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NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE GENERAL SERVICE OFFICE OF A. A.

Vol. 18 No. 1

February-March 1973

Big Things A re II , Both in and out of

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Progress in Worldwide &A.

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Your delegate will soon have a copy of the preliminary agenda for the 23rd General Service Confer ence and will bring it to your assembly meeting for discussion. If you have suggestions for topics, please give them to your delegate to forward to G.S.O. Items can still be considered for the agenda, or for workshops or committee meetings. (If you don’t know who your delegate is, write us at G.S,O., giving your group’s name and location.) The next issue of Box 4-5-9 will carry additional topics for groups to discuss with their delegates, but, for now, would you consider this question! There is now about $40,000 in the Bill Wilson Memorial Fund. At the 1972 General Service Conference, there was discussion concerning the best use for these funds. The delegates suggested that the subject be considered in the areas during the year and be discussed

Several events some of them surprising make us here at G.S.O. feel that Alcoholics Anonymous may be embarking on a new period of accelerated o growth. As a result, enormous new obligations or opportunities of service may well arise for every single I one of us in A.A. JThat shaky newcomer at your group’s meeting ,1…. tonight will probably feel lonely, scared, misunderstood and sick. Just the way Dr. Bob felt when Bill first Twelfth-Stepped him to launch A.A. in Akron, Ohio, in 1935. However, both inside and outside A.A. meeting doors, the world of alcoholism has radically changed. For example: more than 18,000 A.A1 groups now hold more than one million A.A. meetings per year around the globe. (Thirty-five years ago, only two small groups existed!) In addition, non-A.A. interest in alcoholism is now growing in such big leaps it is hard to keep up with it. Even more dramatic developments seem just over the horizon. Here, chosen at random, are jut a few of the recent developments, pointing not only to a boom in A.A. but also to an increase of “outside” interest in A.A. There is a plan by the Navy A.A.’s Professional Exhibit showto distribute 500 copies of the ings. In three previous months, the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” to Public Information desk received seamen on 40 merchant ships. 2,567 inquiries. 1,575 requests forA.A. infor137,000 copies of “Is A.A. ma lion were received in one recent For You?” have been purchased 2-month period as a result of for U . Navy use 172 TV and radio spot announcements about A.A. were distributed by G,S.O. in 1971. 125 in 1972. New TV announcements in color are now available for local P.I. use. Grapevine circulation was pressing 70,000 toward the end of 1972. A.A,’s on five continents have now decided to strengthen the

(cont’d. p. 4)

(cont’d. p. 2)

New TV Announcements

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Orders from Mined Forces

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Special Gifts to G. S. 0. CALIFORNIA 22nd Dist. Central Calif. Cony. . .$ 175.00 Carlsbad: No. County A.A. 50.00 Workshop Oakland: East Bay Intergroup, 100.00 All Groups Day San Diego: A.A. Business Comm . 140.00 Pacific Beach: No. Shore 25.00 Breakfast Mtg ALASKA’ 20.00 Anchorage District COLORADO 500.00 Sterling: Col. 3rd Legacy Comm.. CONNECTICUT Milford: Conn. State Service 1,250.00 Comm FLORIDA Coral Gables: Gratitude Dinner 2,900.00 Dist. 8 324.08 Naples: 16th Fla. State Cony. . . Northern Florida Area: 125.00 Gratitude Mtg., Dist. 7 IDAHO Lewiston: Eastern Wash. Little 18.87 Assembly ILLINOIS Northern Area and Southern 280.00 area Assemblies KANSAS Lamed: Kan. State Assembly. . . 250.00 100.00 Topeka: Banquet Party MAINE 225.80 Maine Memorial MASSACHUSETTS 500.00 9th Mass. Convention MICHIGAN 1,870.00 Flint: State Conf MISSISSIPPI 100.00 State Cony. Assembly

