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[00:00:15.190 – 00:00:16.430] Thank you, Bill.

[00:00:16.430 – 00:00:16.960] Hi, everybody.

[00:00:16.960 – 00:00:20.210] My name is Dave A., and I’m an alcoholic.

[00:00:20.210 – 00:00:20.210] Hi, Dave.

[00:00:20.210 – 00:00:29.680] And only because of God’s grace and the miracle of Alcoholics Anonymous, I have not found it necessary to, nor have I taken a drink of an alcoholic nature since April the twentieth, nineteen sixty-seven.

[00:00:29.680 – 00:00:31.480] And for this, I am so thankful.

[00:00:31.480 – 00:00:41.750] And this afternoon, we’ll do this alcoholic’s role in

[00:00:41.750 – 00:00:48.440] sharing A’s experience and the, the history basically of the preparation of the Good Old Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:00:48.440 – 00:00:56.740] And in April of this year, we celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:00:56.740 – 00:01:07.100] Little did the world realize or little did AAs realize it was sober then that the impact that is contained within the covers of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous,

[00:01:07.100 – 00:01:08.770] what it will bring to the world.

[00:01:08.770 – 00:01:18.880] And basically, all this series is just a series of talks or yarns or lies or whatever you wanna call it, that cluster around

[00:01:18.880 – 00:01:21.520] the preparation of the Good Old Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:01:21.520 – 00:01:28.140] Now, the talking about our book first started in the living room of Doctor Bob and Anne Smith in Akron.

[00:01:28.140 – 00:01:33.720] Bill landed in Akron in the summer of nineteen thirty-five, and a little group got started.

[00:01:33.720 – 00:01:36.020] Bill helped with it briefly.

[00:01:36.020 – 00:01:42.340] And Doctor Smith went on to found the first AA group in the world.

[00:01:42.340 – 00:01:45.840] However, in those days, it was not called Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:01:45.840 – 00:01:54.820] Our fellowship did not receive its name until after the two words were put on the outside of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:01:54.820 – 00:02:01.970] And, uh, as a result, uh, as it was with new groups, it was, you know, uh, nearly always failure.

[00:02:01.970 – 00:02:06.700] But now and then, somebody would see the light, and there was progress.

[00:02:06.700 – 00:02:11.880] Bill went back to New York with a little experience, and he started a group in New York City.

[00:02:11.880 – 00:02:18.700] And by the time nineteen thirty-seven rolled around, AA had spread over into Cleveland and began to move south from New York.

[00:02:18.700 – 00:02:22.540] But it was still, in those years, more or less flying blind.

[00:02:22.540 – 00:02:27.240] A flickering candle indeed, that at any moment could be snuffed out.

[00:02:27.240 – 00:02:37.600] So on a late fall afternoon in nineteen thirty-seven in Akron, Doctor Bob and Bill were talking together in Doctor Bob’s living room and they began to count sober

[00:02:37.600 – 00:02:38.220] noses.

[00:02:38.220 – 00:02:42.140] How many had stayed dry in Akron and in New York?

[00:02:42.140 – 00:02:43.980] Maybe, and maybe a few in Cleveland.

[00:02:43.980 – 00:02:46.940] How many had stayed dry and for how long?

[00:02:46.940 – 00:02:53.040] And when all that was totaled up, sure, it was just a handful, thirty-five or forty maybe.

[00:02:53.040 – 00:03:04.210] But enough time had elapsed on enough really fatal cases of alcoholism, so that when Bill and Bob grasped the impact of those small statistics, Bill

[00:03:04.210 – 00:03:08.640] and Bob saw for the first time that this thing was going to succeed.

[00:03:08.640 – 00:03:18.640] That God, in His providence and mercy, had turned a new light into the dark caves and tunnels where we, our kind, had been and are still living, by the

[00:03:18.640 – 00:03:19.590] millions existing.

[00:03:19.590 – 00:03:23.640] You’d be surprised how many alcoholics are out there drinking right now.

[00:03:23.640 – 00:03:28.420] And it is our job to find them, and it is our job to carry this message.

[00:03:28.420 – 00:03:35.650] I don’t know any of you that firmly believe that every alcoholic who is drinking needs to hear the AA message at least once, and that keeps us busy, I’ll tell you.

[00:03:35.650 – 00:03:39.640] And so Bill and Bob became thrilled.

[00:03:39.640 – 00:03:46.820] They began both talking and reflecting, that even though they had a couple of score of sober members, it had taken three long years.

[00:03:46.820 – 00:03:53.000] Sure, there’s been a lot of failures, but it still had taken three long years to sober up only a handful.

[00:03:53.000 – 00:03:57.780] Now, how could this handful carry its message to all of those who still did not know?

[00:03:57.780 – 00:04:02.260] After all, not all the drunks in the world could come to Akron or to New York City.

[00:04:02.260 – 00:04:06.580] How could they transmit the message to them and by what means?

[00:04:06.580 – 00:04:10.640] Bill and Bob thought that maybe, uh, they should go to the old-timers.

[00:04:10.640 – 00:04:14.700] Well, in those days, uh, you know, everybody was an old-timer.

[00:04:14.700 – 00:04:18.180] A drunk would come in, he’d get sober, and two days later, a new one would come in.

[00:04:18.180 – 00:04:25.570] And the one that was sober two days would be the newcomer’s sponsor, and then three days later, the sponsor would get drunk, and the new one would be his sponsor.

[00:04:25.570 – 00:04:33.900] And then you say, go, you know, and then go find some money, somebody else’s money, and say to them, “Now, take a year off from your job,” if you had a job.

[00:04:33.900 – 00:04:36.000] None of them were working in those days anyway.

[00:04:36.000 – 00:04:41.080] And travel to all parts of the country during the year and get groups started.

[00:04:41.080 – 00:04:44.690] Now, hospitals in those days were not too happy with drunks.

[00:04:44.690 – 00:04:50.610] And, you know, they used to, um, park them in a hospital under gastroenteritis or stomach trouble.

[00:04:50.610 – 00:04:59.810] And they’d put them up there in the general medical section and, you know, and them drunks would get up out of bed, and, you know, they’d have that sharp kimono on about halfway through their hips and their knees.

[00:04:59.810 – 00:05:06.260] And they’d slip into them paper shoes, you know, with no heels and go down the hall doing that sort of little shuffle that they do, you know?

[00:05:06.260 – 00:05:14.900] And screaming in the middle of the night, “Hey, nurse, how about a drink?” And they’d set fire to the beds and everything else and gave the heart patients more heart trouble than normal.

[00:05:14.900 – 00:05:19.080] And so after all, they, they weren’t too happy with drunks in the hospital.

[00:05:19.080 – 00:05:24.280] So it being obvious that drunks, they were not very, you know, loving creatures.

[00:05:24.280 – 00:05:29.460] And, uh, so they figured out, well, they’re gonna have to have a great chain of AA hospitals.

[00:05:29.460 – 00:05:32.700] Sort of like chain drugstore, grocery stores, chain department stores.

[00:05:32.700 – 00:05:37.020] Because in those days, the chains were founded, and they were the only ones really making money.

[00:05:37.020 – 00:05:39.710] And so why not a chain of drunk tanks?

[00:05:39.710 – 00:05:41.610] And then you could really make the money.

[00:05:41.610 – 00:05:47.800] So they decided they need some missionaries, subsidized of course, by a chain of drunk tanks.

[00:05:47.800 – 00:05:52.460] Now, Bill, being a Wall Street promoter, was far more insistent about those things than Doctor Bob.

[00:05:52.460 – 00:05:56.500] And after all, it would take a ton of money to finance all of this.

[00:05:56.500 – 00:06:06.404] And after all, with all this brand-new light shining in the dark- All they would have to do is squirt it in the eyes of the rich people, and they would kick up the money.

[00:06:06.404 – 00:06:11.104] And the sign of the office will reflect that they’re going to have to have some sort of literature.

[00:06:11.104 – 00:06:18.024] Now, up to that moment, moment rather, a syllable, not a single word of our program was in writing.

[00:06:18.024 – 00:06:23.644] It was a sort of a word-of-mouth deal with variations according to each man and woman’s fancy.

[00:06:23.644 – 00:06:26.304] In a general way, this was the pitch.

[00:06:26.304 – 00:06:29.124] One, the booze has got you down.

[00:06:29.124 – 00:06:31.564] Two, and you’re hopeless.

[00:06:31.564 – 00:06:34.994] You got an allergy, an obsession, and you’re reminded again that you’re hopeless.

[00:06:34.994 – 00:06:38.644] Three, if you are, then you better get honest with yourself.

[00:06:38.644 – 00:06:43.144] Four, take stock, and you ought to talk this out with somebody in confidence.

[00:06:43.144 – 00:06:44.044] I love that.

[00:06:44.044 – 00:06:47.394] So we got a lot of loose-mouth folks in our house of Anonymous.

[00:06:47.394 – 00:06:52.324] They can’t wait to run out of a meeting and tell who they saw there and what they heard, you know.

[00:06:52.324 – 00:07:02.464] And five, and you ought to make restitution to the harms you did, and you ought to make amends and six, then you prayed the best you could according to your belief,

[00:07:02.464 – 00:07:03.484] if you had any.

[00:07:03.484 – 00:07:07.084] And that was the sum of the word-of-mouth program up to that time.

[00:07:07.084 – 00:07:09.944] Now, variations of that was already appearing.

[00:07:09.944 – 00:07:13.084] Now, we said, how could we unify this thing?

[00:07:13.084 – 00:07:19.804] Could we, out of our experience, get certain principles, describe certain methods that had done the job for them?

[00:07:19.804 – 00:07:25.964] So it became obvious that if this movement was to propagate, it had to have literature.

[00:07:25.964 – 00:07:31.154] So its message could not be garbled either by the drunks or by the general public.

[00:07:31.154 – 00:07:41.284] And believe it or not, those are the challenges we have not only within our house of Anonymous, but to our friends in this world in which we live, that there are hundreds of thousands of our members who do not know

[00:07:41.284 – 00:07:43.414] what Alcoholics Anonymous is not.

[00:07:43.414 – 00:07:51.424] And they garble our message, and sometimes the public gets a false impression of who we are and what we are and what we’re all about.

