JULY II, I?60

{ftEG. u.S. tAl- OFr.l yol. t xxYl No” 2

Possionote ly Anonymous The r5,ooo men and women who thronged California’s Long Beach Memorial Stadium last week differed from most conventioneers in one major respect: there was no danger that any of them would get together in a hotel room to kill a bottle. For this was Alcoholics Anonymous, mustering its recovered, sworn-off drinkers, their relatives and well-wishers to celebrate its z5th anniversary. Uncrowned but undisputed head of A.A. is Bill W., a tall Vermonter in his early 6os who drank himself out of a luciative career as a high-risk stock operator. “In rg34,” he reca1ls, “my doctor told my wife that if I didn’t stop I’d have to be locked up because I’d either go mad or die.” Bill W. didn’t stop until he drank himself into a hospital, and realized that he must quit or die. He had to find another drunk in the same predicament, so that, by helping each other, they would ensure their own survival. In Akron in June of 1935, he found his friend, Dr. Bob (who died of cancer in rg5o). Together they founded A.A. and laid out the basis for its famous twelve tenets. Neither Chose nor Chostise. Last week, in his unofficial presidential address, Co-Founder Bill W. noted that the organization today counts 3oo,ooo members in more than 8,ooo groups in about 8o countries. Yet A.A. did not congratulate itself for any wholesale success. In the U.S, alone there are still at least 5,ooo,ooo active alcoholics, and perhaps z5 million worldwide. It is an awesome number that A.A. would be glad to help, said Bill W. “We are not going to chase them, chastise them or campaign for them. Al1 we can hope is that they will come to us for help when help is what they want.” A.A.’s wait-and-accept philosophy is the key to its success to date. About 5o16 of those who enroll themselves stop drinking, as against 5/6 reported by physicians with any pre-A.A. treatment. Of the dropouts, about half return to the fo1d. This is not to say that 5o/6 to lSVo of ali alcoholics will respond to A.A.: many of the toughest cases simply never enroll. The Thought of Power. The Passion for public anonymity is readily understandable at the individual leveI. Every alcoholic needs pals on whom he can lean for help, and whom he can help to bolster his own ego. At the organizational level, the anonymity is more complex. Bill W., a forceful speaker with a cutting wit, explains: “Identification leads to power drives, The thought of power is one reason we were drunks in the first piace. A.A. takes no denominational, political or economic stands. It stays out of controversy. We do not claim that anonymity is a virtue, Rather, it is a protection.” In proof of his own passion for anonymity, Bill W. has refused an honorary doctorate from Yale. “A degree for whai?” he asks. “For being the world’s leading drunk?”