[00:00:00.720 – 00:00:03.940] The taxi ride brought me to Akron with some newfound companions.

[00:00:03.940 – 00:00:07.209] It was a company that dear old C.

[00:00:07.209 – 00:00:09.089] Henry Williams used to work for here.

[00:00:09.089 – 00:00:10.900] Cost him his job, in fact.

[00:00:10.900 – 00:00:17.879] So I got out, and we had the row, and the other side won, and I’m down here in the Mayfair Hotel.

[00:00:17.879 – 00:00:20.660] 10 bucks in my pocket.

[00:00:20.660 – 00:00:22.559] Other fellows disappointed.

[00:00:22.559 – 00:00:23.679] They’d gone off to New York.

[00:00:23.679 – 00:00:25.620] How was I gonna get home?

[00:00:25.620 – 00:00:28.829] You know, I’d seen myself as president of that company.

[00:00:28.829 – 00:00:31.320] Always had to be one of those wanting to be number one fellas.

[00:00:31.320 – 00:00:35.840] I downstairs.

[00:00:35.840 – 00:00:37.200] It’s a Saturday afternoon.

[00:00:37.200 – 00:00:39.679] I’m walking up and down.

[00:00:39.679 – 00:00:42.859] I begin to look in the bar.

[00:00:42.859 – 00:00:45.299] There was a buzz in there.

[00:00:45.299 – 00:00:47.198] The people were getting a little colored.

[00:00:47.198 – 00:00:55.149] And then I was brought to the other end of the lobby, where there still stands a church directory.

[00:00:55.149 – 00:01:05.659] And I thought, “Maybe one of these preachers could help,” or better still, maybe,

[00:01:05.659 – 00:01:15.459] maybe some one of these preachers could put me in touch with some of the Oxford Group people or could put me in touch with somebody who could find a drunk for me to work on.

[00:01:15.459 – 00:01:22.180] I suddenly realized for the first time that it wasn’t a case of preaching anymore, as I had been preaching.

[00:01:22.180 – 00:01:27.280] It wasn’t a case of talking to people about mystic experiences.

[00:01:27.280 – 00:01:32.760] It was a case of my finding a drunk because I needed it for the first time.

[00:01:32.760 – 00:01:41.459] And I ran my finger at random down that directory, and it fell on the name of our great friend, Walter Thomas.

[00:01:41.459 – 00:01:43.799] I called him up.

[00:01:43.799 – 00:01:45.540] I said, “I’m a drunk from New York.

[00:01:45.540 – 00:01:49.200] I’m looking for a drunk to work on.” Well, that was a little bit concerning.

[00:01:49.200 – 00:01:50.879] He thought that meant two drunks drunk.

[00:01:50.879 – 00:01:53.540] He got the pitch.

[00:01:53.540 – 00:02:00.679] He gave me a list of about 10 people, some of them in the Oxford Group, some not, who just might be in touch with a drunk.

[00:02:00.679 – 00:02:07.280] And, uh, so I’m relieved, and I go upstairs and start calling up these people.

[00:02:07.280 – 00:02:17.659] Gee, I began to think, “One, two, three, four, seven, eight, nine.” They were all busy.

[00:02:17.659 – 00:02:19.120] They weren’t interested.

[00:02:19.120 – 00:02:20.639] They’d see me in church Sunday.

[00:02:20.639 – 00:02:26.419] One name only left, and that name was Henrietta Seibel.

[00:02:26.419 – 00:02:34.419] So I rang the number, and a wonderful Southern voice came over that wire.

[00:02:34.419 – 00:02:43.020] And she said, “No, I’m, uh, Seibel’s daughter-in-law.

[00:02:43.020 – 00:02:45.840] I think I understand what you’re talking about.

[00:02:45.840 – 00:02:46.580] I’m no drunk.

[00:02:46.580 – 00:02:47.879] I just had problems.

[00:02:47.879 – 00:02:49.740] I think I found a release.

[00:02:49.740 – 00:02:51.560] Why don’t you come out here?

[00:02:51.560 – 00:02:54.280] I live in the gate house up at the Seibel place.” So I did.

[00:02:54.280 – 00:03:01.759] I get out there, and Henrietta stood there on the porch and took me inside, and I told my story.