MISSOURI Western Mo. Area of A.A. Conf NEW YORK Berkshire Area: 22nd Area Conf. of Hudson/Mohawk! Berkshire Area Southeast N.Y. Area Conf NEVADA Reno: Spring Festival NORTH DAKOTA Minot: 1972 Minot Roundup OHIO Canton: Annu. Thanksgiving Morning: All Crosby Hall Groups PENNSYLVANIA Eastern Penna. Area Conf Cooksburg: Cook Forest Conf. Comm Wayne: Penna. Dist. CA SOUTH CAROLINA Gen. Service Comm. . …….. TENNESSEE Gatlinburg: 2lstTenn. State Cony TEXAS Mt. Pleasant: 3rd E. Tex. Roundup VIRGINIA Winchester: 4-State & D.C. Get-Together WASHINGTON Pasco: Wash. Area Assembly. . . Pasco: Wash. State Area Assembly Bellevue: Gratitude Mtg., All Groups, Dist. 73

information and help include ABCTV Dick Cavett Show (it will be shown sometime in January or February – check your local listings), NBC-TV (Barbara Walters Show), Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, Armed Forces Network (495 stations), Readers Digest Woman’s Day, Associated Press, Alcoholism Report, and Better Homes and Gardens. The Dutch A.A. General Service Office distributed 2,000 copies each of “A.A. in Your Community” and “If You Are a Professional” at the International Congress on Alcohol and the Addictions in Amsterdam last fall. Mailing list for the new Professional Relations Committee newsletter (About A.A.) doubled in size as a result of the first mailing. Last count showed. about

2,300 names. One government division asked for 500 copies, and 100 Of our “Memo on Research Projects and Non-A.A. Surveys.” In Taipei, Taiwan, the Double Twelve group received permission to translate into Chinese (another first) and reprint three A.A. pamphlets. And we could go on and on. At any rate, as we begin a New Year, it seems safe to plan for an influx of new members in the months ahead. Clearly, much will be expected from A.A. as the world increases its understanding. So, it is more urgent than ever that we remind ourselves that “I am responsible: when anyone, anywhefe, reaches out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be there. And for that: I am responsible.

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BIG THINGS (from p. 1)

unity of the worldwide fellowship by holding international sharing sessions for national service personnel from 15 or more lands every two years. Next World Service meeting: London, 1974. Eight new members came to A.A. in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a result of three radio shows in one week. (Only eight? All the others were already in A.A.). 700 Northern California members took part in a 63-week A.A. radio program in San Francisco. First Army Headquarters ordered $3,900 worth of A.A. literature. Organizations interested in alcoholism which have recently asked for (and received) A.A. cooperation include the U.S. Civil Service Bureau of Internal Revenue, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (National Advisory Council), U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Department of Transportation, Alcohol and Drug Problems Association of North America, Canadian Foundation of Alcohol and Drug Dependencies, Office of Economic Opportunity Community Action Programs, American Medical Association, Alcoholism Recovery Institute, U.S. Air Force (Europe) Social Actions Programs, Eastern Pennsylvania School of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers Summer School of Alcohol Studies, the Halfway House Association of North America and The National Council on Alcoholism. Broadcast and print media which have recently sought A.A.

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IiI1ISM1I

New Pamphlets?

World Directory, Part II (Overseas) All countries except U.S. and Canada are covered in Part II of the 1972 A.A. World Directory, published the latter part of the year. It lists 4,761 groups (with an active membership of 85,623) in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and other areas. This is an increase of 840 groups over the 1971 issue. Every group overseas listed has been sent a free copy. Any A.A. member who needs one (for over seas traveling, for instance) can obtain it from G.S.O. by ordering through your A.A. group. Price is 50(3.

Shown here are the covers of three of our most popular new pamphlets. They are listed on the new literature order blank sent with the Holiday Issue. If we printed Box 4-5-9 in full color, you would see a deeppurple-and-blue on “Understanding Anonymity,” a soft rose cover on “The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous,” and blue-and-green on “If You Are a Professional.” They are all a nickel apiece.

“The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Brief Biographies of A.A.’s First Two Members” With photos of A.A.’s late cofounders, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, this memorial folder gives a short but accurate account of the life of each. It seems especially meaningful to A.A.’s who never knew them, as well as to their old friends. It makes a valuable souvenir for A.A. banquets, conventions, conferences, anniversaries, etc. Priced at .05 each.

