book is also given in the Pittman
Anniversary Edition.

- - - -

--- In AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com, Glenn
Chesnut <glennccc@...> wrote:
>
> The Little Red Book was published by "the
> Coll-Webb Co.," which meant that Barry Collins
> (an important early figure in Minneapolis
> A.A., who had gotten sober in A.A. on April
> 14, 1941) and Ed Webster were paying for
> publishing it themselves. They were fellow
> members of the Nicollet Group in Minneapolis.
>
> A letter from Bobby Burger, the secretary at
> the New York A.A. headquarters (then called
> the Alcoholic Foundation), dated November 11,
> 1944, written to Barry Collins in Minneapolis,
> gives their full approval to the idea of
> Minneapolis publishing and using an A.A.
> pamphlet or booklet which the Minneapolis
> A.A. people had written themselves:
>
> "Dear Barry:
> . . . The Washington D.C. pamphlet and the
> new Cleveland 'Sponsorship' pamphlet and a
> host of others are all local projects. We do
> not actually approve or disapprove of these
> local pieces; by that I mean that the Founda-
> tion feels each Group is entitled to write up
> its own 'can opener' and let it stand on its
> own merits. All of them have good points and
> very few have caused any controversy. But as
> in all things of a local nature, we keep hands
> off, either pro or con. I think there must be
> at least 25 local pamphlets now being used
> and I've yet to see one that hasn't had some
> good points. I think it is up to each indivi-
> dual Group whether it wants to use and buy
> these pamphlets from the Group that puts
> them out.
>      Sincerely, Bobby (Margaret R. Burger)"
>
> When The Little Red Book did come out, its use
> in A.A. meetings had the full approval both
> of Dr. Bob and the New York A.A. office. Dr.
> Bob actually helped Ed Webster write it, as
> we have already noted, but in addition, Jack
> H. (Scottsdale AZ) has discovered from Ed
> Webster's papers that Dr. Bob was sending
> large numbers of copies of The Little Red
> Book to A.A. groups in other parts of the
> country. Jack H. has also discovered from Ed
> Webster's papers that in the late 1940's, the
> New York A.A. office was regularly ordering
> quantities of The Little Red Book for resale
> in New York.
>
> Bill W. wrote Barry Collins about the
> Minneapolis book in November 1950:
>
> "The Little Red Book does fill a definite
> need and has wide circulation. Therefore,
> its usefulness is unquestioned. AA has a
> definite place for such a book. Someday I
> may try to write an introduction book myself
> which I hope might complement favorably with
> The Little Red Book. Here at the Foundation
> we are not policemen; we're a service and
> AAs are free to read any book they choose."
> ____________________
>
>   SOURCE:  http://hindsfoot.org/ed01.html
>

The Little Red Book was published by "the
Coll-Webb Co.," which meant that Barry Collins
(an important early figure in Minneapolis
A.A., who had gotten sober in A.A. on April
14, 1941) and Ed Webster were paying for
publishing it themselves. They were fellow
members of the Nicollet Group in Minneapolis.

A letter from Bobby Burger, the secretary at
the New York A.A. headquarters (then called
the Alcoholic Foundation), dated November 11,
1944, written to Barry Collins in Minneapolis,
gives their full approval to the idea of
Minneapolis publishing and using an A.A.
pamphlet or booklet which the Minneapolis
A.A. people had written themselves:

"Dear Barry:
. . . The Washington D.C. pamphlet and the
new Cleveland 'Sponsorship' pamphlet and a
host of others are all local projects. We do
not actually approve or disapprove of these
local pieces; by that I mean that the Founda-
tion feels each Group is entitled to write up
its own 'can opener' and let it stand on its
own merits. All of them have good points and
very few have caused any controversy. But as
in all things of a local nature, we keep hands
off, either pro or con. I think there must be
at least 25 local pamphlets now being used
and I've yet to see one that hasn't had some
good points. I think it is up to each indivi-
dual Group whether it wants to use and buy
these pamphlets from the Group that puts
them out.
      Sincerely, Bobby (Margaret R. Burger)"

When The Little Red Book did come out, its use
in A.A. meetings had the full approval both
of Dr. Bob and the New York A.A. office. Dr.
Bob actually helped Ed Webster write it, as
we have already noted, but in addition, Jack
H. (Scottsdale AZ) has discovered from Ed
Webster's papers that Dr. Bob was sending
large numbers of copies of The Little Red
Book to A.A. groups in other parts of the
country. Jack H. has also discovered from Ed
Webster's papers that in the late 1940's, the
New York A.A. office was regularly ordering
quantities of The Little Red Book for resale
in New York.

Bill W. wrote Barry Collins about the
Minneapolis book in November 1950:

"The Little Red Book does fill a definite
need and has wide circulation. Therefore,
its usefulness is unquestioned. AA has a
definite place for such a book. Someday I
may try to write an introduction book myself
which I hope might complement favorably with
The Little Red Book. Here at the Foundation
we are not policemen; we're a service and
AAs are free to read any book they choose."
____________________

   SOURCE:  http://hindsfoot.org/ed01.html

I am looking for actual resources of the use
of the Little Red book in early years.  I have
seen on the Web that "the AA foundation appoved
of its use" and I am trying to find resources
to support this.

