SUBSCRIPTION

INDIVIDUAL

A YEAR

$1

CHANGE BULLETIN EWS AND NOTES ON ALCOHOLICS

Vol. 8

No, 4

305 East 45th Street, New York 17

c

May 1963

ANONYMOUS WORLDWIDE

Mail address:

Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York 17 e

A.A. TAKES ITS INVENTORY A recent article in a national magazine which took a critical look at A.A. had these results: Firstly,

a

fine

piece

by Bill appeared in the April

“Grapevine,” (As you will recall, it consisted of excerpts from Bill’s previous writings about our Fellowship.)

[NEW

DIRECTORS

AT

G.S. O.

Two new directors of A.A. World Services have been named to replace Adrian F. and Sum C. whose terms are ending. Adrian has served us well, and we are grateful. His continuing contacts with A.A.

in Holland have been

invaluable in aiding us to be of further service to A,A.’s Secondly, we asked ourselves,

after the first slight

resentment had subsided (we are but human!), if perhaps, there was not a grain or two of truth strewn amongst the misconceptions. So at the Conference, a session was devoted to an

inventory of A.A., as it is today. A report of

in that country.

The other replacement is for Sum C,, who

also has given so much during his service as a Trustee and an A.A.W.S. director.

You’ll recall that these Direct-

ors gave of their time and efforts voluntarily and we owe them a great deal.

this will appear in the June “Conference Digest” which will go out to all groups.

Dick M. comes to A.A.W.S. from the business world where he is executive director of a market research organ-

In thinking about taking inventory, our eye was caught by a piece in ’’The Lifeline,’’ an A.A. publication from Vancouver, B.C. who had

It was purportedly written

by a reporter

been given the privilege of listening in to some

night calls received by the A.A.

ization in New York. He has been active and sober inA.A. for eleven years.

answering service in the

area. He had been very much distressed to find that not all A,A,’s were the unselfish helpers that he had imagined

Bob K. is an executive of a large tion in New York City.

business corpora-

He too has been active and sober

for eleven years in A.A. and is a lawyer, and Princeton graduate.

they were. When the operator finally reached the number that

she

had

been

given

to call

in an emergency,

the

sleepy A.A. on the other end had brusquely dismissed the person asking for help and told him to ’’call the office” in the morning,

There are four new Grapevine Directors. Charles (Ed) L. A graduate of Fordham, Ed has had continuous sobriety for seven years and is and has been active in a New York group and one in Scarsdale. He, like Bob, is also a lawyer.

Which raises the question: cent about our sobriety,

Are we becoming compla-

letting “George do it’’? Are we

becoming so calloused that we easily resist a

call

for

help if it’s not convenient? Let’s take our inventory in every way that we can,

so that no alcoholic will ever find

us lacking in that quality of sobriety which makes for attraction and enables the new person to find his way to us easily.

Yvelin G. is a minister, lecturer and writer, who works in the alcoholism field. He has been sober in A.A. since 1942 and has a long history of group activity. Jay J.

is a businessman whose

all branches of marketing.

experience includes

He is currently the vice presi-

dent of a marketing firm in New York City. He has five years of sobriety and is still active in New York A.A.

–*

” Y\ease pin

me oil

i

Gurney W., present Grapevine 7

EASY DOES

Editor,

as a Director.

board §

§

§

is also serving

THE TAPES IS HERE! A Tape Committee of volunteers and a member of the G S 0 Staff has been working on a project to prepare tapes that can be distributed byG S 0

using some of thewealth

of taped material that has been made available to us through the generosity of A A tape collectors in many parts of the country. Some of these tapes have been stored at G S 0

awaiting the moment when there would be time

to weed and so rt.

teeiedfrt1 rM beI~trthd

!bnq

-r

I he weeding and sorting has now taken place

–

tli fI

Th

’d

with

.

the further help of an enthusiastic tape collector in Ci n-

cinnati, who has put his equipment time and efforts at our disposal Seven tapes have been prepared Each tape contains several talks Order blanks for these tapes are available at G SO A nominal charge has been set up to cover on a sale actual material costs packaging and shipping rather than a rental basis (If small groups or Loners need

Qtethre

’ia$5OfJ)

f*r

Pkeajt

–

tapes

and can’ t afford to pay the nominal charge

I

O

they

should get in touch with us.) About the Offer

. . OUR AAPROFESSIONAL

EXHIBI T

The exhibit, which goes out to Conferences and Conventions of non alcoholic

American

to

a

Above

,.

we have a letter to share

York member from the Gatala Prison

New

Group in Adelaide, Australia.