Institutions Directory Since the last Directory ufAA. Groups in hospital and Rehabilitation Centers came out two years ago, 131 more such groups have been established and are now listed in the new 1972 Directory. Total number shown is 914. The 1972 Directory of A.A. Groups in Correctional Facilities lists almost 1,000 such groups. Both Directoriespublished by G.S.O. every two yearsalso list 115 A.A. Institutional and Sponsoring Committees. Each committee and group gets a free copy. Others may purchase them at 50 each.

(Part I of the World Directory, covering the U.S. and Canada, is published each spring.) (All A.A. Directories are confidential, to be used for A.A. purposes only, and only by A.A. members.) “Whurl ytxr G$R7 or your aEtry?

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“Understanding Anonymity” This one gives seven tips on where, when, and under what circumstances one may reveal A.A. membership, based on long A.A. experience and tradition. Its eight pages clearly explain the difference between “breaking anonymity” and breaking the Anonymity Tradition. Clarifying both our 11 tli and 12th Traditions, the leaflet discusses fear of the alcoholic stigma, respecting others’ anonymity, publicity hounds, the dangers of foolishly overdone underground secrecy, how anonymity at the public level protects the individual’s sobriety as well as our Fellowship’s good name, and Bill W.’s own experiences, both good and bad, with anonymity. This should clear up lots of mistakes and misunderstandings both within .A.A. and without. It makes a dandy A.A. discussion guide, and in quantities of 500, costs only .03 each. (Less than 500, .05 each.) 3

“If You Are a Professional”

It is especially helpful to A.A.’s employed or who want jobs in the alcoholism field. It is excellent for distribution to doctors, jurists, clergymen, counsellors, police, social workers and other professionals or paraprofessionals who work with alcoholics. It goes into: Seven services A.A. groups traditionally do not perform. The best way to get A.A. help. How A.A. groups and offices work. Who really runs A.A. Why A.A. clings to anonymity. Kinds of alcoholics in A.A. .and much, much more, This one, too, is .03 each for 500 or more, or .05 apiece for lesser quantities.

MARCH

CONFERENCE (from p. 1)

again at the 1973 Conference. If you have opinions on the following suggested uses of the funds, please share them with your delegate, who will bring them to the Conference in April: its his1. A film about A.A. tory and program, suitable for public use. 2. Presentation of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, to all libraries in U.S.A. and Canada. 3. A scholarship for a medical student to study alcoholism. 4. A Memorial Library room at G.S.O. 5. Transferral to the General Fund. 6. Literature for Prisons. 7. A Tape Library. 8. Travel Fund of Trustees, G.S.O. Staff, etc., to attend Area Conferences/Conventions, on invitation.

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FEBRUARY JO

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23-25 23-25

DISCUSSION TOPICS FROM FEBRUARY GRAPEVINE 24-25

“Self-Pity Can Kill” (page 2) is a forceful reminder of the risks we run when we indulge ourselves in the “poor little old inc’s.” Discuss experiences with self-pity: How has it hurt us? When do we become aware of it? How do we get out of it? Discussion of the Twelve Steps is the very heart of our meetings. In “My Very Own Twelve Steps” (page 12), we have an honest and sometimes unconventional view of one member’s personal experience with the Steps. At our meetings, are we sometimes guilty of practicing psychiatry without a license? Read “Amateur Analysts” (page 21), and discuss the importance of sensitivity to the needs and conditions of the one we want to help. Is taking another’s inventory ever justified? Do we ever act as though we had all the answers to every problem?

Blytheville, Ark. 16th Annu. TriState Coon Supper. Write: Chin., Box 401, Blytheville 72315. Durham, NC. 6th Annu. Tarheel Midwinter Conf. Write: Chin., Box 2271, Durham 27702.