[00:03:01.759 – 00:03:07.120] And before I got too far, she said, “I know.

[00:03:07.120 – 00:03:09.740] I think I know just the person.

[00:03:09.740 – 00:03:10.919] We call him Dr.

[00:03:10.919 – 00:03:11.560] Bob.

[00:03:11.560 – 00:03:13.569] His wife, Anne, is wonderful.

[00:03:13.569 – 00:03:15.560] I know he wants to stop.

[00:03:15.560 – 00:03:18.340] He’s been busted out of the city hospital.

[00:03:18.340 – 00:03:20.020] Anne is a nervous wreck.

[00:03:20.020 – 00:03:22.159] He’s tried religious approaches.

[00:03:22.159 – 00:03:24.199] He’s tried medical cures.

[00:03:24.199 – 00:03:31.879] I know he wants to stop, but he can’t seem to stop.” So soon Henrietta’s on the phone, and she called up Anne.

[00:03:31.879 – 00:03:39.259] Said, “Anne, there’s a man here from New York who seems to be a terrible drinker, but he’s found out how to stop.

[00:03:39.259 – 00:03:43.289] And, uh, wouldn’t it be nice if he and Dr.

[00:03:43.289 – 00:03:47.500] Bob got together?” Well, Anne said, “I don’t think it’s going to be today.

[00:03:47.500 – 00:03:57.680] This is Mother’s Day, and, uh, Bob makes a great deal of Mother’s Day.” “And, uh, he has bought me a great big potted plant,

[00:03:57.680 – 00:04:07.090] but he is so potted he’s under the dining room table, and I can’t get him up.” “Well,” said Henrietta broadly, “uh, what about tomorrow?

[00:04:07.090 – 00:04:16.980] Why don’t you come over for dinner?” Well, Anne said, “We’ll try.” So I’m out there like a shot next afternoon, and at 5:00, that beloved pair, Dr.

[00:04:16.980 – 00:04:21.319] Bob and Anne, stood in Henrietta’s open door.

[00:04:21.319 – 00:04:27.519] This was the man who was to be my partner.

[00:04:27.519 – 00:04:34.459] This was the man with whom I was never to have a hard word.

[00:04:34.459 – 00:04:44.529] This was the man, her and that partnership with Sister Ignatius, hospitalized,

[00:04:44.529 – 00:04:52.360] medically treated for free, and brought AA to 5,000 people when A was very young over here in St.

[00:04:52.360 – 00:04:57.379] Thomas, the first religious institution to ever offer us haven.

[00:04:57.379 – 00:05:07.699] And Anne, along with my wife, Lois, they were to be the prototypes of all that

[00:05:07.699 – 00:05:13.459] women have suffered from alcoholism and of all that wives have since found in AA.

[00:05:13.459 – 00:05:19.500] But I tell you, Bob didn’t look much like a founder that afternoon.

[00:05:19.500 – 00:05:21.079] He was shaking real bad.

[00:05:21.079 – 00:05:31.660] And he said, “Well, I guess I can stay about five minutes and, uh…” I said, “You look to me, uh, like you need a drink.”

[00:05:31.660 – 00:05:33.500] That’s what she brightens right up.

[00:05:33.500 – 00:05:36.259] Unfortunately, I didn’t have any with me.

[00:05:36.259 – 00:05:41.000] Henrietta just sweetly put us in her little library.

[00:05:41.000 – 00:05:42.750] The door was closed.

[00:05:42.750 – 00:05:48.519] This was after a dinner which she did not eat for reasons you will well understand.

[00:05:48.519 – 00:05:51.519] And Dr.

[00:05:51.519 – 00:05:54.120] Bob and I talked for hours.

[00:05:54.120 – 00:05:58.110] And I remembered what Dr.

[00:05:58.110 – 00:05:59.579] Silkworth had said.

[00:05:59.579 – 00:06:01.959] I wasn’t bringing Dr.

[00:06:01.959 – 00:06:04.079] Bob any spiritual message.

[00:06:04.079 – 00:06:07.220] He was better versed in all those things than I.