[00:07:51.424 – 00:07:56.084] So they said they had to have missionaries to change the drunk tanks to books.

[00:07:56.084 – 00:08:01.984] And even at that early day, it spoke clearly about that Bob began to learn that they were not the government of our house of Anonymous.

[00:08:01.984 – 00:08:04.284] Bob thought more than Bill.

[00:08:04.284 – 00:08:14.344] And Bob already realized that the conscience of the group, a well-informed opinion of the group, in the group’s best interest,

[00:08:14.344 – 00:08:15.833] it could be better than both Dr.

[00:08:15.833 – 00:08:16.814] Bob and Bill’s.

[00:08:16.814 – 00:08:19.764] So they thought it would be better to consult people.

[00:08:19.764 – 00:08:22.364] Now, there was an old alcoholic by the name of T.

[00:08:22.364 – 00:08:26.224] Henry Williams and his wife, and they let the acting drunk bunch use their home.

[00:08:26.224 – 00:08:31.104] So a meeting was called of the acting group, that is, those who had been sober any length of time.

[00:08:31.104 – 00:08:34.484] And they managed to scrape up about 18.

[00:08:34.484 – 00:08:38.584] And Bill and Bob told them that they were within sight of success.

[00:08:38.584 – 00:08:45.934] Then they thought that this deal would go on and on and on, and that a new light was shining in this dark world of the alcoholic.

[00:08:45.934 – 00:08:49.833] But how could this light be transmitted without being distorted or garbled?

[00:08:49.833 – 00:09:00.484] At this moment, the meeting then turned over to Bill, and Bill being the salesman and its promoter, Bill set right to work on the drunk tanks and subsidies for the missionaries

[00:09:00.484 – 00:09:01.974] and touched a little on the book.

[00:09:01.974 – 00:09:08.684] And the group conscience, which consisted of 18 men, were darn skeptical about it all.

[00:09:08.684 – 00:09:12.084] And almost with one voice, they shouted, let’s keep it simple.

[00:09:12.084 – 00:09:15.144] This is going to bring money into this thing.

[00:09:15.144 – 00:09:17.564] This is going to create a professional class.

[00:09:17.564 – 00:09:18.584] We’ll all be ruined.

[00:09:18.584 – 00:09:28.634] Bill countered by admitting that their arguments had merit, but he also reminded them that alcoholics were dying like flies all over the world, and how were we going to carry

[00:09:28.634 – 00:09:29.664] this message to others?

[00:09:29.664 – 00:09:33.124] He reminded them that they had to take some kind of chance.

[00:09:33.124 – 00:09:38.804] He said we can’t keep it so simple that it becomes an anarchy and thus gets complicated.

[00:09:38.804 – 00:09:44.564] We can’t keep it simple that it will not propagate itself, and that we have got a lot of money to do these things.

[00:09:44.564 – 00:09:54.084] And after Bill had exerted his cunning to the utmost, they finally got a vote in that meeting, and it was a close vote at that.

[00:09:54.084 – 00:09:56.484] Oh, maybe by a majority of two or three.

[00:09:56.484 – 00:10:07.144] And then the meeting then said to Bill with some reluctance, well, if we need a lot of money, you better go back to New York where there’s plenty of it, and you raise the money.

[00:10:07.144 – 00:10:09.924] Well, that’s exactly what Bill wanted to hear.

[00:10:09.924 – 00:10:12.264] Just what he had been waiting for.

[00:10:12.264 – 00:10:16.524] So he swam back to the Big Apple, and he began to approach some people with money.

[00:10:16.524 – 00:10:18.944] And he described this to them.

[00:10:18.944 – 00:10:22.804] It seemed that it happened, but it did not seem so tremendous to people with money at all.

[00:10:22.804 – 00:10:26.284] One of them said 35 or 40 drunks sobered up.

[00:10:26.284 – 00:10:27.904] They’ve sobered up before, you know.

[00:10:27.904 – 00:10:28.644] And besides, Mr.

[00:10:28.644 – 00:10:38.424] Wilson, they told him, do you not think that if sweeping up the crumbs wasn’t something for the Red Cross or the Salvation Army or the Community Chest would be better?

[00:10:38.424 – 00:10:45.244] And with all of Bill’s cunning and conning, he got one heck of a freeze from the gentlemen of wealth.

[00:10:45.244 – 00:10:47.644] Things were rough in New York.

[00:10:47.644 – 00:10:49.544] They were starving to death on Clinton Street.

[00:10:49.544 – 00:10:52.324] Drunks were eating the wealthy out of house and home.

[00:10:52.324 – 00:10:55.804] For our nosehairs, we never charged anybody for anything.

[00:10:55.804 – 00:11:02.784] And Bill’s wife, Florence, was earning the money working in a department store, and Bill was being a missionary, and the drunks were eating all the meals.

[00:11:02.784 – 00:11:04.644] And this couldn’t go on.

[00:11:04.644 – 00:11:14.764] And Bill kept plugging away to get those darn drunk tanks, and then he kept hounding, kept hammering away, got out and paid business, and we got all the books.

[00:11:14.764 – 00:11:18.834] Well, one morning, Bill called on his brother-in-law, a physician by the name of Dr.

[00:11:18.834 – 00:11:20.124] Leonard Strong.

[00:11:20.124 – 00:11:25.064] And Bill began to bellyache about those rich guys who wouldn’t give him any money.

[00:11:25.064 – 00:11:28.544] This great and glorious enterprise that was well on its way.

[00:11:28.544 – 00:11:30.684] It seems, however, that Dr.

[00:11:30.684 – 00:11:37.044] Strong, when he was in high school, he was friendly with a gal and he dated her, and she had an uncle.

[00:11:37.044 – 00:11:43.034] And that uncle was tied up with the Rockefeller family and their charities.

[00:11:43.034 – 00:11:53.134] And he asked Bill if he wanted to, they would call up the Rockefeller offices and see if that man was still there, and if he was, he saw if he’s still alive, and would

[00:11:53.134 – 00:11:53.824] he see them.

[00:11:53.824 – 00:11:58.704] Well, Bill hadn’t tried the Rockefeller offices yet, so they agreed to give him a call.

[00:11:58.704 – 00:12:03.344] Oh, on what slender threads our destiny sometimes hangs.

[00:12:03.344 – 00:12:07.874] Remember that Bill’s brother-in-law said he dated a girl.

[00:12:07.874 – 00:12:11.940] And she had an uncle.

[00:12:11.940 – 00:12:14.420] And so the call was made.

[00:12:14.420 – 00:12:16.620] And a voice came on the wire, the voice of Mr.

[00:12:16.620 – 00:12:23.600] Willard Richardson, one of the loveliest gentlemen that Bill in Alcoholics Anonymous was to ever know.

[00:12:23.600 – 00:12:31.710] And the moment he recognized Bill’s brother-in-law, he said, “Why, Willard, where have you been all these years?” And after a few exchanges, Dr.

[00:12:31.710 – 00:12:32.960] Strong explained to Mr.

[00:12:32.960 – 00:12:41.040] Richardson that he had a brother-in-law who was having success in sobering up drunks, and could the two of them come over and see him?

[00:12:41.040 – 00:12:42.080] “Sure,” said Mr.

[00:12:42.080 – 00:12:47.970] Richardson, “Come right over.” So they went over to the Rockefeller Plaza and to see Mr.

[00:12:47.970 – 00:12:48.390] Richardson, and right into Mr.

[00:12:48.390 – 00:12:51.330] Rockefeller’s personal offices.

[00:12:51.330 – 00:12:53.190] And after meeting Mr.

[00:12:53.190 – 00:13:03.420] Richardson, Bill sat down and told him about their exciting discovery, this terrific cure for alcoholism that had just hit the world, how it works,

[00:13:03.420 – 00:13:04.480] and what they had done.

[00:13:04.480 – 00:13:10.000] And this was the first receptive man with money or access to money because Mr.

[00:13:10.000 – 00:13:11.160] Richardson was Mr.

[00:13:11.160 – 00:13:11.720] John D.

[00:13:11.720 – 00:13:16.990] Rockefeller Jr.’s personal executive secretary, and above all, perhaps Mr.

[00:13:16.990 – 00:13:19.180] Rockefeller’s best personal friend.

[00:13:19.180 – 00:13:20.520] So Mr.

[00:13:20.520 – 00:13:23.340] Richardson said, “Why, yes,” he was much interested.

[00:13:23.340 – 00:13:26.160] Then he asked Bill to have lunch with him.

[00:13:26.160 – 00:13:29.640] And for a rising promoter, Bill thought things were looking up.

[00:13:29.640 – 00:13:33.060] During lunch, they would go over the deal again.

[00:13:33.060 – 00:13:38.100] And after lunch, he asked Bill if he would like to have a larger meeting with some of Mr.

[00:13:38.100 – 00:13:38.960] Richardson and Mr.

[00:13:38.960 – 00:13:40.320] Rockefeller’s friends.

[00:13:40.320 – 00:13:41.500] He said, “There is Mr.

[00:13:41.500 – 00:13:42.420] Frank Amos.

[00:13:42.420 – 00:13:47.120] He’s in the advertising business, and he was on the committee that recommended that John D.

[00:13:47.120 – 00:13:47.960] Rockefeller Jr.

[00:13:47.960 – 00:13:50.660] drop the prohibition business that he was involved in.

[00:13:50.660 – 00:13:51.850] And then there’s Mr.

[00:13:51.850 – 00:13:54.510] Leroy Chipman, who looks after Mr.

[00:13:54.510 – 00:13:56.600] Rockefeller’s real estate.

[00:13:56.600 – 00:13:57.940] And then there’s Mr.

[00:13:57.940 – 00:14:08.260] Scott, chairman of the board of the Riverside Church, and a number of people like that.” And then he believed that they would like to hear Bill’s story.

[00:14:08.260 – 00:14:13.520] And so on a winter’s night, a meeting was held in late December of nineteen thirty-seven.

[00:14:13.520 – 00:14:17.580] Calling posthaste for this meeting, a couple of drunks and Dr.

[00:14:17.580 – 00:14:19.820] Bob from Akron and another drunk.

[00:14:19.820 – 00:14:23.180] Bill came in with a New York bunch, four or five.