Long Beach, calif 5th Annu. Mid Southern Calif. Area Symposium of Service. Write: Chin., 6472 Webber Circle, Huntington Beach, Calif. 92647. Greeley, cola. 22nd Midwinter Annu. Stampede. Write: Chin,, Box 209, Greeley 80631. Canterbury, N.Z. The N.Z. and A.A. Cony. Write: Cony. Sec., Box 719, Gisborne, N.Z. El Paso, Tex. 11th Annu. Jamboree. Write: Jamboree Sec., Box 1405, El Paso, 79948. Philadelphia, Pa. Philadelphia Intergroup’s 33rd Ann. Dinner and Dance. Write: intergroup Office, 2202 St. James St., Philadelphia 19103. Little Rock, Ark. 9th Annu. Women’s A.A. Conf. Write: Conf., 2326 Louisiana St., Little Rock 72206. Paducah, K.Y. 22nd Annu. Ky. State A.A. Conf., New Cabana Club Cony., Center. Write: Ky. State Conf. 1973, Box 3086, Paducah 42001. Thunder Bay “P’’, Out. 25th Ann. Write: Thunder Bay Group, Box 114, Thunder Bay “P” Ont.

Corpus Christi, Tex. 19th Midwinter Jamboree. Write: Chin., Midwinter Jamboree Reservations, 310 Jones Bldg., Corpus Christi 78401. (’FB Petawawa, Ont. 7th Annu. 1Day Roundup. Write: Comm. Chm., Box 1, CFB, Petawawa. Portland, Ore., 30th Ann. Write: Portland Intergroup, 614 De Kum Bldg., Portland 97204. French Lick, Ind. 20th Ind. A.A. Cony. Write: Conf. Chin., RR8, Crawfordsville, Indiana 47933. APRIL

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New Orleans, La. Big Deep South Cony. Write: Cony. Comm., Suite 707, 535 Gravies St., New Orleans 70130. San Bernardino, calif. 2nd Annu. Inland Empire A.A. Service Fiesta. Write: Fiesta, Box 189, Colton, Calif. 92324. Galway, Ireland 16th All-Ireland Cony. Write: Cony. I-Ion. Sec., Tourist Office, Galway, Ireland. MAY

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Atlantic cit y , N.J. Philadelphia’s 6th Intergroup Roundup. Write: Roundup Sec., 2202 St. James St., Philadelphia, Pa. 1.9103. Pembroke, Out. 11th Amin. Upper Ottawa Valley District Cony. Write: Cony. Chin., Box 1, K8A 6X, Pensbroke. Thunder Bay “F’ Out. N.W. Ont. 7th Ann. Regional Roundup. Write: N.W. Out. Roundup Comm., Box 73, Thunder Bay “F”, Ontario.

SPECIAL GIFTS (cont’d, front p. 2)

NEW WALLET CARDS Both the “I Am Responsible” pledge and the Unity Declaration are on our new two-tone blue wallet cards, which also contain an excerpt (on anonymity) from Bill’s last message. ’There is also space to rubber-stamp your group’s name, address, and meeting times. When asked the price for all this, our nonalcoholic Controller Dennis Manders said, “Although they contain three times as much as the old ones, the new wallet cards still cost only $3.00 per hundred!”

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WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: Bluestone Roundup …………….. WISCONSIN Southern Wise. Conf . ……..

535.00 800.00

CANADA Alberta: Calgary: Oldtimers Banquet ……………… 202.00 B.C.: Nelson: Little Assembly Nelson-Adamont Gr……… 33.59 B.C.: Prince George: Annual Roundup …………….. 57.00 Manitoba: Roundup ………. 48.74 Out.: Brantford: Gratitude Mtgs………………… 6.00 Brantford: Gratitude Mtg…… 10.10 Ont.: N.W. Ont. Gen. Service Cle. Roundup………….. 450.00 Ont.: E. Toronto Men’s Mtg. 50.00 50.00 Ont.: Sun. A.M. Men’s Mtg . …. Ont.: Out. Gen. Service Conim… 2,010.00 Ont.: Ottawa: Dist. Gen. Serv. Comm……………….. 64.49 SCOTLAND Dumfries: Annu. Blue Bonnet Gathering ……………..

30.00