[00:06:07.220 – 00:06:17.291] But what I was bringing him, one alcoholic talking to another, was the news of the almost

[00:06:17.291 – 00:06:20.351] utter fatality of this malady, alcoholism.

[00:06:20.351 – 00:06:30.492] This obsession that condemns us to drink, this physical sensitivity that condemns us to go mad or die if we

[00:06:30.492 – 00:06:31.552] keep on drinking.

[00:06:31.552 – 00:06:35.771] And to our physician, he’d never had it spelled out that way.

[00:06:35.771 – 00:06:40.762] And of course, he’d never had it spelled out by another alcoholic.

[00:06:40.762 – 00:06:44.711] So again, the booking kitchen table is reenacted.

[00:06:44.711 – 00:06:51.182] One alcoholic is talking to another, but this time there isn’t any evangelism, and I say frankly to Dr.

[00:06:51.182 – 00:06:53.612] Bob, “You know why I looked you up?

[00:06:53.612 – 00:06:55.951] I was going to get drunk myself.

[00:06:55.951 – 00:07:00.612] I need you as much as you need me.” What?

[00:07:00.612 – 00:07:08.271] Anne wasn’t too sure about the cure, so she invited me to come and live over there while I revised this posse route.

[00:07:08.271 – 00:07:13.771] How well I remember those wonderful days in that house up on Eight fifty-five Arden.

[00:07:13.771 – 00:07:18.552] Anne sitting by the fireplace.

[00:07:18.552 – 00:07:21.002] We used to read Corinthians.

[00:07:21.002 – 00:07:31.052] I love James that says, “Faith without works is death.” But being drunk, we mostly yacked and drank coffee when Bob didn’t

[00:07:31.052 – 00:07:32.192] have to do a little work.

[00:07:32.192 – 00:07:42.211] And one day, about two weeks after I met him, uh, he said, “You know, I have to go down to Atlantic City to a

[00:07:42.211 – 00:07:43.291] medical convention.

[00:07:43.291 – 00:07:53.492] I’ve been down every year for twenty years.” And Anne said, “Oh, no, no, no.” But anyway, I went to Atlantic City and really hung one on.

[00:07:53.492 – 00:08:02.732] And, uh, when I was– came to, I was in the home of a friend of ours in Cuyahoga Falls, one of our suburbs.

[00:08:02.732 – 00:08:07.651] And Bill came over and got me and, uh, got me home.

[00:08:07.651 – 00:08:14.151] Uh, gave me a hooker or two of scotch that night and a bottle of beer the next morning.

[00:08:14.151 – 00:08:23.672] And, uh, that was on the tenth of June of thirty-five, and I have had no alcohol in any form that I know of since.

[00:08:23.672 – 00:08:34.392] The, the, uh, interesting part of all this, and not all these sordid details, but

[00:08:34.392 – 00:08:40.192] the, uh, uh, condition that we two fellows were in.

[00:08:40.192 – 00:08:47.692] We had both been associated with the same, uh, bunch of, uh, people.

[00:08:47.692 – 00:08:50.871] He in New York and I in Akron.

[00:08:50.871 – 00:08:55.312] I had been associated with them, in fact, for two years and a half.

[00:08:55.312 – 00:08:58.532] He for five months.

[00:08:58.532 – 00:09:05.812] He had a-acquired this idea of service, uh, and that I had not.

[00:09:05.812 – 00:09:11.451] But the one thing that they hadn’t told me was the one thing that Bill had.

[00:09:11.451 – 00:09:18.331] The, uh, instruction to attempt to be helpful to somebody else.

[00:09:18.331 – 00:09:28.032] So we immediately started to look around for prospects, and it wasn’t long before one appeared in the form of a man whom you all know.

[00:09:28.032 – 00:09:32.052] At least a great many of you know, a good friend of Akron.

[00:09:32.052 – 00:09:38.451] Now, I knew that this, uh, Bill was a Sunday school superintendent.

[00:09:38.451 – 00:09:46.331] And I also thought that he probably forgot more about the good book every night than I ever knew.

[00:09:46.331 – 00:09:50.292] And here, who was I to be trying to tell him about it?

[00:09:50.292 – 00:09:58.192] And to, uh, made me feel somewhat, uh, hypocritical.