[00:14:23.180 – 00:14:25.000] The meeting was held in Mr.

[00:14:25.000 – 00:14:25.540] John D.

[00:14:25.540 – 00:14:28.360] Rockefeller Jr.’s personal boardroom.

[00:14:28.360 – 00:14:33.780] And Bill really got excited when he was told that he was sitting in the chair just vacated by Mr.

[00:14:33.780 – 00:14:34.620] Rockefeller.

[00:14:34.620 – 00:14:39.060] And Bill could just feel that money coming right up his legs into his hip pocket.

[00:14:39.060 – 00:14:39.240] Dr.

[00:14:39.240 – 00:14:42.680] Silkworth was there, and he testified what he had seen happen.

[00:14:42.680 – 00:14:49.760] And each drunk, thinking of nothing better to say, each told a story of drinking and their recovery.

[00:14:49.760 – 00:14:59.860] And like this very second in Alcoholics Anonymous, still today, the best thing that we can tell ourselves or anyone else, our own personal story

[00:14:59.860 – 00:15:03.800] of what it used to be like, what happened, and how it is today.

[00:15:03.800 – 00:15:10.320] And that’s where that format started on the last, uh, uh, in December of nineteen hundred and thirty-seven.

[00:15:10.320 – 00:15:20.700] And after seeing that these good new friends were interested, Bill, being a hustler, started putting on the big touch by bringing up the subject of drunk tanks to subsidize missionaries

[00:15:20.700 – 00:15:23.250] and this question of a book or literature.

[00:15:23.250 – 00:15:26.780] Well, God moves in mysterious ways and is wondrous to perform.

[00:15:26.780 – 00:15:29.970] But it certainly did not look like it went into Bill when Mr.

[00:15:29.970 – 00:15:40.000] Scott, head of a large engineering firm, chairman of the Riverside Church, looked at this bunch of drunks and said, “But, gentlemen, up to this point, this has been the

[00:15:40.000 – 00:15:41.580] work of goodwill only.

[00:15:41.580 – 00:15:48.220] No buildings, no property, no paid people, just one carrying the good news to the next.

[00:15:48.220 – 00:15:53.340] Is that not true?” And here is where he dropped this bombshell.

[00:15:53.340 – 00:15:59.640] “And may it not be that that is where the great power of your society lies?

[00:15:59.640 – 00:16:05.660] Now, if we subsidize this, might it not alter its whole character?

[00:16:05.660 – 00:16:08.040] We want to do all we can.

[00:16:08.040 – 00:16:09.860] We are gathered here for that purpose.

[00:16:09.860 – 00:16:15.010] But would it be right and wise?” Then all the drunks gave Mr.

[00:16:15.010 – 00:16:19.620] Scott the rush and said, “Why, there are only forty of us, and it’s taken three long years.

[00:16:19.620 – 00:16:28.710] Why, millions will rot before this thing gets to them unless we have money and a lot of it.” So one of the businessmen volunteered to investigate them very carefully.

[00:16:28.710 – 00:16:30.619] And since poor old Dr.

[00:16:30.619 – 00:16:40.820] Bob was harder up at that time than Bill, and since the first AA group, as we know it today, was in a typical community situation in Akron, the drunks

[00:16:40.820 – 00:16:45.440] directed this, their friend, uh, his attention out in Akron.

[00:16:45.440 – 00:16:46.290] And Mr.

[00:16:46.290 – 00:16:53.800] Frank Amos, who later became a trustee at his own expense, went out to Akron, made all the inquiries about Dr.

[00:16:53.800 – 00:16:59.689] Bob, and all the reports were good, except that he was a drunk who had recently gotten over it.

[00:16:59.689 – 00:17:02.460] He attended a few of their meetings out there.

[00:17:02.460 – 00:17:07.920] He went to the Smith’s home, and he came back with what he thought was a very modest project.

[00:17:07.920 – 00:17:13.520] And he recommended that they could recommend a total amount of money at first, fifty thousand dollars.

[00:17:13.520 – 00:17:16.330] And that would clear off the mortgage on the, Dr.

[00:17:16.330 – 00:17:22.450] Bob’s home, would get the drunks in Akron a little rehabilitation place, put Dr.

[00:17:22.450 – 00:17:32.320] Bob in charge, subsidize a few of those people, start a chain of hospitals, subsidize a few missionaries, and can– then they could get busy maybe on the book.

[00:17:32.320 – 00:17:33.860] However, Mr.

[00:17:33.860 – 00:17:35.720] Richardson took that report into Mr.

[00:17:35.720 – 00:17:36.360] John D.

[00:17:36.360 – 00:17:40.460] Rockefeller Jr.’s office, who read the report and told Mr.

[00:17:40.460 – 00:17:44.630] Richardson, “Somehow, I am strangely stirred by all this.

[00:17:44.630 – 00:17:49.440] This interests me immensely.” And then he dropped this bombshell.

[00:17:49.440 – 00:17:52.740] “But isn’t money going to spoil this thing?

[00:17:52.740 – 00:18:02.840] I am terribly afraid that it would, and yet I am so strangely stirred by it all.” The next turning point in our destiny came when that man

[00:18:02.840 – 00:18:06.500] whose business was giving away money said to Mr.

[00:18:06.500 – 00:18:10.580] Richardson, “No, I will not be the one to spoil this thing with money.

[00:18:10.580 – 00:18:14.660] Now, you say these men who are heading it are strapped for cash.

[00:18:14.660 – 00:18:19.240] I’ll put five thousand dollars in the Riverside Church safety.

[00:18:19.240 – 00:18:26.780] You folks can farm yourselves into a committee and draw on it as you like, but please do not ask me for any more.

[00:18:26.780 – 00:18:36.920] But I want to hear what goes on.” And if you can remember that last line, “But I want to hear what goes on,” and we’ll picture that

[00:18:36.920 – 00:18:37.420] later.

[00:18:37.420 – 00:18:41.310] Well, the fifty thousand dollars had been shrunk to five thousand.

[00:18:41.310 – 00:18:44.470] The drunks, uh, then the drunks paid the mortgage on Dr.

[00:18:44.470 – 00:18:46.720] Bob’s house, which was about three thousand.

[00:18:46.720 – 00:18:49.470] That left ten thousand, and Bill and Dr.

[00:18:49.470 – 00:18:51.320] Bob started eating away on that.

[00:18:51.320 – 00:18:53.280] Well, what are we gonna do now?

[00:18:53.280 – 00:19:00.600] Well, they had more meetings with their newfound friends, Amos, Richardson, Scott, Chipman, and those fellows who stuck with the drunks from then on.

[00:19:00.600 – 00:19:10.200] And this format was later known as the Old Alcoholic Association, which became the Alcoholic Foundation, which is now named the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:19:10.200 – 00:19:20.240] And for those of you who may think that Alcoholics Anonymous started in the gutter, Alcoholics Anonymous, when that foundation was started, had the most prestigious office

[00:19:20.240 – 00:19:26.480] address of any fellowship or recovery program in the world has seen, has seen, above the real estate.

[00:19:26.480 – 00:19:27.430] That office was

[00:19:27.635 – 00:19:32.035] Two Rockefeller Plaza, Room 5600, New York City, New York.

[00:19:32.035 – 00:19:34.015] The personal offices of John D.

[00:19:34.015 – 00:19:38.615] Rockefeller, Jr., and baby, you can’t get more high class than that.

[00:19:38.615 – 00:19:40.975] And in spite of Mr.

[00:19:40.975 – 00:19:47.455] Rockefeller’s advice, the drunks again tried to convince their new friends that this thing needed a lot of money.

[00:19:47.455 – 00:19:55.705] So one of them proposed that they form a foundation, some call it something, uh, the Rockefeller Foundation.

[00:19:55.705 – 00:20:04.995] And one of them got a good lawyer from Everhugh Root’s firm, who was interested in this thing, and they asked him to draw up an agreement, a trust, or a charter for something to be called the Alcoholics Foundation.

[00:20:04.995 – 00:20:07.475] Now, why they picked that name, Bill didn’t even know.

[00:20:07.475 – 00:20:12.255] They didn’t know whether the foundation was alcoholic or they had alcoholics in the foundation.

[00:20:12.255 – 00:20:22.185] The lawyer, however, was much confused because in the meeting in which the foundation was formed, the drunks made it very plain that the drunks did not wish to be in the majority.

[00:20:22.185 – 00:20:28.335] They felt that there should be nine alcoholics on the board, and they ought to be in the majority of one.

[00:20:28.335 – 00:20:38.335] Now, the reason for it was very simple, because if nine alcoholics would be a majority of the board, and so when they had a board meeting, that if all the drunks on the board got

[00:20:38.335 – 00:20:41.695] drunk, they could still have a board meeting because they would have a majority.

[00:20:41.695 – 00:20:44.095] And we were too stupid, you know.

[00:20:44.095 – 00:20:54.265] “Sure,” said the lawyer, “but then what is the difference between an alcoholic and a non-alcoholic?” And there’s always a smart drunk running around, and one of the smart drunks said, “Well, that’s just

[00:20:54.265 – 00:20:54.395] it.

[00:20:54.395 – 00:21:04.515] A non-alcoholic who, uh, uh, can, is one who can drink alcohol, and an alcoholic is one who can’t drink alcohol.” Now, if you would like to read

[00:21:04.515 – 00:21:14.615] how it’s legally stated, if one would read the service manual, the bylaws of the General Service Board, we have non-alcoholic trustees

[00:21:14.615 – 00:21:16.615] and we have alcoholic trustees.

[00:21:16.615 – 00:21:22.935] And it’s stated legally, basically, in that, in, in those words, but a little bit more on a legal basis of it.

[00:21:22.935 – 00:21:33.075] Well, you know, and so as a result of it, uh, shortly, they had a foundation and a board, which then consisted of

[00:21:33.075 – 00:21:36.444] seven, of four of their new friends and some of the drunks, three of the drunks.

[00:21:36.444 – 00:21:37.224] Dr.

[00:21:37.224 – 00:21:42.795] Bob went on the board, but Bill sort of partly stayed off, thinking that it would be more convenient later on.

[00:21:42.795 – 00:21:51.925] So with this new foundation formed with the idea of needing a lot of money, the drunks started again to solicit money, and again, from the very rich.

