Bill W.’s Legacy

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0:00

Moderator They started, thank you. Tim's must be on here somewhere. Somebody's recording. Yes, it's me. Thank you, Tim.

0:15

Moderator So since we started doing the workshops, we've done several hundred and had all different presenters, authors, and AA historians, and people who just love the history of recovery that have been willing to come on and share with us. If you or someone you know has a presentation and they would like the opportunity to present on Recovery Speakers, please let us know. Send either a message to Tim or myself or to info at recoveryspeakers.com, and we would be happy to have a conversation and see if the presentation you're suggesting would work with us. I believe that we haven't turned anyone down yet, Tim. So I think we're going to open the door there for a few.

1:47

Moderator Recovery Speakers became a 501c3 nonprofit community organization, so we no longer want to look at this like it's the Mike and Tim show or anything like that. Recovery Speakers has a board of directors. We're creating a brand new platform. We have one part-time employee, and then we've got a couple of contractors that are doing a little bit of work with us to help develop some of our assets and create some other venues for people to find Recovery Speakers. We're looking at YouTube.

2:53

Mike We're looking at doing a podcast. We're looking at expanding this presentation and doing some different presentations around the country and doing live performances. So there's a lot coming in 2026 that we're working on, and we're always excited to share what's going on and what we're doing. And we're always in a position where we can use any funds, anything that anybody is able to contribute to the project and help us out, we really appreciate it. We do have a new campaign that we're going to be sending out on the beginning of February, and it's to help launch the new platform.

4:16

Moderator And Tim, I don't know if you're able, but are you able to put the QR code on the screen, or are you still limited for what you can do? I will share it in the chat, and everyone should be able to see it in there. OK, cool. Tim's giving you a very easy way to donate. So if you're able, we appreciate it.

5:06

Moderator What else do I want? Tim, who do we have next week? I just shared the flyer in the chat. It is Drew H. from Georgia, and he will be doing a presentation on how AA made its way into treatment facilities.

5:37

Mike Wow. I'm going to be excited to hear that. And I want to know if AA has stayed in the treatment facilities. That'll be interesting. Some do, some don't.

6:01

Mike It'll be interesting. How about after that? That one will be Miley T. And I will be sharing that flyer in the chat in just a moment. Great.

6:22

Moderator So the other thing I wanted to mention is there's a couple of history programs coming up this year. The first one is the end of March, the last weekend in March. And that is the third annual Myrtle Beach History Roundup. Tim probably can put something in the chat about that. That's going to be a lot of fun.

7:07

Moderator Gail L. from Florida, Akron. I don't want to just say Akron, because she spends half the time in Florida. But Gail's going to do a presentation. I'll be there presenting.

7:32

Moderator Is Jackie presenting at that? Do we know? Tim's looking. Just shared in the chat the full lineup. We got Gail, Jackie, Mike, and Jackie, and Vera.

7:53

Mike Cool. I think there's more. You'll want to come to that if you're able in Myrtle Beach. It's actually, they've had it in February in the past. And we all complained, because the beach was cold.

8:23

Mike So they made it the end of March. So we can actually enjoy the Myrtle Beach weather. So we would love to have everybody that's able to come. Then mark your calendars. Labor Day weekend, Dallas, Texas, is going to be a first history conference that they're hosting in Dallas, Texas.

9:02

Moderator And more will be announced here in the coming weeks. So I think that's all that I have to share, Tim. Tonight, I've killed enough time. Tim wanted to do a presentation on Bill W. So I said, that sounds like a great idea, Tim.

9:36

Mike When are you going to do it? And he informed me that I was going to do it. Are you able to see my screen right now? And I can't see. OK, cool.

10:01

Moderator So honoring the life and legacy of Bill W. Bill died on January the 24th of 1971. And since that time, Alcoholics Anonymous has survived. And that was one of the things that Bill W. was really concerned about.