[00:09:58.192 – 00:10:05.532] It was quite a job for me to talk to him, uh, on that sort of subject.

[00:10:05.532 – 00:10:15.532] But anyway, we both did, and I’m very glad to say the conversation fell on

[00:10:15.532 – 00:10:16.812] fertile ground.

[00:10:16.812 – 00:10:26.951] We, uh, in our own stories in the Mount Heping speak of, when I– we started in on Bill, we had no

[00:10:26.951 – 00:10:32.532] Twelve Steps, we had no traditions, we had, uh, nothing of that kind.

[00:10:32.532 – 00:10:42.491] But we were convinced that the answer to our problem was in the good book.

[00:10:42.491 – 00:10:52.782] And it, uh, became somewhat evident, we thought, to some of, uh, us older

[00:10:52.782 – 00:11:02.851] ones that it was contained, the part that we found absolutely essential, to a rather limited section of the good

[00:11:02.851 – 00:11:03.131] book.

[00:11:03.131 – 00:11:12.111] In other words, the Sermon on the Mount, thirteenth chapter of Corinthians, and the book of James.

[00:11:12.111 – 00:11:18.422] I think we got those ideas pretty firmly implanted in our minds very early.

[00:11:18.422 – 00:11:28.111] It was probably providentially arranged that, uh, this all this happened at a time when everybody was broke.

[00:11:28.111 – 00:11:38.292] But anyway, we kept on having these meetings and having these discussions and attending the meetings of the,

[00:11:38.292 – 00:11:48.292] these good people with whom we had been associated, and did continue to have them with them until, in

[00:11:48.292 – 00:11:52.812] Akron I’m talking about, of course, until about ’40.

[00:11:52.812 – 00:11:55.341] Well, maybe early in ’41.

[00:11:55.341 – 00:11:58.432] Might have been January of ’41.

[00:11:58.432 – 00:12:00.432] I don’t recall the exact date.

[00:12:00.432 – 00:12:13.115] When we outgrew the residence of this good friend who had allowed us to bang up the plaster

[00:12:13.115 – 00:12:15.316] and downstairs, he had a very beautiful home.

[00:12:15.316 – 00:12:25.916] Uh, we had outgrown that, and so we set out and, uh, in a short time, acquired the

[00:12:25.916 – 00:12:29.115] raffle of the auditorium in the King School.

[00:12:29.115 – 00:12:37.995] And we have– we, I mean, I’m talking about, uh, the group that I attend personally, have been there ever since.

[00:12:37.995 – 00:12:43.836] We attempt to have a good meeting, and I think we’re usually successful.

[00:12:43.836 – 00:12:53.015] If you will pardon the objection of a personal note at this time, let me say that I’ve been in bed for five of the last seven months.

[00:12:53.015 – 00:13:01.296] My strength hasn’t returned as I’d like, so my remarks will of necessity be very brief.

[00:13:01.296 – 00:13:10.275] But there are two or three things that flash into my mind on which it would be fitting to lay a little emphasis.

[00:13:10.275 – 00:13:13.566] One is the simplicity of our program.

[00:13:13.566 – 00:13:23.765] Let’s not louse it all up with Freudian complexes and things that are interesting to a scientific mind,

[00:13:23.765 – 00:13:28.355] but have very little to do with our actual AA work.

[00:13:28.355 – 00:13:38.775] Our 12 Steps, when simmered down to it, in the last,

[00:13:38.775 – 00:13:42.615] resolve themselves into the words love and service.

[00:13:42.615 – 00:13:52.696] None of us would be here today if somebody hadn’t taken time to explain things to us, to give us a little

[00:13:52.696 – 00:14:02.855] pat on the back, to take us to a meeting or two, uh, to have done, uh, numerous little kind and thoughtful

[00:14:02.855 – 00:14:04.235] acts in our behalf.

[00:14:04.235 – 00:14:14.655] So let us never get to a degree of smug complacency so that we’re not willing to extend or

[00:14:14.655 – 00:14:23.774] attempt to that help that has been so beneficial to us, to our less fortunate brothers.

[00:14:23.774 – 00:14:25.076] Thank you very much.