[00:21:51.925 – 00:22:02.145] Now, they had a list of a bunch of people that, that the Rockefellers knew, and if they, and, and even if the Rockefellers didn’t know them and the drunks found out they had a lot of money, they used

[00:22:02.145 – 00:22:06.875] that list anyway and used Rockefeller’s name and credentials, and they had loads of friends.

[00:22:06.875 – 00:22:09.475] And how could they miss, they asked themselves.

[00:22:09.475 – 00:22:16.195] Now, the foundation had been formed in the spring of 1938, and all summer long, they solicited the rich.

[00:22:16.195 – 00:22:21.435] Well, they were either in Florida, they were in Africa, they were in Europe, or they were in Hawaii.

[00:22:21.435 – 00:22:32.115] And many of them preferred the Red Cross, and some thought the drunks were disgusting, and they did not get one darn cent in the whole summer of 1938.

[00:22:32.115 – 00:22:33.454] Thank God.

[00:22:33.454 – 00:22:39.664] In the meantime, they began to hold trustee meetings, and there were commiseration sessions on getting no money.

[00:22:39.664 – 00:22:42.164] And what with the margins and Bill and Dr.

[00:22:42.164 – 00:22:47.815] Bob either way out of it and the five thousand and almost gone, and here they are all busted again.

[00:22:47.815 – 00:22:51.375] You notice neither the drunks thought about going out and working and making some money.

[00:22:51.375 – 00:22:53.085] And Dr.

[00:22:53.085 – 00:23:01.415] Smith had his trouble getting his practice back because patients were a little leery about being carved up by an alcoholic surgeon.

[00:23:01.415 – 00:23:08.995] And it is utterly amazing that our two co-founders, here was Bill, who was a stockbroker, a busted stockbroker, and Dr.

[00:23:08.995 – 00:23:11.635] Bob, a leering surgeon.

[00:23:11.635 – 00:23:13.695] Now, that’s a combination for drunks, you know.

[00:23:13.695 – 00:23:15.575] And basically, Dr.

[00:23:15.575 – 00:23:18.375] Bob was in the best position to see a drunk’s brains.

[00:23:18.375 – 00:23:24.225] Because you see, us drunks, we are wired backwards.

[00:23:24.225 – 00:23:29.075] Our brains is in our rear end, and our rear end is in our head.

[00:23:29.075 – 00:23:33.595] That’s the precise reason we can’t sit in a meeting more than about an hour.

[00:23:33.595 – 00:23:37.465] Our brains are, you know.

[00:23:37.465 – 00:23:41.955] And they were leery about a drunk too.

[00:23:41.955 – 00:23:45.795] You know, even though he was sober, carving up, but even if he’d been sober three years, you know.

[00:23:45.795 – 00:23:48.454] And so, and things were tough all around.

[00:23:48.454 – 00:23:49.855] They don’t know what they’re going to do.

[00:23:49.855 – 00:23:58.515] So one day in August 1938, Bill produced at a foundation meeting a couple of chapters of a proposed book in rough and in mimeograph.

[00:23:58.515 – 00:24:08.535] As a matter of fact, they had been using those two chapters, the introductions of the book and Bill’s story, along with some recommendations from some physicians down at Johns Hopkins Medical

[00:24:08.535 – 00:24:14.595] Center to try to put the bite on the rich and also to get their approval so they could use it for credentials.

[00:24:14.595 – 00:24:15.524] Then Mr.

[00:24:15.524 – 00:24:19.045] Amos said, “I know the religious editor down there at Harper’s.

[00:24:19.045 – 00:24:23.255] Why don’t you take those two book chapters down to Harper’s to Mr.

[00:24:23.255 – 00:24:24.205] Gene Axmann?

[00:24:24.205 – 00:24:30.275] That is Bill, your story and the introduction to the book, and see what he thinks.” And to Bill’s surprise, Mr.

[00:24:30.275 – 00:24:39.575] Axmann, who, another one who became one of our friends of ours, looked at the chapters and asked Bill if he could write a whole book like Bill, like this, and Bill didn’t hesitate.

[00:24:39.575 – 00:24:41.914] Sure, it would be easy, you know.

[00:24:41.914 – 00:24:42.535] Well, Mr.

[00:24:42.535 – 00:24:44.325] Axmann took the two chapters into Mr.

[00:24:44.325 – 00:24:45.375] Canfor’s office.

[00:24:45.375 – 00:24:55.455] Another meeting was held, and the result was that Harper’s intimated that they would pay Bill, as a budding author, fifteen hundred dollars in advance royalties, which would bring

[00:24:55.455 – 00:24:57.925] in enough money for Bill to finish the book.

[00:24:57.925 – 00:25:03.685] At first, Bill felt very elated about it.

[00:25:03.685 – 00:25:13.895] But then after a while, he didn’t feel so good about it because Bill began to reason, and so did the other boys, “Well, if this guy Wilson eats up the fifteen hundred bucks while he’s doing the book, and after the book

[00:25:13.895 – 00:25:15.845] gets out, it will take a long time to catch up.

[00:25:15.845 – 00:25:23.415] And if this thing gets all the publicity that we’re hoping that it’s going to get, what are we going to do about the inquiries?

[00:25:23.415 – 00:25:33.485] And after all, what’s a lousy ten percent royalty anyway?” Then they thought, too, even though Harper’s was a fine publisher, if this book, if

[00:25:33.485 – 00:25:34.265] and when done…

[00:25:34.265 – 00:25:38.567] What proved to be the main textbook of Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:25:38.567 – 00:25:44.627] Why would we want our main means of propagation in the hands of somebody else?

[00:25:44.627 – 00:25:46.627] Should we not control it?

[00:25:46.627 – 00:25:50.367] And thank God, it belongs to us.

[00:25:50.367 – 00:25:53.827] It belongs to nobody else in this world.

[00:25:53.827 – 00:25:56.267] That book is ours.

[00:25:56.267 – 00:26:03.327] And that is where all of the experience in doing this came about by our writing non-alcoholic friends.

[00:26:03.327 – 00:26:08.876] And so as a result of it, and after that, then the book project really began to take off.

[00:26:08.876 – 00:26:15.327] And then they said, “Well, what we ought to do is form a book company, a publishing company, incorporation.

[00:26:15.327 – 00:26:19.707] Let’s call it the Works Publishing Company, this being the first of many great works.

[00:26:19.707 – 00:26:29.787] And then we could sell stock, stock certificates to all of the drunks and get some money coming in to support the author and the guy who collected the money

[00:26:29.787 – 00:26:39.907] and the gal, Ruthie Hopp, Hank Parker’s secretary, who was helping on the book.” So they took this idea into the next trustees meeting, and they all shook their heads and said,

[00:26:39.907 – 00:26:43.887] “No.” Well, then they had an alcoholic rebellion.

[00:26:43.887 – 00:26:54.407] And they told their non-alcoholic friends, “Well, after all, you didn’t produce any money, and we think we’re gonna try this thing on separate from the foundation.” So Bill had a drunk

[00:26:54.407 – 00:26:58.087] help him on this thing, one super promoter by the name of Hank Parker.

[00:26:58.087 – 00:27:01.127] And Hank said to Bill, “This is easy.

[00:27:01.127 – 00:27:09.627] Come on with me.” They went out, and they walked into a stationery store, and they bought a, a blank pad of blank stock certificates.

[00:27:09.627 – 00:27:13.907] They wrote across the top of them, Works Publishing Company, par value twenty-five dollars.

[00:27:13.907 – 00:27:17.557] Then they took, uh, this pad of stock certificates.

[00:27:17.557 – 00:27:21.607] Of course, they didn’t even bother to incorporate it, and that didn’t happen for several more years.

[00:27:21.607 – 00:27:25.287] To let Bill in, where we’re not supposed to mix money with spirituality.

[00:27:25.287 – 00:27:27.097] And they said to the drunks, “Look here.

[00:27:27.097 – 00:27:29.247] Now, look here, you drunks.

[00:27:29.247 – 00:27:30.987] This thing is going to be a cinch.

[00:27:30.987 – 00:27:34.737] Parker will take a third of this thing for services rendered.

[00:27:34.737 – 00:27:44.847] Our Bill, the author, will take a third for services rendered, and you drunks can have a third of these stock certificates, par twenty-five dollars, if you will just start

[00:27:44.847 – 00:27:46.687] paying up on your stock.

[00:27:46.687 – 00:27:53.907] If you only want one share, it’s how many dollars a month for five months?” And all the drunks gave Bill and Hank that cold look.

[00:27:53.907 – 00:27:56.027] And they said, “What the heck?

[00:27:56.027 – 00:28:03.467] You mean to say that you’re asking us to buy stock in a book that you haven’t even written yet?” “Why, sure,” said Bill.

[00:28:03.467 – 00:28:12.127] “If Parker thinks we’ll put money into this book.” But the drunks said, “No deal.” So Hank and Bill started a new pitch at the drunks.

[00:28:12.127 – 00:28:20.127] They told them that they had been looking at the printing cost of the book, and they said, “Now, we got a book here that we think will be between four hundred and four hundred and fifty pages.

[00:28:20.127 – 00:28:30.187] And it ought to sell for two dollars and fifty cents.” Now, back in those days, they found on the inquiry from printers that if they’re gonna sell a book for two dollars and fifty cents, it could be printed

[00:28:30.187 – 00:28:34.267] for thirty-five cents, making a thousand percent profit.

[00:28:34.267 – 00:28:37.786] Of course, they didn’t tell the drunks about the other expenses that were involved.

[00:28:37.786 – 00:28:39.887] “So listen, boys.

[00:28:39.887 – 00:28:44.967] When this book moves out in carload lots, we’re printing them for thirty-five cents.

[00:28:44.967 – 00:28:48.187] We’re gonna sell them for two dollars and fifty cents by direct mail.

[00:28:48.187 – 00:28:57.547] How could you lose?” And the drunks still said, “Heck, no.” So Hank and Bill figured that they had to have a better argument than that.

[00:28:57.547 – 00:29:03.227] How are we gonna convince the drunks that we’ll move these books out in carload lots, millions of copies?

[00:29:03.227 – 00:29:06.347] So they get the idea to go up to Reader’s Digest.