10:29

Moderator He spent the better part of his life trying to assure that AA would be there for the future. And here we are tonight celebrating Bill. And here's Bill talking in Vermont in 1960. This recording still needs a little bit of work. But Tim has it good enough that we can use it in this presentation.

11:11

Moderator So I'm going to just let Bill tell his story here. So it occurred to me that at the risk of timing a little some of the AA's there, that perhaps I could hit the high point. What? We've got to start that over. Sorry.

11:46

Moderator So it occurred to me that at the risk of timing a little some of the AA's there, that perhaps I could hit the high point in AA, illustrating it out of my own story. But I will say some things that are rather revealing, which might be a little bit jarring, perhaps, to some of our friends, who are not aware yet of the necessity that we AA's must stop living alone, and must solve our defects, as well as our assets. If we're to stay alive, I'm more than likely to carry this message. My first recollection, when very young, was lying in my crib, looking out of the parsonage window. Well, at East Horses, Vermont, and up in front of me, and high above, was Deer Mount, Yellows.

13:25

Mike And looking at some childish fancy, I wondered if I would ever be big enough to climb so high. Then I poignantly recall how my father and mother decided to call it coach. We were then living in Rutland. And how my great-old grandpappy and grandmother adopted me as their own, down there in East Horse. And they were a wonderful couple.

14:11

Moderator And they were wonderful examples. And they taught me well. But you know how it is, with us folks up here in New England. There is a kind of war, a reluctance to which I think we feel today, sort of good taste in talking about the ultimate things. Ultimate things.

14:48

Mike We folks here in Vermont don't like to wear the heart on sleeves. Well, I was a strong, gawky kid from my age. And I was always losing out in fights. I remember one that occurred in the front yard. And because I lost, my grandfather laughed at me for losing.

15:26

Mike I developed what our Oblarian friends would call a inferiority complex. And I felt that I wasn't like the other kids. And there wasn't anybody I could tell of my childish anguish. I didn't dare. Our tradition here, as marvelous as it is in some respects, is a little shy on this kind of communication.

16:09

Moderator So I couldn't tell Grandpa and Grandma and God knows I couldn't think back to it as a kid. There was no one to speak to. And I remember in the period maybe from 10 to 14 how I was awfully depressed. Awfully depressed. That particular recording that Tim found was definitely one where Bill was very relaxed and very humble in talking about his life and his story.

16:59

Moderator And that recording was done in Vermont. And it is on recovery speakers. Here's a couple of photos of Bill when he was in the military. He married Lois Burnham on January the 24th, 1918. Tim included a couple of pretty cool pictures here.

17:32

Mike Lois driving the motorcycle and Bill in the sidecar while they were taking their trip around the country. And this was when Bill was working speculating businesses for stock investors. And he had become very lucrative doing this. And Bill was a visionary. And he could see things into the future.

18:09

Moderator He was able to look at a situation and analyze that situation and study the situation. And as a result of that, he was able to create reports that he could provide to these stock investors that were able to take his research. And Bill didn't do the normal research. He went right into the bars where the workers were going when they punched the time clock. And he got to find out what was going on inside of the companies, not just what it looked like on paper or what their marketing projections were.

19:20

Mike Bill was actually talking with the people that were on the front line doing the job, doing the work. And as a result of that, not only did he become very successful, he deserved to become very successful. And then there are some pictures here of Bill and Lois later in life. Well, in 1934, Bill finds sobriety. And I'm just kind of giving you a few highlights of Bill's life here.

20:13

Mike And this is his friend, Dr. Silkworth, who became. Ebby is on the left. And Ebby introduced Bill to the concepts of the Oxford group and to the freedom he had found through the Oxford group from his alcoholism. And Bill got excited about that and ended up in Towne's Hospital, where Dr.

20:53

Mike William D. Silkworth, Bill referred to the little doctor who loved drunks. And boy, he sure did. He dedicated his life to helping alcoholics. And if it wasn't for Dr.