[00:14:25.076 – 00:14:34.255] He, he came home, and he had a flower, and he was drunk, of course, but he was not one that went under the table, like it’s been said.

[00:14:34.255 – 00:14:38.735] And he, uh, uh, of course, went on up to bed.

[00:14:38.735 – 00:14:41.775] We helped him up, up the steps, uh, the three of us.

[00:14:41.775 – 00:14:50.436] And, uh, and then, of course, when Henrietta called, why he– she couldn’t, uh, get mom to commit herself because he couldn’t.

[00:14:50.436 – 00:14:51.216] She couldn’t, you know.

[00:14:51.216 – 00:14:55.995] So anyhow, she, uh, said he’d come the next day.

[00:14:55.995 – 00:15:05.375] So next day, he gets up and then- It is quite a job for me to talk to him, uh, on that sort of subject.

[00:15:05.375 – 00:15:15.535] But anyway, we both did, and I’m very glad to say the conversation fell on

[00:15:15.535 – 00:15:16.816] fertile ground.

[00:15:16.816 – 00:15:22.475] We, uh, in our own stories in the mountain, things we go.

[00:15:22.475 – 00:15:27.816] When I– we started in on Bill, we had no 12 Steps.

[00:15:27.816 – 00:15:29.336] We had no traditions.

[00:15:29.336 – 00:15:32.395] We had, uh, nothing of that kind.

[00:15:32.395 – 00:15:42.535] But we were convinced that the answer to our problem was in the Good Book.

[00:15:42.535 – 00:15:52.556] And it, uh, became somewhat evident, we thought, to some of, uh, us older ones that

[00:15:52.556 – 00:16:02.556] it was contained, the part that we found absolutely essential, to a rather limited section of the

[00:16:02.556 – 00:16:04.015] Good Book.

[00:16:04.015 – 00:16:12.235] In other words, the Sermon on the Mount, fifteenth chapter of Corinthians, and the Book of James.

[00:16:12.235 – 00:16:18.436] I think we got those ideas pretty firmly implanted in our minds very early.

[00:16:18.436 – 00:16:27.696] It was probably providentially arranged that, uh, this all happened at a time when everybody was broke.

[00:16:27.696 – 00:16:34.485] But anyway, we kept on having these meetings and having these discussions and

[00:16:34.782 – 00:16:45.322] And attending the meetings of the, these good people with whom we had been associated, and did continue

[00:16:45.322 – 00:16:55.302] to have them with them until, in Akron I’m talking about, of course, until about ’40, or maybe early in ’41.

[00:16:55.302 – 00:16:58.462] Might have been January of ’41.

[00:16:58.462 – 00:17:00.422] I don’t recall the exact date.

[00:17:00.422 – 00:17:10.662] When we outgrew the relevance of this good friend who had allowed us to bang up the plaster and the, uh, door

[00:17:10.662 – 00:17:13.872] jams, uh, carting chairs up and down stairs.

[00:17:13.872 – 00:17:15.262] He had a very beautiful home.

[00:17:15.262 – 00:17:25.282] Uh, we had outgrown that, and so we stepped out and, uh, in a short time acquired the

[00:17:25.282 – 00:17:29.102] rental of the auditorium in the King School.

[00:17:29.102 – 00:17:37.982] And we have, we, I mean, I’m talking about the group that I attend personally, have been there ever since.

[00:17:37.982 – 00:17:43.142] We attempt to have a good meeting, and I think we’re usually successful.

[00:17:43.142 – 00:17:54.312] If you will pardon the injection of a personal note at this time, let me say that I’ve been in bed for five of the last seven months, and

[00:17:54.312 – 00:18:02.162] my strength hasn’t returned as I’d like, so my remarks will necessarily be very brief.

[00:18:02.162 – 00:18:10.202] But there are two or three things that flash into my mind on which it would be fitting to lay a little emphasis.

[00:18:10.202 – 00:18:16.221] One is the simplicity of our program.

[00:18:16.221 – 00:18:26.342] Let’s not louse it all up with Freudian complexes and things that are interesting to the scientific mind, but have very little to do with

[00:18:26.342 – 00:18:28.342] our actual AA work.