[00:29:06.347 – 00:29:08.707] Now, they really didn’t get that idea originally.

[00:29:08.707 – 00:29:09.216] Uh, Dr.

[00:29:09.216 – 00:29:14.247] Silkworth, at that time, was renting a house from Mr.

[00:29:14.247 – 00:29:15.107] Wallace.

[00:29:15.107 – 00:29:15.506] And Mr.

[00:29:15.506 – 00:29:18.367] Wallace was the owner of Reader’s Digest.

[00:29:18.367 – 00:29:20.307] And he was– Uh, Dr.

[00:29:20.307 – 00:29:24.107] Silkworth would send his check in to the treasurer of Reader’s Digest, a Mr.

[00:29:24.107 – 00:29:25.847] Walters, every month.

[00:29:25.847 – 00:29:32.227] And, and he was getting ready to send the first two chapters of the book in with a little note to Mr.

[00:29:32.227 – 00:29:33.527] Walters to give to Mr.

[00:29:33.527 – 00:29:37.507] Wallace, who in turn, maybe the Reader’s Digest would be interested in it.

[00:29:37.507 – 00:29:39.387] And so that was the connection there.

[00:29:39.387 – 00:29:41.497] And so they went and found him, Mr.

[00:29:41.497 – 00:29:48.287] Paine, the managing editor of Reader’s Digest, and excitedly told him the exciting story of their budding society.

[00:29:48.287 – 00:29:50.727] They bragged on their friendship with Mr.

[00:29:50.727 – 00:29:51.167] John D.

[00:29:51.167 – 00:29:55.686] Rockefeller Jr., Harry Emerson Fosdick, and everybody they could think of.

[00:29:55.686 – 00:29:59.407] And the society was about to publish a textbook.

[00:29:59.407 – 00:30:03.677] And would this not be a matter of tremendous interest to the Reader’s Digest?

[00:30:03.677 – 00:30:10.987] Of course, the drunks were thinking of Reader’s Digest circulation, which at that time had about twelve million readers.

[00:30:10.987 – 00:30:17.887] And they got to thinking if the Reader’s Digest would just give them a free plug or an ad, then maybe they could really move a book.

[00:30:17.887 – 00:30:18.167] Now, Mr.

[00:30:18.167 – 00:30:19.547] Paine liked the idea.

[00:30:19.547 – 00:30:23.027] Asked Bill when the projected book would be finished.

[00:30:23.027 – 00:30:27.187] And then he said, “I will take the matter up with the editorial board.

[00:30:27.187 – 00:30:32.307] And when the time is right, and you get the book all ready to shoot, come on up.

[00:30:32.307 – 00:30:38.667] We’ll put on a special feature right here on this thing.” Well, this was all that Bill and Hank needed to hear.

[00:30:38.667 – 00:30:43.087] So they ran back to New York, and they ran back to the drunks and said, “Look here, boys.

[00:30:43.087 – 00:30:46.967] There are positively millions of dollars in this thing for us.

[00:30:46.967 – 00:30:47.967] How can you miss?

[00:30:47.967 – 00:30:57.047] And after all, we only need four or five thousand bucks.” So they began to se-sell shares in Works Publishing, not yet incorporated.

[00:30:57.047 – 00:30:59.347] Five dollars a month to poor people.

[00:30:59.347 – 00:31:01.417] One guy bought ten shares.

[00:31:01.417 – 00:31:04.407] They sold a few shares, uh, to non-alcoholics.

[00:31:04.407 – 00:31:11.217] And Hank, who was very important in this deal because he was the one that went out and kept collecting the money.

[00:31:11.217 – 00:31:14.147] So Bill and Ruthie Hopp could work on the book.

[00:31:14.147 – 00:31:22.147] And then Lois, although she was still working in the department store, gave a little extra money for groceries to feed them drunks who were still eating the meals.

[00:31:22.147 – 00:31:25.507] And so, as a result, so the preparation started.

[00:31:25.507 – 00:31:30.847] Some more chapters were written, and they went into Harry Emerson in New York with the chapters in the rough.

[00:31:30.847 – 00:31:37.587] And the drunks started chewing those chapters apart, and Bill suddenly found himself in a whirlpool of arguments.

[00:31:37.587 – 00:31:45.523] And Bill was with the umpire, and he said, “Look, boys, over here you got the Holy Rollers who say we need all that good old-fashioned stuff in the book.

[00:31:45.523 – 00:31:48.803] Over here you say we have to have a psychological book.

[00:31:48.803 – 00:31:50.623] You have to have the God book.

[00:31:50.623 – 00:31:55.973] And the psychological book never cured anybody, and it didn’t do too much with the drunks in the missions.

[00:31:55.973 – 00:32:00.683] So I guess we’ll just have to leave it to me to be the umpire.

[00:32:00.683 – 00:32:02.663] I will scribble out some things here.

[00:32:02.663 – 00:32:12.683] Let’s get the comments in so they fought, bled, and died through one chapter of another, and sent them out to Acworth for their comments and their changes

[00:32:12.683 – 00:32:13.883] and their approval.

[00:32:13.883 – 00:32:18.083] And once again, terrific hassles developed on what should go in the book.

[00:32:18.083 – 00:32:21.083] Meanwhile, drunks were set writing their stories.

[00:32:21.083 – 00:32:31.083] Then came the night when they got to chapter five because here is a point in the book where the book had to say what this thing is all about

[00:32:31.083 – 00:32:32.943] and how this deal works.

[00:32:32.943 – 00:32:36.963] As I said before, it was originally a six-step program.

[00:32:36.963 – 00:32:42.363] And one night, Bill was laying in his bed trying to think of what chapter five would be all about.

[00:32:42.363 – 00:32:51.843] And then the idea came to Bill who said that we need a definite statement, concrete principles that the drunks cannot wiggle out of.

[00:32:51.843 – 00:32:54.503] There cannot be wiggling out of this deal at all.

[00:32:54.503 – 00:32:58.903] And the six-step program had two big gaps in it.

[00:32:58.903 – 00:33:07.453] Moreover, if this book goes out to the district leaders, they’re gonna have to have an absolutely explicit program by which to go by.

[00:33:07.453 – 00:33:17.143] And while Bill was thinking these things over, and while he was mad as a vittens at the drunks because the money was slow in coming in, there’s a knock on the door.

[00:33:17.143 – 00:33:22.253] Bill went to the door, and one of the members brought a new one in, and he asked Bill what he was doing.

[00:33:22.253 – 00:33:27.523] And Bill told him he was writing a book and all this, and the drunk got mad, and they had a terrific argument.

[00:33:27.523 – 00:33:32.203] And Bill just run him out, and he said, “Dog can go you know where.” And he went up to the bed.

[00:33:32.203 – 00:33:42.233] And when he got on the bed, there was a pad of paper and a pencil, and he said to himself, “I have to break this thing up into small pieces.” And he just started writing,

[00:33:42.233 – 00:33:44.643] trying to bust it up in little pieces.

[00:33:44.643 – 00:33:48.473] And it took him about twenty-five, thirty minutes.

[00:33:48.473 – 00:33:52.703] And when he got the pieces set down, he put numbers on them.

[00:33:52.703 – 00:33:56.523] And he was agreeable surprised when it came out at twelve.

[00:33:56.523 – 00:34:01.803] You know what he had put between those?

[00:34:01.803 – 00:34:07.303] That instead of leaving the God idea until the last, he put it up front.

[00:34:07.303 – 00:34:09.563] That was in the second step as we know it today.

[00:34:09.563 – 00:34:12.473] And you know what the most tremendous hole was was?

[00:34:12.473 – 00:34:18.663] Step six and seven, the brief that anchors our recovery program.

[00:34:18.663 – 00:34:28.743] And for incidentally, any of you who read the steps may not realize it, but the sixth step is the only step in the twelve-step program that is in the present

[00:34:28.743 – 00:34:35.543] tense, which means we surrender every day, but one day at a time.

[00:34:35.543 – 00:34:40.343] But he didn’t pay too much attention to the twelve steps, and he thought it looked pretty good.

[00:34:40.343 – 00:34:47.283] By the time the next meeting came along, Bill had gone beyond the steps, trying to amplify them and the rest of the chapter.

[00:34:47.283 – 00:34:51.923] And then he took the steps and that chapter five into the meeting, and all heck broke loose.

[00:34:51.923 – 00:34:55.743] And the drunks started screaming, “What do you mean by changing our program?

[00:34:55.743 – 00:34:56.563] What about this?

[00:34:56.563 – 00:34:57.703] What about that?

[00:34:57.703 – 00:34:59.083] This is overloaded with God.

[00:34:59.083 – 00:35:00.003] We don’t like this.

[00:35:00.003 – 00:35:02.233] You got those drunks down on their knees.

[00:35:02.233 – 00:35:03.282] Stand them up.

[00:35:03.282 – 00:35:05.523] A lot of drunks are scared of being God bit.

[00:35:05.523 – 00:35:10.113] Let’s take God out of it entirely.” And so were the arguments they had.

[00:35:10.113 – 00:35:15.143] And out of that terrific hassle about the twelve steps, there did come a tenth step.

[00:35:15.143 – 00:35:25.443] That argument caused the introduction of the phrase in our twelve steps that’s been the lifesaver for hundreds and hundreds of alcoholics who’ve come to AA, are coming to AA, and will come to

[00:35:25.443 – 00:35:29.253] AA, by which Bill’s own words, something out of his own doing.

[00:35:29.253 – 00:35:34.543] Because Bill was still on the power side then, suffering from his big hot flash.

[00:35:34.543 – 00:35:44.763] But what came out of that was the idea of God as we understand Him, came out of that perfectly ferocious argument.

[00:35:44.763 – 00:35:46.263] What a lifesaver.

[00:35:46.263 – 00:35:48.133] And that was put into the steps.

[00:35:48.133 – 00:35:50.303] And little by little, the book ground down.

[00:35:50.303 – 00:35:58.062] Little by little, the drunks put the money in the office, and an office was set over Bill, and the money ran low at times, and little Ruthie Hawk worked for no pay.

[00:35:58.062 – 00:36:01.103] But when she wanted some money, they were able to bring the stock.