21:16

Mike Silkworth, this meeting tonight wouldn't even be taking place. Dr. Silkworth is the one who opened the door for Alcoholics Anonymous. He's the one who said to Bill, no, Bill, you're not hallucinating. Whatever it is that you have, you need to hold on to.

21:51

Mike It's so much better than what you had just an hour ago. Dr. Silkworth was a kind and gentle man. And he continued to work with alcoholics through the rest of his life. After he left Towne's Hospital, he started an alcoholic ward at another New York hospital, Knickenbacher Hospital.

22:29

Mike And there, he worked with a nurse, Nurse Teddy. And Nurse Teddy was an alcoholic. And she was also dedicated to helping alcoholics, just like Silky was. And the result of their partnership together created a foundation for recovery in New York that they desperately needed. I had an opportunity when I co-authored the book A Thousand Years of Sobriety.

23:13

Moderator I was interviewing people with over 50 years. One of the ladies that I got to interview was a lady named Anita Ryan. And she lived in Scottsdale at the time. And I got to spend some time with her. She was just a remarkable lady.

23:46

Moderator But she would tell me what it was like to be in the AA office, because she worked in the World Service office with Bill. She was one of the secretaries. I think she was one of six secretaries in the office at the time. And Anita was just, she was just a lovely person. But she talked a lot about Nurse Teddy and the work that Dr.

24:36

Mike Silkworth and Nurse Teddy had done at Knickenbacher Hospital, and how so many alcoholics were finding sobriety there. But also, the sober alcoholics were getting their sponsees there. So they were being invited in to the alcoholic ward there to share. And all of this is related so much to Bill and what he had been doing and the relationships that he formed. Bill was never a one and done guy.

25:28

Mike Bill didn't, that wasn't the way he operated. Bill was the relationship builder. And he was really, really good at developing those relationships. And I really think that one of the reasons that there's so much historical conflict about Bill Wilson is because Bill was just an honest guy. He just talked and told the stories the way that he remembered them, no matter what they were.

26:19

Moderator So if he told one story for one group, and he told another story for another group, and the stories didn't sound the same, it's because the groups weren't the same. Bill took from his memory, and his enthusiasm, and his love. And when he got in front of a microphone, he knew it was showtime. And Bill was there to help people. He had a message to carry, and it was a powerful message.

27:17

Moderator So he goes to Akron, of course. He meets Dr. Bob, and we know what happens. But here's some of the things that Bill worked on that a lot of us don't look at. He traveled and spoke over 40 times, wrote more than 150 grapevine articles.

27:51

Mike He wrote and drafted the 12 Traditions, and it worked tirelessly from 1946 to 1950, teaching groups, and people, and individuals about the traditions, preparing to introduce the traditions at the International Convention held in Cleveland in 1950. Bill helped to organize and consult with Dick Stanley and the committee in Cleveland so that they could draw from the fellowship and have different members talk about the 12 Traditions and share the 12 Traditions. Bill was such a visionary that he just kept looking forward. He wanted AA to be there for the future. When he came out with the Traditions in 1946, he named it, he said, these are the 12 points of tradition to assure our future.

29:12

Moderator So everything that this man did in his lifetime was looking forward to be of service to those who would come behind. He created the General Service Structure and held the first General Service Conference in 1951 and gathered there with the delegates as a trial for four years, and in 1955 in St. Louis, they adopted it as part of Alcoholics Anonymous, and AA became of age because Bill turned the fellowship over to the fellowship. Bill turned all authority over to the membership, to the delegates and the trustees, and that's the general service coverage. He created the service manual and the concepts and introduced the concepts in 1962.

30:32

Moderator He helped organize and participated in the 1950, 55, 60, and 65 international conventions, and the last convention that Bill was able to attend was held in Miami in July of 1970, and that was the last time that Bill Wilson was able to meet the fellowship and give his words and give his love, and that's what he did. Bill handed the legacy down, and Bill said that Alcoholics Anonymous is a story handed down. Here are some of the books that he wrote. The big book, of course, the 12 and 12, AA Comes of Age and the AA Way of Life, which is now, as Bill sees it. His grapevine articles, over 150.