[00:18:28.342 – 00:18:38.922] Our 12 Steps, when simmered down to the essence they lack, resolve

[00:18:38.922 – 00:18:43.631] themselves into the words love and service.

[00:18:43.631 – 00:18:53.742] None of us would be here today if, if somebody hadn’t taken time to explain things to us, to give us a little pat on the back,

[00:18:53.742 – 00:18:56.742] to take us to a meeting or two.

[00:18:56.742 – 00:19:04.242] Uh, to have done, uh, numerous little kinds and thoughtful acts in our behalf.

[00:19:04.242 – 00:19:14.602] So let us never get the degree of smug complacency so that we’re not willing to extend, or

[00:19:14.602 – 00:19:23.262] attempt to, that help that has been so beneficial to us, to our less fortunate brother.

[00:19:23.262 – 00:19:25.402] Thank you very much.

[00:19:25.402 – 00:19:34.222] He c- he came home, and he had a flower, and he was drunk, of course, but he was not one that went under the table, like has been said.

[00:19:34.222 – 00:19:38.722] And he, uh, uh, of course, went on up to bed.

[00:19:38.722 – 00:19:41.761] We helped him up, up the steps, uh, the three of us.

[00:19:41.761 – 00:19:50.922] And, uh, and then of course, when Henrietta called, why he, she couldn’t, uh, get mom to commit herself because he couldn’t, she couldn’t.

[00:19:50.922 – 00:19:53.702] You know, he’s pretty shaky and doesn’t want any part of it.

[00:19:53.702 – 00:19:56.842] And so she just kept at him and kept at him.

[00:19:56.842 – 00:20:03.962] Finally, he says, “Okay, 15 minutes.” So around 5:00, they went over, and, uh, Smitty drove them.

[00:20:03.962 – 00:20:10.662] And, uh, uh, like he always says in his speeches, I must have been out chasing boys or something.

[00:20:10.662 – 00:20:18.672] And, uh, so anyhow, he, uh, uh, from 5:00 till, oh, it was after 1:00.

[00:20:18.672 – 00:20:23.102] They say after 11:00, but I know it was later than that because I was be- really beginning to get worried about them.

[00:20:23.102 – 00:20:27.922] And they blew in then a little after 11:00.

[00:20:27.922 – 00:20:31.122] And of course, I didn’t, you know, hear too much about it then.

[00:20:31.122 – 00:20:36.302] And then I really don’t remember hearing too much about it later until Bill came to stay with us.

[00:20:36.302 – 00:20:41.902] What do you remember when Bill stayed with you up here- Well- …

[00:20:41.902 – 00:20:42.362] at the house?

[00:20:42.362 – 00:20:42.722] …

[00:20:42.722 – 00:20:46.541] I remember I smelled formaldehyde a lot .

[00:20:46.541 – 00:20:49.522] And I, I got thrown out of my bed a lot .

[00:20:49.522 – 00:20:56.742] And, uh, I can remember Bill, uh, uh, and Dad talking in the kitchen till, oh, 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning.

[00:20:56.742 – 00:21:01.322] And, you know, just, uh, really hashing things out.

[00:21:01.322 – 00:21:11.402] And, and of course, then when Dad went to Atlantic City, why he, uh, uh, he hadn’t, there was nothing to

[00:21:11.402 – 00:21:12.962] accept yet in those days.

[00:21:12.962 – 00:21:17.922] You know, I mean, Bill, when he, when Ebby talked to him, he didn’t have anything to accept either.

[00:21:17.922 – 00:21:23.322] So I don’t say either one of them had a slip because like I say, there just wasn’t anything to accept.

[00:21:23.322 – 00:21:32.962] And, uh, so anyhow, they, uh, he came home and, and Bill, and he got straightened up, and from then on, he was okay.

[00:21:32.962 – 00:21:41.582] One thing I do wanna talk about is the fact that there are two co-founders, and I’d like that fact remembered .

[00:21:41.582 – 00:21:44.742] You know, some places you go, and you say, they say, “Well, who’s Dr.

[00:21:44.742 – 00:21:45.402] Bob?” You know.

[00:21:45.402 – 00:21:50.642] Well, it couldn’t have worked without each other.