[00:36:01.103 – 00:36:08.463] All they did was tear off some more of the drunk stock certificates, fill in where a company, power a project, and here, here’s another week’s pay, you know.

[00:36:08.463 – 00:36:18.973] And in January of nineteen forty-nine, when somebody said, “Why don’t one– Why don’t we test, uh, this thing out with a pre-publication copy?” And Bob took a mimeographed

[00:36:18.973 – 00:36:29.123] copy of this text and appeared in the stores and tried it on the doctors and the preachers and the Catholic Committee on Publication, psychiatrists, policemen, fish wives, housewives, drunks, everybody,

[00:36:29.123 – 00:36:36.563] just to see if they had anything to go up against the grain anyplace, and also to see if we could get some better ideas.

[00:36:36.563 – 00:36:40.903] At considerable expense, a pre-publication copy was made.

[00:36:40.903 – 00:36:44.863] Comments came back, many very helpful.

[00:36:44.863 – 00:36:48.463] They went to the Catholic Committee on, on Publication in New York.

[00:36:48.463 – 00:36:58.803] And at that time, they only had one member that was a Catholic to take the third, and he had just gotten out of the insane asylum and had nothing to do with the preparation

[00:36:58.803 – 00:36:59.563] of the book.

[00:36:59.563 – 00:37:03.823] And to their great surprise, it was well-received, and they were impressed.

[00:37:03.823 – 00:37:06.043] So the book somehow passed muster.

[00:37:06.043 – 00:37:08.383] Somehow the stories came in.

[00:37:08.383 – 00:37:11.563] Somehow the, uh, galleys were gotten together.

[00:37:11.563 – 00:37:13.963] Then we got up to the printing contracts.

[00:37:13.963 – 00:37:15.883] But the drunks weren’t paying up.

[00:37:15.883 – 00:37:24.883] So Bill went up to see Colonel Towns, and the Colonel who believed in the drunks mightily, and they put the slug on him for five hundred dollars.

[00:37:24.883 – 00:37:29.423] And he– But he didn’t want any of that stock, for twenty-five hundred dollars rather.

[00:37:29.423 – 00:37:32.183] But he said, “I don’t want any of that funny stock.

[00:37:32.183 – 00:37:36.363] You give me a promissory note.” And so Bill gave him three of the notes.

[00:37:36.363 – 00:37:44.743] And, “I don’t want any on that, uh, book that’s not even written.” And the twenty-five hundred dollars were agreement around the Alcoholics Foundation, so it would be tax-exempt.

[00:37:44.743 – 00:37:53.063] And in those six months, with the office and supporting three people, they had blown about six thousand dollars, and the till was getting mighty lean again.

[00:37:53.063 – 00:37:55.423] And still, they had to get the book printed.

[00:37:55.423 – 00:38:01.723] So they went up to Cardinal Press, which at that time was the largest printer in the world, and asked about printing.

[00:38:01.723 – 00:38:04.183] And they said, yes, they would be glad to do it.

[00:38:04.183 – 00:38:07.313] Then they asked them how many books they wanted.

[00:38:07.313 – 00:38:15.243] Well, they gave them the same old spiel about being a small membership, but the Reader’s Digest was gonna be a write, uh, write an article about the book.

[00:38:15.243 – 00:38:19.503] They were hard to estimate how many they needed, and they had the backing of Mr.

[00:38:19.503 – 00:38:19.833] John D.

[00:38:19.833 – 00:38:22.523] Rockefeller, Jr., and all that kind of noise.

[00:38:22.523 – 00:38:28.703] And they assured the printer that one thing about it, that once this book was printed, it’ll go out of Cardinal’s lot.

[00:38:28.703 – 00:38:30.293] Now, the, the Mr.

[00:38:30.293 – 00:38:32.533] Printer was none other than Mr.

[00:38:32.533 – 00:38:36.053] Brockway, who later became one of our tremendous friends.

[00:38:36.053 – 00:38:37.143] Then Mr.

[00:38:37.143 – 00:38:43.803] Brockway said, “Well, boys, how much of a down payment are you gonna make?” Handling the book was a life.

[00:38:43.803 – 00:38:48.773] So they told him, “Well, let’s print five thousand to start with.” And then Mr.

[00:38:48.773 – 00:38:54.643] Brockway said, “Well, what are you gonna use for money?” And we replied, “Well, not very much.

[00:38:54.643 – 00:38:55.053] Maybe

[00:38:55.210 – 00:38:56.670] A few hundred on the south.

[00:38:56.670 – 00:38:59.610] But remember, we’re talking in big companies.

[00:38:59.610 – 00:39:00.150] And so Mr.

[00:39:00.150 – 00:39:10.290] Blackwell started printing the five thousand books, ten cents down per book, and then all of a sudden they thought everything was dangerous.

[00:39:10.290 – 00:39:12.970] So the writers of the Reader’s Digest would walk in on Mr.

[00:39:12.970 – 00:39:15.300] Payne and say, “We’re ready to shoot.” And Mr.

[00:39:15.300 – 00:39:21.170] Payne said, “Shoot what?” And then he said, “Oh, yes, I remember you, Mr.

[00:39:21.170 – 00:39:22.050] Wilson and Mr.

[00:39:22.050 – 00:39:24.290] Parker, when you were up here last fall.

[00:39:24.290 – 00:39:30.990] I told you that the Reader’s Digest would be interested in this new work and in your new book.

[00:39:30.990 – 00:39:41.670] But right after you were here, I consulted with our editorial board, and much to my surprise, they did not like the idea at all,

[00:39:41.670 – 00:39:51.750] that the book was too controversial, and I simply forgot to tell you.” Well, here Hank and Bill had the drunks

[00:39:51.750 – 00:40:01.670] with four, five thousand in it, Colonel Thomas hit for twenty-five hundred, and on the cuff was the printing and maybe about five hundred bucks left in the bank.

[00:40:01.670 – 00:40:03.350] Well, it won’t be enough.

[00:40:03.350 – 00:40:10.830] Now, Martin Ryan, who was taking the book over to the Catholic Foundation, was at one time being a terrific advertising man.

[00:40:10.830 – 00:40:20.840] So he said, “Look, boys, I know Gabriel Heeder, and Gabriel Heeder is sitting on those three-minute radio programs on the air, and I’ll get an interview

[00:40:20.840 – 00:40:23.010] with Gabriel Heeder.” So their spirits rose once again.

[00:40:23.010 – 00:40:30.860] And then all of a sudden, they had a big chill supposing this Irishman got drunk before his interview.

[00:40:30.860 – 00:40:36.390] Meanwhile, Heeder agreed to interview Martin, and the drunks still got more scared.

[00:40:36.390 – 00:40:43.590] So they rented a room in the downtown Adler Cup, and they put Martin in there with a very nice guard for ten days.

[00:40:43.590 – 00:40:47.950] Meanwhile, their spirits were rising.

[00:40:47.950 – 00:40:51.810] The drunks could see those books just starting to print.

[00:40:51.810 – 00:41:01.160] Then Hank said, “Now, we need to follow up this Heeder thing to be heard all over the country, and I think that the big market for the book are the physicians and other doctors.

[00:41:01.160 – 00:41:11.610] And I suggest that we take the last five hundred dollars we got in the bank and invest it on a postal card sale going to every physician east of the Mississippi

[00:41:11.610 – 00:41:20.099] River.

[00:41:20.099 – 00:41:21.439] And on the postal card, it’ll say, ‘Hear all about Alcoholics Anonymous on Gabriel Heeder’s program.

[00:41:21.439 – 00:41:23.260] Send three dollars and fifty cents for the book on Alcoholics Anonymous.’ Sure thing, Bill.” And this was done.

[00:41:23.260 – 00:41:25.910] They managed to keep Martin sober.

[00:41:25.910 – 00:41:29.490] All the drunks had their ears glued to the radio.

[00:41:29.490 – 00:41:36.930] But number two, see, the AA market was already saturated because they had forty-nine stockholders, and they all got a book for free.

[00:41:36.930 – 00:41:39.810] And everybody who had a spinner in a book, they got one for free.

[00:41:39.810 – 00:41:42.570] And there was no more drunks left to sell the damn thing to.

[00:41:42.570 – 00:41:46.189] The, the, the AA market was exhausted.

[00:41:46.189 – 00:41:52.910] And so as a result, well, they could just envision these doctors and their patients buying millions of these books.

[00:41:52.910 – 00:41:55.350] Martin was interviewed.

[00:41:55.350 – 00:42:03.870] Heeder fills out all the stocks, and the drunks couldn’t wait to go down to the old post office box, six fifty-eight Church Street Annex.

[00:42:03.870 – 00:42:08.510] The address printed in the back of the, of the first printing of the book on Alcoholics, old Big Red.

[00:42:08.510 – 00:42:08.980] Now, they waited for it for about ten days.

[00:42:08.980 – 00:42:08.980] They were too nervous to go down.

[00:42:08.980 – 00:42:18.040] Then Hank, Ruth, and Bill went over to the post office, and they looked in box six fifty-eight.

[00:42:18.040 – 00:42:19.520] Now, of course, it wasn’t a regular lock box.

[00:42:19.520 – 00:42:20.590] They opened it from the front.

[00:42:20.590 – 00:42:25.790] Just a little sliding glass, and then you had to go around to the postal clerk and ask him to go get your mail.

[00:42:25.790 – 00:42:32.450] And so they went around to the front, and they looked in that little box, and, and they could see, oh, maybe a few postal cards.

[00:42:32.450 – 00:42:33.280] And Bill had a terrific sleepless spell.

[00:42:33.280 – 00:42:41.710] So Hank, the promoter, said, “Why, Bill, they can’t fill all those little cards that are coming to us in that little bitty box.

[00:42:41.710 – 00:42:44.270] Why, they got mail bags full back there.

[00:42:44.270 – 00:42:54.270] Let’s go to the clerk.” So they go to the clerk, and he brings out twelve wads of postcards, ten of them completely illegible, written by

[00:42:54.270 – 00:42:55.200] doctors drunk as monkeys.

[00:42:55.200 – 00:43:02.190] And they had exactly two orders for the book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:43:02.190 – 00:43:06.630] And they were absolutely and utterly and totally broke.