31:52

Moderator This is one of the more popular ones, Emotional Sobriety, and that was January of what year, Tim? 1958. I should have known that. Bill also worked on a project with a couple of Canadian doctors, Dr. Hoffer and Dr.

32:21

Moderator Osmond Humphrey, and the concept was to take massive doses of vitamin B3, which is niacin, and these massive doses of niacin, they were using it with, can you mute yourself, please? So these massive doses of niacin were helping to elevate, and they were reporting that it was creating, for lack of a better way to phrase it, a greater sense of well-being. So rather than the antidepressants, which were not popular at the time, vitamin B3 seemed to be something that was working effectively with alcoholics and schizophrenia and alcoholics who had schizophrenia. Bill helped create a group for Schizophrenia Anonymous in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. So Bill didn't just stay in the office.

33:46

Mike As a matter of fact, a lot of the work that Bill had to do later in life was done outside of the AA office because AA could not affiliate with any of these things. So the communications to the physicians that you see in front of you, these were done privately by Bill. And Bill did have a couple of people working with him on it. Alan Wynn was one of the people who was very, very involved in this project with Bill, with Dr. Hoffer.

34:50

Mike And co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, anonymity is a spiritual foundation of all of our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. I think Bill had given us every warning that an individual alcoholic would need to survive in this world. Let other people have their opinions, sacrifice our opinions, sacrifice our desire to have our way. Don't try to be in charge. Don't be the boss.

35:41

Mike Don't look for a payment. Bill knew these things were important to the alcoholic and the alcoholic ego, and he really set the example for us. March 1971 issue of The Grapevine, neither co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship is with us any longer, and we, their survivors, are on our own. Thank God that Bill and Dr. Bob turned it over.

36:26

Mike Dr. Bob's last, last project that he worked on with Bill was The Third Legacy and Will You Accept It? Beyond the sorrow of the moment, Bill and Dr. Bob remain with us, what they were in years when AA came into being through their leadership, symbols of firmness, of purpose and serenity. We have all partaken in some measure of sobriety they achieved and of the message they carried until their final moments among us.

37:23

Mike Full comprehension of their achievements is difficult to set down in black and white. Both men filled the vacuums of their own souls with their language of the heart to find sobriety and then pass on what they had found to hundreds, thousands, and millions of other alcoholics. Each of us in the lonely universe of the individual consciousness must reckon what he or she has taken of the gift that the higher power gave Bill and Dr. Bob, the gift that they shared with us. The measure of our debt is, of course, drawn somewhere near the limits of gratitude itself in the infinite, infinity of love that are both gone now.

38:46

Mike I want, I just want to say before I turn things over to our friend Jay, and Jay's going to talk for a few minutes about Bill's obituary, but before I turn it over to Jay, I want to say that Dr. Bob and Bill never stopped giving. Dr. Bob was so ill when he made his final talk to Alcoholics Anonymous in Cleveland in July of 1950, where he said, let's not louse this thing up. Let's keep it simple.

39:47

Moderator Complicate it with Freudian complexes. And Bill Wilson, and the music was playing, and I could just see him pulling himself up to the podium in Florida the last time he spoke to us. It was short and it was sweet. And Bill said that, he said, I don't usually have a lack of words, but he did that day. But that was the time where he left us and told us that he loved us.

40:44

Mike Jay? Are you able to unmute? Hey. All right. Well, hello, everybody, and I've got this thing where I really get excited when I find stuff that I haven't heard before and I haven't seen before.

41:12

Moderator And a number of years ago, maybe five or six years ago, our friend Barefoot Bill came up with a story about Wilson's obituary that's in the it was in The New York Times. And, you know, it's really nice if you're logged on to Facebook. I mean, it just blows up with this particular document every year. And if you haven't read it, you know, it's it's really it's really lovely. And I I really like the fact that that in it, he makes sure that there's I think it's the first time that he ever mentions Frank Bookman publicly, the Oxford Group and a couple other things.