Gatala Bob,”

the group

secretary wrote:

professionals who want to be ’’Today has been a wonderful day for our A.A. group

informed about A.A., went in March to: 1. The

written

Orthopsychiatric

Association

in

low alkie,

Washington, D.C. 2. The Health Fair in Hartford

at Gatala Prison,

for your gifts arrived today. You, a fel-

living in Brooklyn,

cared enough to send us a

copy of ’The Big Book’, and a copy of ’Twelve Steps and Conn,

Twelve Traditions. *

In April it goes to: 1. The Annual Meeting and Institutes of the National Council on Alcoholism, Cincinnati, o. In May it will be sent to: 1.National ConferenceonSocial Welfare, Cleveland, O, 2. National League for Nursing, Atlantic City, N.J. In Jane it goes to:

’’The distance from Adelaide to Brooklyn is counted in the thousands of miles, but your kindness has bridged those thousands of miles and brought you right into the fellowship of our group. Do you really know how valuable theyareto us?Haveyou sat down and thoughtabout the reaction of our members when the books arrived? Have you stopped to think about the thousands of alcoholic inmates who will pass through this prison and read the words in

1, The National Education Association Detroit Mich.

these IJOOKS.

And in August to: 1, The American Hospital Association, New York

’’As each inmate reads or shares in the message of these books he will be aware of the fact that an A.A. member in Brooklyn, U.S.A., helped to prove thatA.A, isan international tellowship. tach reader will know that his criminal history and police record did not stop this gift. Every reader will know that he has been accepted as an equal by you and that you wish to do something to help other alcoholics solve their drinking problems.”

“Where your 6SR2 /or your Gecretr’? 82f9E

wa n na be pirrneci

00 the Wllaurl

WINE, ROSES & A.A. “DearA.A, We are a couple in dire need of your help and in the back of our minds have known it for some time. It has been difficult to admit. Even after admitting it and discussing it, –

I’m still taking it easy and writing because I couldn’t bring myself to call on the telephone. ’’We have been married almost 21 years, are in business for ourselves, have three beautiful children and so much at stake because of our drinking. Our love for the children and ourselves is sincere and deep-rooted, but we have our drinking problem which recently has put our whole life’s

RECORDS RECORDSRECORDS! As A.A. grows, its records become more complex and the organization of them more important. Our Records Department at G.S.O. is responsible for keeping up-todate information about each Group, each Loner, each In-

investment atstake. ’’May seem ridiculous but I recently saw the film of ’Wine and Roses,’ and it scared me a great deal because I had to project myself into the picture so that it almost seemed my life they were portraying,

ternationalist, each Delegate, our G.S.R.’s, all Committee Members, all our lntergroups, each Hospital and Prison

’’We sincerely are asking for your help.

Group and so on and on . , – It takes a level head to do this kind of work and our new helper, Marie Proctor, who

Courtesy: East Bay Bugle

(Signed)

Oakland, California

is heading up our Records Department is just the kind of

Anon”

gal to do the job with the minimum of fuss and strain. She’s a modest person and doesn’t like to have her picture taken, but we persisted! Somewhat reluctantly she advanced the following information about herself: “I was born, raised and educated at St. Paul, Minnesota, I am a sports enthusiast, love the out-of-doors and all recreational activity, (Typical of Marie’s modesty: We finally unearthed the fact that at one time she was North American speed skating champion,) I love to travel and try at least one trip to a new area each year. I come to New York from Denver, Cola,, approximately three years ago and enjoy all the cultural activity this city has to offer,” She says that she enjoys it here with us also! Thanks, Marie, for all the help that you give us so cheerfully and willingly,

names of individuals. We cannot use last names in the Bulletin,

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO G.S.O. IOWA: Western Iowa Conference ………………………$208.00 The “Big Book” is now available in French, Finnish, Norwegian, Afrikaans and Spanish, (abridged)

Scarsdale Crane Rood Group ………….. $ 50.00 1963 Alberta Provincial Conference . .$575.00

NEW YORK: CANADA:

June 1-2.

Fourth Annual Nebraska A.A. Reunion

Hotel Yancey, Grand Island, Nebraska

A A CALENDAR

–

May 3-5.

June 7-9.

Eastern Townships Bilingual Conference

Convention Chairman, P.O. Box 4204, Jackson, Miss.

Write:

P.O. Box 434, Sherbrooke, Quebec

May 10-12.

Mississippi State Convention

Robert E. Lee Hotel, Jackson, Mississippi

New Sherbrook Hotel, Sherbrooke, Quebec Write:

Reunion,” P.O. Box 914, Grand Island, Nebraska

Write:

June 8-9.

