This will be a tape recording of an archives interview of Eric Bergman, a former General Service Board trustee from the state of Washington. The title of this interview is Freedom in Sobriety and was conducted in September of nineteen eighty-five. At the time of this interview, Eric Bergman had been sober over thirty-three years in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. The original recording was done by Ned Ogden of Kelso, Washington, and this cassette was produced from a copy of that original by Bill and Diana Cross of Ash Tree Fellowship Tapes, located at four five eight eight North Meridian, Fresno, California, nine three seven two six. Phone number two zero nine two two nine eight two four four. This tape was produced in the spirit of AA’s twelfth step to carry this message, and members of the fellowship should bear in mind AA’s tradition number eleven regarding anonymity at the level of press, radio, TV, and films in their use of this tape.

The total playing time of this recording will be approximately fifty-nine minutes. I’d like to, um, interview Eric, the man, you know, and his philosophy and his spirit that has, um, been in the Washington area for a long time. Eric sobered up on Christmas Eve in nineteen fifty-one. In nineteen fifty-one was the year of the first general service conference. So Eric has been in Alcoholics Anonymous since the birth of our service program. So I thought it was only fitting that he would be the one that we would tape today. Uh, the first thing I’d like to ask you is, do you have a home group? Yes. I belong to the Empire Way group of Alcoholics Anonymous. Have you always belonged to that group? The answer to that is yes, but I, uh, also forgot to say that it’s the finest group in the whole world. And I hope you feel the same way about your group. Uh, I’ve always belonged to the Empire Way group.

I remember, though, in nineteen fifty-two, I think it was in June of nineteen fifty-two, that a group started. It was the thirty.. the, the twenty-forty group. That was it, the twenty-forty group, the young people, and I was just, uh, within that range at the time, so I could have belonged or I could have joined that group. But I would not even go to the very first meeting of the twenty-forty group for the simple reason that I was afraid that if I went to that group, the people would associate me with the twenty-forty group, and I would lose my membership in the Empire Way group. And of course, uh, that, uh, wouldn’t have happened. I would have still, could have still been a member, but, of the Empire Way group, even though I attended the other meetings. And I, of course, have since attended a lot of other groups besides Empire Way.