42:40

Moderator So that's always that's always fun. So the the story is that in 1966, Bill had a health scare and there was a member that was working at The New York Times as a reporter. And he was invited up to Stepping Stones to help Bill with with the obituary. And what happened was, is that his sponsee was the one we heard the story from. He said, my sponsor said, get in the car.

43:35

Mike I got in the car. We drove up to there to Stepping Stones. And, you know, my sponsor and Bill went up into the studio and they were there for hours. And when when he came back, when they were driving back to New York, Wilson was very concerned that his legacy would be misinterpreted. And he wanted to make sure that the people that gave him the ability to do things got recognition.

44:30

Mike Of course, the his his words about loss in this were just just fantastic. But he wanted to make sure that he got they got it down and they got it right. And so Wilson actually, I love this, wrote his own obituary. And so that when he did die five years later, that they had something that was in the that was in the file that was contemporary, that was that they could get out about. So I always like to when my friend Michael is waxing eloquent about Wilson's vision, you know, here's part of it is that that he wanted to make sure that the the that what he felt were the most important parts about his life were were there.

46:02

Mike So if you take a look at it, I know most of us, we, you know, just burn through things very, very quickly. Just glance at him and see the parts that we like and like. But if you take a look at this particular document, as Wilson's handcrafted presentation of his legacy, I think you might be able to enjoy it with a new pair of glasses. Thanks a bunch, guys. Always, always fun to dial in, Jay.

47:01

Mike We love you. And thanks so much for sharing that story with us and for caring enough to to come on tonight. I know you've been traveling a lot with the new movie Conscious Contact. If anybody on here has not seen the movie yet, you really, really need to do yourself a favor and learn a little bit more about Bill's spiritual life and Bill's spiritual journey. And I'm going to just read a little bit of this because it's important.

48:05

Moderator You know, William Wilson died late Sunday night. And with the announcement of his death was revealed to have been Bill W., who was a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, 1935, his age was 75. Retired Wall Street securities analyst had expected to die or go insane as a hopeless drunk 36 years ago, but after what he called a dramatic spiritual experience, had sobered up and stayed sober. He leaves a program of recovery as a legacy to over 475,000 acknowledged alcoholics in 15,000 AA groups throughout the United States and at the time, 88 other countries. Mr.

49:12

Moderator Wilson, whose twangy voice and economic of words, economy of words reflected his New England origin, died of pneumonia and cardiac complications a few hours after he had been flown by a private plane to Miami Heart Institute in Miami Beach from his home in Bedford Hills. Nevertheless, Mr. Wilson repeatedly paid tribute to the aid contributed by the Oxford groupers, churches, medicine, psychiatry, health agencies, and the families of AA members and many individuals. I could talk for a long time on Bill's relationships with non-alcoholics and how he depended on the non-alcoholics in so many ways for their support, their guidance, and their wisdom. And as Jay mentioned, to recognize the Oxford group and the contribution that was made by them in the churches in the early days of AA, and I'm sure that's something that Bill wanted to be part of his legacy.

51:01

Mike Mr. Wilson called Dr. Smith the Raka, which AA is founded under his sponsorship, assisted briefly by myself. The first AA group in the world was born in Akron, June 1935. Bill's relationship with Dr.

51:27

Mike Bob lasted throughout Dr. Bob's life until his death. Bill looked upon Dr. Bob as a partner, as a co-founder, as a mentor, and as a father figure. Bill looked up to Dr.

51:52

Mike Bob's guidance and wisdom. I can visualize Bill having a grandiose idea and kind of floating up to the clouds and Dr. Bob grabbing him by the foot and saying, no, Bill, let's stay grounded. Let's keep it simple. Mr.