[00:43:06.630 – 00:43:09.970] The telephone moved into the office, and poor Mr.

[00:43:09.970 – 00:43:12.509] Blackwell wondered what to do with the money.

[00:43:12.509 – 00:43:14.069] He felt like taking the book over.

[00:43:14.069 – 00:43:23.360] And at that very hour, three moments, the house in which the Wilkens were living in was foreclosed, and the Wilkens and their furniture was set out in the street.

[00:43:23.360 – 00:43:33.050] And then the drunks started screaming, “What about our forty-five hundred dollars?” And Colonel Thomas was uneasy what was going to do then, and that’s what you call a bad day.

[00:43:33.050 – 00:43:39.470] And that was the state of the book Alcoholics Anonymous in the summer of nineteen thirty-nine.

[00:43:39.470 – 00:43:44.550] They began to shop around from one magazine to another, and nobody bit.

[00:43:44.550 – 00:43:47.910] And it looked like the whole thing was going down the drain.

[00:43:47.910 – 00:43:56.700] However, one of the boys in New York, who was a little prosperous at the time in the clothing business by the name of Burt Taylor, saved it.

[00:43:56.700 – 00:43:59.780] And Bill went to see him.

[00:43:59.780 – 00:44:10.470] And he told Bill that there was a promise of an article in the Liberty Magazine, but it would not come out until the following September and to be called “Alcoholics and God,” to be written by Maurice Hershey

[00:44:10.470 – 00:44:16.150] and, uh, because Gordon Hershey was then the editor of the magazine, Liberty Magazine.

[00:44:16.150 – 00:44:25.350] And he said, “Look, boys, we need a thousand dollars to get us through the summer.” Burt said, “I don’t have the money, but I have a friend down in Baltimore, Royden Cox.

[00:44:25.350 – 00:44:33.180] He’s, uh, with the wet and dry business.” And, uh, and Bill said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

[00:44:33.180 – 00:44:40.350] I, I don’t know about this wet and dry business.” And Burt said, “Yes, Bill, you’re not going to be fussy when you’re drunk, and you need this five, Martin.

[00:44:40.350 – 00:44:41.450] He’s a customer of mine.

[00:44:41.450 – 00:44:43.870] I sell him tents.” So they called him up.

[00:44:43.870 – 00:44:46.470] So Burt gets him on the phone, and he tells Mr.

[00:44:46.470 – 00:44:53.769] Cox, and he says, “You know, from time to time, I have mentioned to you about this alcoholic, uh, fellowship which I belong to, and Mr.

[00:44:53.769 – 00:45:03.842] Cox, our fellowship Has just come out with a magnificent new textbook, Pure Spirit or Alcoholism, and it’s something we believe that every public library in the

[00:45:03.842 – 00:45:04.982] country should have.

[00:45:04.982 – 00:45:15.092] And the retail price for the book is three dollars and fifty cents, but if you will buy a couple of thousand and put them in the large public libraries, of course, we will

[00:45:15.092 – 00:45:21.602] sell to you, if you want to use it for that purpose, the book at a considerable discount.

[00:45:21.602 – 00:45:21.632] Mr.

[00:45:21.632 – 00:45:23.322] Cochran didn’t buy that bill.

[00:45:23.322 – 00:45:27.862] Then Burt told him that some publicity about this book will come out next fall.

[00:45:27.862 – 00:45:33.162] But in the meantime, he said, “We desperately need a thousand dollars to tide us over the summer.

[00:45:33.162 – 00:45:37.942] Would you loan the Work Publishing Company a thousand dollars?” Well, Mr.

[00:45:37.942 – 00:45:48.012] Cochran said, “Well, what does this Work Publishing Company’s balance sheet look like?” And when he was told, he says, “No, thank you.” And then Burt said

[00:45:48.012 – 00:45:54.292] to him, “Would you loan the money to me personally on the credit of my business?” “Well, sure,” said Mr.

[00:45:54.292 – 00:45:55.142] Cochran.

[00:45:55.142 – 00:46:01.341] “Just send up your personal note.” So Burt Cochran’s business didn’t make any difference a year or two later.

[00:46:01.341 – 00:46:07.282] It went broke.

[00:46:07.282 – 00:46:07.552] And that’s what saved the Book Alcoholist phenomenon at that time.

[00:46:07.552 – 00:46:11.392] And that lasted until the Libya magazine article came out.

[00:46:11.392 – 00:46:19.002] And then eight hundred inquiries came in as a result of that article that made for a few books very quick through the year nineteen thirty-nine.

[00:46:19.002 – 00:46:24.042] But all this time, nothing had been heard from John D.

[00:46:24.042 – 00:46:25.082] Rockefeller Jr.

[00:46:25.082 – 00:46:30.742] Meanwhile, foundation meeting after foundation meeting, people are having such a hard time.

[00:46:30.742 – 00:46:34.142] Sorry, we’re not going to give you any money.

[00:46:34.142 – 00:46:39.382] When all was said about September of nineteen forty-nine, Mr.

[00:46:39.382 – 00:46:42.732] Atkinson came to a trustee’s meeting in the mountains that Mr.

[00:46:42.732 – 00:46:52.462] Rockefeller, who nothing had been heard from since nineteen thirty-seven, had been watching all of this with immense interest.

[00:46:52.462 – 00:46:53.662] Moreover, he said Mr.

[00:46:53.662 – 00:47:03.042] Rockefeller would like to give the fellowship a dinner to which he would invite his friends to see the beginning of this new and promising start.

[00:47:03.042 – 00:47:04.632] And then Mr.

[00:47:04.632 – 00:47:06.882] Atkinson produced the invitation list.

[00:47:06.882 – 00:47:16.912] And my God, who, who in the world of finance, religion, education, corporations, energy were

[00:47:16.912 – 00:47:21.142] all on that list, and many of them extremely rich.

[00:47:21.142 – 00:47:31.182] Walter Chrysler, chairman of Chrysler Motor Company, the president of Ford Motor Company, the president of General Motors Company, John Foster Dulles,

[00:47:31.182 – 00:47:41.252] the Autocratus, Wendell Willkie, the chairman of the boards of all the large insurance companies, AT&T, all the transmission

[00:47:41.252 – 00:47:49.702] companies, the Sarnoffs, everybody in, in radio, men of extreme wealth.

[00:47:49.702 – 00:48:00.282] And Bill, you know, uh, and, and, and Bill took a quick look at that list, and he said, “My God, that adds up to maybe two or three billion dollars.” And

[00:48:00.282 – 00:48:05.042] so the dinner came, and they got Paul Emerson Conklep to read a little book.

[00:48:05.042 – 00:48:07.072] He gave a wonderful prayer.

[00:48:07.072 – 00:48:07.072] Dr.

[00:48:07.072 – 00:48:15.692] Kennedy came and spoke of the medical attitude as he had seen a very hopeless, dour, marred man recovered, who was one of his patients.

[00:48:15.692 – 00:48:21.162] Bill got up and talked about the rise among the Ammonites and the bankers.

[00:48:21.162 – 00:48:26.892] Seventy-five strong sat at the table, and they ate their first numbers of the drunks among them.

[00:48:26.892 – 00:48:35.362] And well, the bankers came with them to the start of a common performance because they all did business with the Rockefeller Bank, and they were a little suspicious.

[00:48:35.362 – 00:48:38.222] And perhaps this was another one of John D.

[00:48:38.222 – 00:48:40.582] Jr.’s prohibition deals.

[00:48:40.582 – 00:48:44.562] But then they warmed up under the influence of the drunks that were sitting with them.

[00:48:44.562 – 00:48:48.592] And Marvin Ryan was asked at mid-table by a very distinguished banker, “Why, Mr.

[00:48:48.592 – 00:48:52.692] Ryan, we presume that you are in the banking business.” “No,” Mr.

[00:48:52.692 – 00:48:54.112] Ryan said, “not at all.

[00:48:54.112 – 00:49:01.652] I’m just fresh out of the Grace County insane asylum.” But unfortunately, John D.

[00:49:01.652 – 00:49:11.002] Rockefeller Jr., for matchups of the dinner, he was quite ill, and he sent his son, a wonderful man, Nelson Rockefeller, in his place instead.

[00:49:11.002 – 00:49:21.092] And after the show was over with, and the drunks they raised and really took the big touch and the bite out of them rich people, Nelson Rockefeller got up and, speaking for his father,

[00:49:21.092 – 00:49:31.122] said, “My father sends word that he is so sorry that he cannot be here tonight, but so glad that many of his friends are

[00:49:31.122 – 00:49:41.242] here to witness this, and they could see the beginning of this great and wonderful thing, something,” Nelson Rockefeller said, “that has affected his father’s life

[00:49:41.242 – 00:49:48.002] more than anything else in the world.” A tremendous and tremendous plug that was.

[00:49:48.002 – 00:49:54.542] Then said Nelson, “But fortunately, gentlemen, this is a work that proceeds on goodwill.

[00:49:54.542 – 00:50:02.472] It requires no money.” Whereupon the two billion bucks got up and walked out.

[00:50:02.472 – 00:50:05.232] And again, the hand of providence intervened.

[00:50:05.232 – 00:50:07.032] Right after the dinner, Mr.

[00:50:07.032 – 00:50:17.402] Rockefeller asked that the talk be published in a pamphlet, and he approached a rather defunct Work Publishing Company and said that he would like to buy four hundred books

[00:50:17.402 – 00:50:22.202] to send to all of those who had come to the dinner and all whom he invited and had not come.

[00:50:22.202 – 00:50:26.232] And seeing that this was for a good purpose, they let Mr.

[00:50:26.232 – 00:50:29.462] Rockefeller have the books cheap, real cheap.

[00:50:29.462 – 00:50:33.842] He bought them cheaper than anybody has ever gone over the Bible.

[00:50:33.842 – 00:50:36.442] They sold four hundred books to John D.

[00:50:36.442 – 00:50:37.542] Rockefeller Jr.

[00:50:37.542 – 00:50:39.442] for one buck a piece.

[00:50:39.442 – 00:50:48.442] And with the book and pamphlets, he sent out a personally written letter, and he personally hand signed every one of them.

[00:50:48.442 – 00:50:57.002] And in this letter, he again recited how glad he was that his friends had been able to see this great new beginning of what he thought was the most wonderful thing.