Sixth New Mexico State A.A. Conference

Montana State Conference Chairman, State Conference, Box 399, Butte, Montana

Write:

Carrigo Lodge, Ruidoso, New Mexico P.O. Box 1431, Roswell, New Mexico

Write:

Twenty-eighth Annual Founders Day Meeting and

June 15-16.

May 12-13.

Ohio

Las Vegas, Nevada

May 17-19.

June 16.

Central New York Area Conference

P.O. Box 5, East Side Station, Binghampton, N.Y.

May 17-19.

Box 13, Peterboro, Ontario, Canada

Write:

Seventh Annual Florida State Convention of A.A.

June 20-22.

Twenty-fourth Cook Forest Conference

George Washington Hotel, West Palm Beach, Florida

Cooksburg, Pennsylvania Write:

East Central Area Conference

Empress Hotel, Peterboro, Ontario

Arlington Hotel, Binghampton, New York Write:

Breakfast Committee, 1427 Noble Street, Barberton,

Write:

353 Wisteria Avenue,

Mrs. Patty Woodward,

Write:

Breakfast

Nevada State Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada

Cook Forest Conference, P.O. Box 265, Verona,

Write:

P.O. Box 6682, West Palm Beach, Florida

June 23.

23rd Annual Banquet, 19th Street Group

Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

May 18-19. Write:

Write:

P.O. Box 445, Sedono, Arizona

May 18-19. Write:

Cocoa Inn, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Northern Arizona Regional Conference

Cochrane-Temiskaming 4th Annual Conference

Italian Club, 37 Prospect Ave., Kirkland, Ontario

Granada Hotel, San Antonio, Texas Secretary, 910-920 Travis Bldg., San Antonio, Texas

12th Annual Tennessee State Convention,

Memphis, Tennessee Write:

Eighteenth Annual Texas State Convention

June 27-30. Write:

May 24-26.

S. 19th Street, Harrisburg, Pa.

Secretary, 1251

Chairman, State Convention, 324 Dermon Bldg.,

July 5-7.

Pacific Northwest Conference, Coos Bay, Oregon

Write:

Publicity Committee, P.O. Box 122, Coos Bay, Ore.

Memphis, Tenn,

July 12-14. May 26-27.

Orlando Hotel, Write:

Annual Ohio General Service Conference

Sheraton-Gibson Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio

Downstate Spring Conference

Ohio General Service Conference, P.O. Box 31137,

Write:

Decatur, Illinois

Loie C. Craig, 1408 Holly Hill Drive, Champaign,

Cincinnati 31, Ohio

Illinois

July 13-14. May37-1. Sixth International Conference – Young People in A.A. Write:

Write:

Drawer X, Tryon, North Carolina

BOOK’ ’

THE ’ ’ BIG Due

to

the

efforts

devoted

N of

6th Louisiana State Convention

Capitol House, Baton Rouge, La. Box 3001, Istrouma Station, Baton Rouge, La,

are

pamphlets

taken from an order

descriptions

“Les

blank which lists all the books and pamphlets available at G.S.O., and may be had for the asking,

Editions

of

the

FRENCH

Frcincaises” (French Literature Council) in Montreal, the A.A. book is now available in French.

THIS IS A.A.

It is actu-

ally more than the “Big Book” for it contains Bill’s 12 Steps and 12 Traditions essays from the book and excerpts from ’’A.A. Comes of Age’’. And it includes stories not only of the early members in the but also of members from Quebec, France, U. S. –

Belgium and Switzerland. U. S. and Canada

–

brief presentation

learned

of the Twelve

about alcoholism. Contains a Suggested

Steps, the Twenty-

Four Hour Plan, and three slogans. This pamphlet is for anyone who thinks he may have a problem with alcohol.

(.10)

It is priced at $3.75 in the A.A. 44 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

and at $2.95 for Overseas. To

quote the last sentence of the book’s preface

’’We

hope that with the help of God, this book will be of service to French-speaking alcoholics throughout the

.. .

is for anyone who wants

to

know about A.A. It tries to

answer the questions most frequently asked by alcoholics seekhelp,

ing

teachers.

world

by

their families

and

friends,

and

by

students

and

It is for all who wish to be better informed about A.A.

(.15)

PAMPHLETS ON AA, RECOVERY

1Trr V

An introductory pamphlet describing the kind of people A,A,’s are and what A,A. s have

$

IS A.A

FOR YOU?

Twelve questions defining the symptoms of alcoholism that

We thoughtyou’d like to know about the

three pamphlets described be-

low. They are particularly helpful to the newcomer. These

most A. A. members had to answer themselves as alcoholics.

before they could identify

The reader is invited to keep his own

score and make his own decision,

(.05)