52:24

Mike Wilson survived by two sisters, Mrs. Leonard Strong of Graydon, Vermont, and Mrs. Owens Evans of Green Valley, Arizona. A private funeral service will be held at Stepping Stones in Bedford Hills, Intermedia, and the Family Plot in East Dorset. Members of AA throughout the world will pay tribute to Mr.

53:01

Mike Wilson with group memorial services. February the 14th, Valentine's Day in 1971, and groups all over the world, large and small, had gatherings and small memorial services. Some were big and some were small, but they were all gathered for the same reason, to express their gratitude for their own sobriety. Their gratitude for the contribution that Bill made in their lives and Bill made in the lives of those to come, their children and their grandchildren, our children and our grandchildren. Bill Wilson set things up so Alcoholics Anonymous could outlive all of us.

54:11

Moderator The traditions, the concepts, and our three legacies are what AA is all about, and we can all be grateful this day that Bill Wilson took the time and the love to not go out and continue to speculate for stock investors, but took stock in himself and then expanded that by taking stock in others and helping others to understand. This was a program for the memorial service for Bill Wilson. Sunday, February 14th, 1971, and this is a service that was sponsored by the AA Intergroup in New York. Now, I'm not going to go through this with you. If anyone wants a copy of this, email info at recoveryspeakers, and we will send you a PDF.

55:38

Moderator So, some of the memorial services that were held around the country. Here's one short piece that was held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This meeting, I want to welcome everybody who is here from all groups around Baton Rouge, and this is a special meeting to be in the form of a memorial service to Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, who died of pneumonia January 24th at the Miami Heart Institute, Miami Beach. He was 75 years old. He's been buried in their family plot at East Dorset, Vermont.

56:46

Mike Now, this day, today, Sunday, February 14th, was set aside for AA members throughout the world to hold such services as they see fit, small or big, so that we who feel so great a debt to Bill may share our grief and express our gratitude for his having lived and to rededicate ourselves to continuing the task he began 35 years ago. The letter says completing the task, but I don't think there's any such thing. I don't think we'll ever complete the task. Continuing the task. The format of the meeting, we will have a little bit different from usual, and the first thing will be to have, we'll have three things.

58:12

Mike If you will stand, Father O'Dwyer will say a special invocation, and then we'll have, well, we'll have a moment of silence while Father is coming up here to say the invocation, and then we'll have the serenity prayer. I have, oh, is John here? John S., he's not here. Lucy, will you lead us in the serenity prayer? Okay, Father, will everyone rise for a moment of silent prayer?

59:07

Mike In the words of Bill's own gift to us, the AA way of life, this phrase, grant us this evening and always the light of God's reality, the nourishment of his strength, the atmosphere of his grace. Then we invoke our higher power to fill our minds with understanding, our hearts with love, and our wills with acceptance. Yes, help each of us down the path of happy sobriety. Finally, in the true spirit of our AA fellowship, we say, may his soul be blessed with everlasting serenity. Amen.

60:14

Moderator I believe on Thursday, so you can come. Thursday. Please mute. You know, I wanted to mention that I got to know a long time AA member 20 some odd years ago. His name was Tom White, and Tom at the time was living in Texas, and he had completed a book that he wrote about Bill Wilson, and he called the book Bill W.

61:01

Mike A Different Kind of Hero. And, you know, I know in Alcoholics Anonymous and, you know, in life in general, we learn that it's not a good idea to have heroes or to place people in positions on pedestals because they'll often fail us somehow if we do that. But with Bill Wilson's life and the work that he did, and, you know, there was a recording, and Bill was talking on the recording about after they lost their home on Clinton Street, right after the big book came out, I think it was a month later, they lost their home. And he was sitting on the steps at the Grand Central Station with Lois, both with tears in their eyes, not knowing where they were going to land that night. And he went on.

62:42

Moderator And they endured that period of time where they had nothing. And I remember my first sponsor gave me so much wisdom. He said, kid, you might be broke many times in your life, but you'll never be poor because you can't be poor if you have something to give away. And as long as we're in Alcoholics Anonymous, we have something to give away. And I know that Bill and Lois both felt that very strongly throughout their life.