[00:50:57.002 – 00:50:59.543] How deeply it had affected him.

[00:50:59.543 – 00:51:09.574] And then he said, “Unfortunately, as a work of goodwill, it needs little, if any, money, perhaps a slight amount of temporary help.”

[00:51:09.574 – 00:51:14.294] And I am giving those good people one thousand dollars.

[00:51:14.294 – 00:51:19.354] Well, when the rich folks that were invited at, at dinner, they received John D.

[00:51:19.354 – 00:51:22.254] Jr., well, they all added it up on the count.

[00:51:22.254 – 00:51:24.474] And they said, “Well, if John D.

[00:51:24.474 – 00:51:24.484] Jr.

[00:51:24.484 – 00:51:34.004] is a multi-billionaire and given a thousand, and he was only about two hundred million, I’m gonna give ten bucks.” One had an alcoholic relative, and he sent in three hundred dollars.

[00:51:34.004 – 00:51:43.574] So all total, as a result of that dinner, they got together three thousand dollars, which was, was the first outside contribution to the Alcoholic Foundation.

[00:51:43.574 – 00:51:47.434] And that money was divided up equally between Bill and Dr.

[00:51:47.434 – 00:51:48.914] Bob so they could keep going.

[00:51:48.914 – 00:51:55.694] And somehow they solicited that dinner list for five years at the average of about three thousand dollars a year.

[00:51:55.694 – 00:51:59.454] And at the end of that time, they were able to say to Mr.

[00:51:59.454 – 00:52:01.474] Rockefeller, “Thank you.

[00:52:01.474 – 00:52:04.694] We do not need any more of your money or your friends’ money.

[00:52:04.694 – 00:52:08.234] The book income is helping to support our office.

[00:52:08.234 – 00:52:10.674] The groups are contributing to fill in.

[00:52:10.674 – 00:52:13.814] The royalties from the book are taking care of Dr.

[00:52:13.814 – 00:52:15.114] Bob and Bill Wilson.

[00:52:15.114 – 00:52:24.154] And thank you, we are now being self-supporting through our own contribution.” So you know something?

[00:52:24.154 – 00:52:34.474] Alcoholics Anonymous is the only recipient of Rockefeller Foundation money that has repaid every cent.

[00:52:34.474 – 00:52:40.254] They repaid every penny.

[00:52:40.254 – 00:52:42.014] And I’ll tell you something else about Mr.

[00:52:42.014 – 00:52:43.114] Rockefeller.

[00:52:43.114 – 00:52:53.764] In order for the Alcoholics Foundation to receive ownership of the book in trust for us, our members, they had to pay off a lot

[00:52:53.764 – 00:52:53.764] of debts.

[00:52:53.764 – 00:52:56.434] They didn’t have the money.

[00:52:56.434 – 00:52:56.884] And Mr.

[00:52:56.884 – 00:52:57.744] Shelton talked to Mr.

[00:52:57.744 – 00:52:57.744] Rockefeller and two of Mr.

[00:52:57.744 – 00:53:01.674] Rockefeller’s sons.

[00:53:01.674 – 00:53:05.594] And loaning the, the founder, a loaning them worked.

[00:53:05.594 – 00:53:11.154] So he said that it settled up the stock and all the debts, and Bill personally guaranteed all the debts.

[00:53:11.154 – 00:53:13.334] And it weighed heavily on Bill.

[00:53:13.334 – 00:53:16.614] And they loaned them the money to bail them out.

[00:53:16.614 – 00:53:18.854] And it’s very interesting.

[00:53:18.854 – 00:53:25.854] I’ve seen a copy of the letter of the first payment that they sent back to pay off that loan.

[00:53:25.854 – 00:53:28.354] It was two hundred and ninety-five dollars.

[00:53:28.354 – 00:53:29.454] Mr.

[00:53:29.454 – 00:53:33.354] Rockefeller wrote them back and thanked them for the payment of two hundred and ninety-five dollars.

[00:53:33.354 – 00:53:41.984] And he said, “But I want to remind you of our original deal.” Now, the loan was made for eleven thousand five hundred dollars at three percent interest.

[00:53:41.984 – 00:53:45.484] But he said, “I told you at that time, personally, I didn’t want any interest.

[00:53:45.484 – 00:53:55.554] But I also want to remind you, I also told you that for every cent you repaid me, I would give yours, too.” That’s how much he loved our kind

[00:53:55.554 – 00:53:56.014] of people.

[00:53:56.014 – 00:54:06.154] And so if any of you get any squirrelly ideas in your head about knocking them non-alcoholics out there in the world that are trying to help you, stop

[00:54:06.154 – 00:54:08.553] and listen.

[00:54:08.553 – 00:54:12.204] Now then, you can see that Mr.

[00:54:12.204 – 00:54:18.574] Rockefeller’s decision not to give us money, he forced us to be honest.

[00:54:18.574 – 00:54:20.974] He forced us to pay our debts.

[00:54:20.974 – 00:54:22.674] It saved our society.

[00:54:22.674 – 00:54:24.674] He gave of himself.

[00:54:24.674 – 00:54:29.654] He gave of himself when he was under public ridicule for his views about alcohol.

[00:54:29.654 – 00:54:32.814] He said to the whole world, this thing was good.

[00:54:32.814 – 00:54:36.494] The story went out on the wires all over the world.

[00:54:36.494 – 00:54:38.454] People ran into the bookstore.

[00:54:38.454 – 00:54:39.694] They got the new book.

[00:54:39.694 – 00:54:42.814] An automatic inquiry came to the little office on Daisy Street.

[00:54:42.814 – 00:54:45.934] And the book money began to pay for an additional helper.

[00:54:45.934 – 00:54:52.634] And then comes Jack Alexander with his terrific article in the Saturday Evening Post in March of 1941.

[00:54:52.634 – 00:54:57.114] And there came an immense flood of inquiries, six to seven thousand.

[00:54:57.114 – 00:55:00.514] And Alcoholics Anonymous had become a national institution.

[00:55:00.514 – 00:55:10.414] And such is the story of the preparation of the book Alcoholics Anonymous and of its subsequent ef-effect to all of us here in this meeting right this very second half or more.

[00:55:10.414 – 00:55:16.154] Now, the proceeds from that book have repeatedly saved the office in New York City.

[00:55:16.154 – 00:55:18.774] But it isn’t the money that came out of it that matters.

[00:55:18.774 – 00:55:28.854] It is the message that this book carries within it that has transcended the mountains and the seas, and even at this moment,

[00:55:28.854 – 00:55:35.544] lighting candles in dark caverns and in distant lands where our kind are still existing.

[00:55:35.544 – 00:55:40.884] And in closing, I’d like to read a letter to you, a very interesting letter.

[00:55:40.884 – 00:55:44.514] And the following letter was given to Bill from Hank Parker.

[00:55:44.514 – 00:55:49.644] And he attached the letter that Mr.

[00:55:49.644 – 00:55:49.894] Amos had sent him.

[00:55:49.894 – 00:55:54.374] And Hank writes, “Dear Bill, I am writing off to you excerpts from a letter just received from Mr.

[00:55:54.374 – 00:56:04.454] Thomas Uziel, former editor of Commoners Magazine, writer of several books, contributor to Commoners, Saturday Evening Post,

[00:56:04.454 – 00:56:05.854] and other magazines of that nature.

[00:56:05.854 – 00:56:10.214] And as you know, hardly a year goes by when one of Mr.

[00:56:10.214 – 00:56:13.134] Uziel’s writings do not appear on the bestseller list.

[00:56:13.134 – 00:56:16.874] Incidentally, this was naturally interesting to you.

[00:56:16.874 – 00:56:26.974] Such books as The Good Earth, If I Had Four Apples, The Outward Room, three Book of the Month Club books, the bestseller for months after publishing,

[00:56:26.974 – 00:56:33.394] were submitted to him for criticism and for a final designing editing.

[00:56:33.394 – 00:56:38.934] And in the publishing literature world, I know there is no one so well established and looked up to as Mr.

[00:56:38.934 – 00:56:39.514] Uziel.

[00:56:39.514 – 00:56:44.774] And I’ve gone into considerable length in regard to this because the following portion of Mr.

[00:56:44.774 – 00:56:49.044] Uziel’s letter has made me so enthusiastic.” And Mr.

[00:56:49.044 – 00:56:52.394] Uziel says, “I spent last evening with the manuscript.

[00:56:52.394 – 00:56:55.434] I knew, of course, what the document was.

[00:56:55.434 – 00:57:05.474] But on reading the additional chapters and surveying the job as a whole, I found myself deeply moved, at times full of amazement,

[00:57:05.474 – 00:57:08.374] almost incredulous.

[00:57:08.374 – 00:57:12.754] And then, most of the reading, I was extremely sympathetic.

[00:57:12.754 – 00:57:19.754] My feeling at the moment is that you should certainly hold onto the production and distribution of this volume if you can.

[00:57:19.754 – 00:57:25.874] I see it ought to go far, wide, and handsome, and let those concerned in it profit.

[00:57:25.874 – 00:57:30.374] You have here an extremely urgent problem.

[00:57:30.374 – 00:57:34.674] You have a successful defiance of medicine.

[00:57:34.674 – 00:57:36.234] You have a religious story.

[00:57:36.234 – 00:57:39.174] You have a deeply human story.

[00:57:39.174 – 00:57:44.714] And lastly, you have a whole flock of happy endings.

[00:57:44.714 – 00:57:50.934] My God, I do not know what else you could want for a good book.

[00:57:50.934 – 00:58:01.644] And I believe in this book most emphatically.” And it is interesting, you saw, and Hank says, “You know, I, I understood

[00:58:01.644 – 00:58:02.784] better now the enthusiasm,” or, I mean, that Mr.

[00:58:02.784 – 00:58:06.634] Uziel wrote to Hank about the enthusiasm in your talk to me about this work.

[00:58:06.634 – 00:58:09.474] “I thought you were exaggerating somewhat.

[00:58:09.474 – 00:58:16.564] But now I have joined the choir in visible.” I want to thank you for your attention and your attendance.

[00:58:16.564 – 00:58:18.294] And thank you very, very much.

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