Thank you

Yours in Service

Paula D

I've been a lurking member of this list for a couple
of years now. This is my first post, I think, in that
time.

I'm the webmaster of malverncenter.org, an AA
clubhouse in Malvern, PA. We are in the Philadelphia
suburbs and are blessed with a wide range of AA
meetings of all kinds. Our site gets a lot of traffic,
mostly from people looking for meeting times, as well
as phone numbers of treatment facilities and the like.

Because of this traffic, I've been trying to add
content to the site that is of a general nature about
AA, above and beyond meeting times. I've added a
Google Custom Search Engine that is dedicated to the
history of AA. Think of it as an invitation to search
terms specific to AA history.

Google allows me to solicit volunteers to contribute
to the search engine by adding relevant sites to its
results, and by labeling certain results with
appropriate comments. The volunteer is like a curator
of the search results.

If anyone is interested in contributing to the custom
search on our site, please email me off list at
facilities at malverncenter.org. Thank in advance for
any volunteers.

George

George Ewing <gedit123@...> (gedit123 at yahoo.com)

I can't offer any info on comments that
Bill W. may have made on this issue, but
the current announcement from the Grapevine
online included a link to a "bonus" article
describing related issues from 1975. I've
added the link below:

http://www.aagrapevine.org/gv/current/bonus_article1.php

Michael G
Boston

Thanks all.  Responses vary widely, depending
on area of the country.  In some areas the
identification "I'm xxx and I'm an alcoholic"
didn't arise until the 1960s or even more
recently, and the response "Hi, xxx" came later,
in the 70s or 80s.  At the other extreme,
apparently in Quebec both the intro and the
group's response were universal at meetings as
early as the early 1950s.

Gerry R.
New Orleans

From the moderator:  there are apparently at
least two such photos, one showing some AA
members in Dayton, Ohio, and another showing
some AA members in Madison, Wisconsin.  And
there was also apparently a third case where
masks like this were worn, for a television
show in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1950's.

- - - -

From: "jbuckrose" <jbuckrose1@...>
(jbuckrose1 at mac.com)

Here's what you might be looking for. The web
source is:

http://www.texasdistrict5.com/history-in-photos.htm

The photo is about halfway down the webpage,
with the caption underneath:

"Dayton OH Members, 1942

Members wore masks: to protect their anonymity,
members of the Dayton, Ohio, AA chapter donned
masks while posing for the press in 1942."

in service,
Buck R.

- - - -

From: "Robert Stonebraker"
<rstonebraker212@...>
(rstonebraker212 at insightbb.com)

One source is the "Archives Scrapbook - 1939
to 1942."   There is a large picture of
Madison, Wisconsin, AAs wearing masks.  This
huge, rather pricey, scrapbook ($75) makes
a wonderful display feature.

GSO Service material #M42, on page 8.

Bob S.

PS - I have seen a similar picture from Dayton,
Ohio.

- - - -

From: "JOHN WIKELIUS" <nov85@...>
(nov85 at graceba.net)

GSO sells two different scrapbooks of very old
news releases and I believe that you will find
those pictures in there.

- - - -

From: David Jones <jonesd926@...>
(jonesd926 at aol.com)

I have this from the site silkworth.net ...
alas no photo.

*VI. Mr. Hope TV Show*

In the 1950's WWJ telecast a TV program called
"MR. HOPE" in which AA members appeared wearing
Lone Ranger masks who told their stories. The
masks were worn to protect their identities.
The program aired at noon on Sundays.

One of our current members (1998), Bill B., was
on the show a couple of times along with the
Police Commissioner and some Judges.

God bless
Dave

- - - -

From: Glenn C. <glennccc@...>
(glennccc at sbcglobal.net)

http://www.hindsfoot.org/detr0.html on early
Detroit AA history:

RADIO PROGRAM

On March 5, 1945, Time magazine reported that
Detroit's WWJ radio station was running broad-
casts by AA members in a radio program called
"The Glass Crutch":

Alcoholics on the Air
Time, March 5, 1945

One of Detroit's citizens stepped up to the
microphone one night last week and told how he
had "hit bottom" as an alcoholic. To underline
his confession, some of the more melodramatic
and sordid aspects of his past were dramatized.
Then he told of his regeneration. Summed up
the Announcer: "Alcoholism is a disease ...
an obsession ... an allergy ... " The man who
"hit bottom" was the first in a parade of
anonymous Detroiters who will describe their
alcoholic pasts over WWJ every Saturday
(11:15-11:30 p.m. E.W.T.). The series is the
first sustained air flight of the famed orga-
nization called "Alcoholics Anonymous" (Time,
Oct. 23, 1944). Detroit AA's give credit for
the broadcast project to 62-year-old William
Edmund Scripps, big boss of the Detroit News
and WWJ. He was so impressed by AA's reform-
ation of a drunkard friend that he decided to
do what he could to boost the organization's
Detroit membership (now nearly 400).

THE MR. HOPE TV SHOW

In the 1950's WWJ telecast a TV program called
"Mr. Hope," aired at noon on Sundays, in which
AA members appeared wearing Lone Ranger masks
and told their stories. The masks were worn to
protect their identities.