PIONEERS OF A.A. Dr. Bob and the twelve men and women who here tell their stories were among the early members of A.A.’s first groups....
DOCTOR BOB’S NIGHTMARE A Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935. To...
ALCOHOLIC ANONYMOUS NUMBER THREE Pioneer member of Akron’s Group No. 1, the first A.A. group in the world. He kept the faith; therefore, he and...
HE HAD TO BE SHOWN “Who is convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” But not this man. I WAS THE OLDEST...
HE THOUGHT HE COULD DRINK LIKE A GENTLEMAN I WAS BORN in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1889, the last child of a family of eight children....
WOMEN SUFFER TOO Despite great opportunities, alcohol nearly ended her life. Early member, she spread the word among women in our pioneering period. WHAT WAS...
THE EUROPEAN DRINKER Beer and wine were not the answer. I WAS born in Europe, in Alsace to be exact, shortly after it had become...
THE VICIOUS CYCLE How it finally broke a Southerner’s obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia. JANUARY 8, 1938—that was my...
THE NEWS HAWK This newsman covered life from top to bottom; but he ended up, safely enough, in the middle. WITH NOTHING but a...
FROM FARM TO CITY She tells how A.A. works when the going is rough. A pioneer woman member of A.A.’s first Group. I COME FROM...
THE MAN WHO MASTERED FEAR He spent eighteen years in running away; and then found he didn’t have to run. So he started A.A. in...
HE SOLD HIMSELF SHORT But he found that there was a Higher Power which had more faith in him than he had in himself. Thus,...
HOME BREWMEISTER An originator of Cleveland’s Group No. 3, this one fought Prohibition in vain. STRANGELY ENOUGH, I became acquainted with the “hilarious life” just...
THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM This worldly lady helped to develop A.A. in Chicago and thus passed her keys to many. A LITTLE MORE than...
THEY STOPPED IN TIME We think that about one-half of today’s incoming A.A. members were never advanced cases of alcoholism; though, given time, all might...
RUM, RADIO, AND REBELLION This man faced the last-ditch when his wife’s voice from 1300 miles away sent him to A.A. “YOU AN ALCOHOLIC!...
FEAR OF FEAR This lady was cautious. She decided she wouldn’t let herself go in her drinking. And she would never, never take that morning...
THE PROFESSOR AND THE PARADOX Says he, “We A.A.’s surrender to win; we give away to keep; we suffer to get well, and we die...
A FLOWER OF THE SOUTH Somewhat faded, she nevertheless bloomed afresh. She still had her husband, her home, and a chance to help start A.A....
UNTO THE SECOND GENERATION A young veteran tells how a few rough experiences pushed him into A.A.—and how he was therefore spared years of suffering....
HIS CONSCIENCE It Was The Only Part Of Him That Was Soluble To Alcohol. HOW WAS I to Know that I was an alcoholic?...
THE HOUSEWIFE WHO DRANK AT HOME She hid her bottles in the clothes hampers and in the dresser drawers. She realized what she was be-...
IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WORSE Alcohol was a looming cloud in this banker’s bright sky. With rare foresight, he realized it could become a tornado....
PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF! Psychiatrist and surgeon, he had lost his way until he realized that God, not he, was the Great Healer. I AM...
STARS DON’T FALL A titled lady, her chief loss was self-respect. When the overcast lifted, the stars were there as before. MY ALCOHOLIC PROBLEM...
ME AN ALCOHOLIC? Barleycorn’s wringer squeezed this author—but he escaped quite whole. WHEN I TRY to reconstruct what my life was like “before,” I...
NEW VISION FOR A SCULPTOR His conscience hurt him as much as his drinking. But that was years ago. I THINK that life, when I...
THEY LOST NEARLY ALL The twelve stories in this group tell of alcoholics at its miserable worst. Many tried everything—hospitals, special treatments, sanitariums, asylums, and...
JOE’S WOES These were only beginning when he hit Bellevue for the thirty-fifth time. He still had the state hos- pital ahead of him; and...
OUR SOUTHERN FRIEND Pioneer A.A., minister’s son, and southern farmer, “Who am I,” said he, “to say there is no God?” FATHER IS AN Episcopal...
JIM’S STORY This physician, the originator of A.A.’s first colored group, but badly caught in the toils, tells of his release and of how freedom...
PROMOTED TO CHRONIC This career girl preferred solitary drinking, the blackout kind, often hoping she’d stay that way for keeps. But Providence had other ideas....
THE PRISONER FREED After twenty years in prison for murder, he knew A.A. was the spot for him . . . if he wanted to...
THERE’S NOTHING THE MATTER WITH ME! That’s what the man said as he hocked his shoes for the price of two bottles of Sneaky Pete....
DESPERATION DRINKING He was drinking to hold on to his job, to hold on to his wife, to hold on to his sanity. Finally, he...
ANNIE THE COP FIGHTER For thirty-five years she fought God, man, and the police force to keep on being what she wanted to be—a drunk....
THE CAREER OFFICER A British officer, this Irishman—that is, until brandy “retired” him. But this proved only a temporary set- back. He survived to become...
THE INDEPENDENT BLONDE The lady was blonde, self-supporting, and self-suffi- cient. Then she began slamming doors, kicking shins, and waking up in psychopathic wards. At...
HE WHO LOSES HIS LIFE An ambitious playwright, his brains got so far ahead of his emotions that he collapsed into suicidal drinking. To learn...
FREEDOM FROM BONDAGE Young when she joined, this A.A. believes her seri- ous drinking was the result of even deeper defects. She here tells how...
