A.A. members & writings of: Bill W.
EBBY T., The Man Who Carried The Message To Bill
W. -In 1960, at the Long Beach,
California Convention of Alcoholics Anonymous,
Bill Wilson wrote this dedication in an AA book
that he gave to Ebby Thacher.
"Dear Ebby, No day passes that I do not remember
that you brought me the message that saved me -
and only God knows how many more. -In affection,
Bill"
BASIC CONCEPTS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
N.Y. STATE JOURNAL OF MEDICINE© Vol.
44, Aug.,1944. -Alcoholics Anonymous is an
informal fellowship of about 12,000 formerly
alcoholic men and women who are to be found
banded together as groups in about three hundred
and twenty-five American and Canadian
communities, these groups ranging in size from
half a dozen to many hundreds of individuals....
Let's Ask Bill W. -This
series was compiled by Jim B. These excerpts
from various talks and articles by and on Bill
W. reveal a wealth of the thinking and insight
of one of the co-founder's of Alcoholics
Anonymous.
Bill W. Speaks of Pearl Harbor
-"You know, each of us has had his own private
Pearl Harbor, each of us has known the utmost of
humiliation, of despair, and of defeat. So why
should we, who have known the resurrection, fear
another Pearl Harbor?" -June, 1945
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Bill W. on the Traditions
-Grapevine articles by Bill W. on the 12
Traditions of A.A.
Bill W.'s Talk in Cleveland, Ohio, 1950
-On A.A.'s 15th Anniversary everybody knew that
we had grown up. There couldn't be any doubt
about it. Members, families and friends—seven
thousand of them spent three inspiring, almost
awesome days with our good hosts at Cleveland.
A Fragment of History -"So
far as people were concerned, the main channels
of inspiration for our Steps were three in
number - the Oxford Groups, Dr. William D.
Silkworth of Townes Hospital and the famed
psychologist, William James, called by some the
father of modern psychology." -Bill W., July,
1953
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How the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" came
about -Bill W. speaking in Fort Worth,
Texas -1954.
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Bill W.'s Talk to the Manhattan Group
-"Already, the history of AA is being lost in the
mists of its twenty-one years of antiquity. I
venture that very few people here could recount in
any consecutive way the steps on the road that led
from the kitchen table to where we are tonight in
this Manhattan Group." -Bill W., New York City,
N.Y., 1955
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The Next Frontier: Emotional Sobriety
-"While those words "absolute demand" may look like
a gimmick, they were the ones that helped to trigger
my release into my present degree of stability and
quietness of mind, qualities which I am now trying
to consolidate by offering love to others regardless
of the return to me." -Bill
W. -January, 1958
(*Aslo see:
A Letter From Bill W. on Depression,
from the memoirs of Tom P., an early California AA
member, which is strikingly similar to this AA
Grapevine Article, "The Next Frontier: Emotional
Sobriety.")
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Leadership in A.A. -"A leader
in AA service is therefore a man (or a woman) who
can personally put principles, plans, and policies
into such dedicated and effective action that the
rest of us want to back him up and help him with his
job. When a leader power-drives us badly, we rebel;
but when he too meekly becomes an order-taker and he
exercises no judgment of his own - well, he really
isn't a leader at all." -Bill W., April, 1959
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Bill W.'s letter to Dr. Carl Gustav Jung
-Dated January 23, 1961, a well overdue letter, as
Bill put it. (Dr. Jungs reply can be found
here).
The Strange Obsession -by Bill W.
It was a hot night in the midsummer of 1934. I found
myself at a noted address in Central Park West, New
York City. It was in Charlie Towns Hospital for
drying out alcoholics........
The Dilemma of No Faith -"The
phrase "God As We Understand Him" is perhaps the
most important expression to be found in our whole
AA vocabulary. Within the compass of these five
significant words there can be included every kind
and degree of faith, together with the positive
assurance that each of us may choose his own." -Bill
W., April 1961
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Spiritual Experiences -"As most
AAs have heard, I was the recipient in 1934 of a
tremendous mystic experience or "illumination." It
was accompanied by a sense of intense white light,
by a sudden gift of faith in the goodness of God,
and by a profound conviction of His presence." -Bill
W., July 1962
In Remembrance of "Ebby"- "In
his seventieth year, and on the twenty-first of
March, my friend and sponsor "Ebby"
passed beyond our sight and hearing." -by Bill W.,
June, 1966
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Bill W. & Jim B. Letters -For
quite a few years,
Bill W., co-founder of
Alcoholics Anonymous, and
Jim B., author of the 2nd and
3rd edition personal story in the Big Book titled:
"Vicious Cycle", communicated via written
correspondence between 1947 and 1965.
A Gimmick To Get Us Out Of The Dumps
-The following was written by Bill W., co-founder of
Alcoholics Anonymous for "The
Road Back", a bimonthly publication by the
Dublin, Ireland, group, and is reprinted therefrom.
Bill W.: Nov. 26, 1895 - Jan. 24, 1971
-"From the rubble of a wasted life, he overcame
alcoholism and founded the 12-step program that has
helped millions of others do the same" -by Susan
Cheever, Time 100, Heroe's and Icons.
Bill W.: Nov. 26, 1895 - Jan. 24, 1971
-"New York Times Obituary for William Griffith
Wilson (Bill W. - an A.A. Cofounder) who died in
1971 at the age of 75.