63:43

Mike This talk that we're going to share is over six minutes long, and I apologize. The individual who's talking was personal to Bill. It's not the greatest quality, but it's still good enough that we wanted to share it with you tonight. This will be the last part of this presentation, and I hope you'll enjoy it. Someday, there was a memorial service for Bill W.

64:35

Mike in the cathedral in Bistro, and it began with the Dean of Bistro saying some prayers of remembrance. Then the preamble was read, and then the opening of Chapter 5 of the big book, the reading of the steps. And after that, Doug H. spoke about his memories of Bill. I've been asked to speak to you today about Bill.

65:19

Moderator But since I can speak of him only as I knew him, this will have to be essentially a personal remembrance. I saw Bill for the first time at my first AA meeting. He stood tall, and there was something about him, a magnetism perhaps, that set him apart from the rest of us. When I needed help a few weeks later, it was to him I turned. I went down to his office on busy streets to see him, and he took an hour of his busy day to share his experience, strength, and hope with me.

66:31

Mike He did more. He made a phone call and got me the sponsor I so badly needed. That was in 1942. A few years later, the future was much on Bill's mind. AA's future, that is.

66:58

Mike He seemed unconcerned about his own. The rest of us talked of the future too, but for us, this was only tomorrow. He looked into the decades ahead, even then, planning for the day when he would no longer be with us. AA could have been his movement. He chose to give it to us.

67:39

Mike He could have continued to make all the decisions, but he stepped aside so that we could make them ourselves. While co-doing, he assured our future. For some reason of love and humility, the General Service Conference was born, but not even that came easily. Bill had to fight for it. Fortunately for all AA's, Bill was a fighter.

68:23

Mike Make no mistake about that. What else was he? This man to whom so many owe their lives. Did any of us really know him? No matter.

68:43

Mike When we were with him, we knew we were in the presence of greatness. Visionary, realist, fighter, conciliator. He was all of these. And one thing more, he was, I think, a man inspired by God. I had had the privilege of working with Bill in 1952.

69:16

Mike The year 1968 brought me a second chance to work with him at our General Service Office. He seemed much the same to me, a little different. Then the world was off. He never offered advice gratuitously. He left in the office, but his door was always open.

69:51

Moderator I remember his love and laughter especially. A year ago last spring, for the first time really, it found on us that Bill was mortal. We had always taken him so much for granted. None of us who were in Miami in the summer of 1970 will ever forget what he did for us there. When he rose from wheelchair to lectern, he was a commanding cousin once more.

70:41

Mike His voice was vigorous, his humor intact. He was, for those few minutes, the Bill we had always known. What that up had cost him, we shall never know. As the summer faded into the fall, I think we all knew, really, that Bill would not be with us for long. Bill needs no encomiums from us, no monuments of stone or steel.

71:27

Mike He will live in our hearts and in the fellowship he left behind him. I can think of no better way to conclude this brief remembrance than with Bill's own words. Regardless of worldly success or failure, regardless of pain or joy, regardless of sickness or health, or even of death itself, a new life of endless possibilities can be lived, if we are willing to continue our awakening. That concludes this presentation. I hope that, maybe for a brief moment, we brought Bill's spirit to life for you tonight.

72:34

Moderator Thank you for joining us. Please join us next week, where we'll have another wonderful presentation. Thank you. And Tim, if you're with us, that's great. What I'd like to do, because in honoring Bill's life, I don't want to have Q&A tonight.

73:12

Moderator I want to have some time to reflect in gratitude for my life and for what I have. And I hope and I wish that each one of you will do the same this evening. We love you. Come back next week. Thank you.

73:44

Moderator Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Tim. Yeah, you can unmute everybody, Tim, if you'd like. Let them unmute. Jay, thank you for...

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Bill W.’s Legacy

Bill W.’s Legacy

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