[00:21:50.642 – 00:21:54.262] One needed the other as bad as the other one needed him.

[00:21:54.262 – 00:21:57.502] And, uh, so that’s what has made it work.

[00:21:57.502 – 00:22:00.362] And it still works that way, one-on-one.

[00:22:00.362 – 00:22:02.142] Basically, it’s one-on-one.

[00:22:02.142 – 00:22:05.682] One was the promoter, and the other one was the spiritual leader.

[00:22:05.682 – 00:22:06.322] Right.

[00:22:06.322 – 00:22:14.202] I think he- Boy, if Dad, Dad, they say if Dad had had his way about it, that the AA would’ve, would still be in Akron.

[00:22:14.202 – 00:22:21.002] And if Bill had his way, he’d be out selling franchises out in the street .

[00:22:21.002 – 00:22:31.282] When we first got the first edition put out, they, they were so broke that they would send, they would send the, uh,

[00:22:31.282 – 00:22:33.962] copies here, and they’d keep them down at the depot.

[00:22:33.962 – 00:22:38.282] And as they’d get enough orders ahead, they’d go down and pay them and get that many books out.

[00:22:38.282 – 00:22:40.882] And that’s how we got rid of the books.

[00:22:40.882 – 00:22:42.062] That’s the only way we could do it.

[00:22:42.062 – 00:22:43.894] And that’s what they did do.

[00:22:43.894 – 00:22:48.164] And when I think of the 10 millionth, why, it, it kind of …

[00:22:48.164 – 00:22:52.014] That always crosses my mind because it’s, it was just so…

[00:22:52.014 – 00:22:53.114] We were just so poor.

[00:22:53.114 – 00:22:56.194] Every, you know, during the Depression, nobody had a dime.

[00:22:56.194 – 00:23:02.234] Lois was the only one that had a job, and, uh, of course, she had to be in New York for her job.

[00:23:02.234 – 00:23:08.664] And, um, but, uh, h- to me, that was a, there was …

[00:23:08.664 – 00:23:18.674] I, I feel there were kind of two assets, and one was, it was the Depression, and the other was that, uh, because of the Depression and lack of work, gave

[00:23:18.674 – 00:23:28.994] these guys more time to, to really get together and talk and hash things out and, and create a closeness that went all over the world.

[00:23:28.994 – 00:23:31.014] This has gone all over the world.

[00:23:31.014 – 00:23:37.514] We’re trying to get pictures of the, uh, old-timers that, uh, have their story in the original book.

[00:23:37.514 – 00:23:41.734] I brought two more today, and, uh, one more in the book.

[00:23:41.734 – 00:23:51.494] But, uh, uh, we’re get- we’re gradually getting them, gradually getting the people that, you know- How about Clarence Snyder?

[00:23:51.494 – 00:23:52.974] What do you remember about him?

[00:23:52.974 – 00:23:55.044] Well, Clarence was a, was a Dr.

[00:23:55.044 – 00:23:55.954] Bob person.

[00:23:55.954 – 00:23:59.634] I, I’ll say that about Clarence, but Clarence went a little hog wild, I think.

[00:23:59.634 – 00:24:02.994] I d- I don’t like to say too much about Clarence.

[00:24:02.994 – 00:24:07.794] We have one at home, Clancy, that, uh- Mm …

[00:24:07.794 – 00:24:09.774] you’re dead and, uh- Clarence …

[00:24:09.774 – 00:24:13.214] pulled off of a piano stool in a whorehouse.

[00:24:13.214 – 00:24:13.694] Yeah.

[00:24:13.694 – 00:24:14.674] We got him sober.

[00:24:14.674 – 00:24:21.294] I’d- He’s got 50 years coming up this year.

[00:24:21.294 – 00:24:21.934] Is that right?

[00:24:21.934 – 00:24:22.794] Clancy.

[00:24:22.794 – 00:24:23.634] Yeah.

[00:24:23.634 – 00:24:33.764] I know he said he was here in, uh, upstairs with them, and I, uh, I meant to ask him if there was m- m- what the room looked

[00:24:33.764 – 00:24:35.574] like, you know, but I didn’t.

[00:24:35.574 – 00:24:41.494] Clarence came to the door and got me, and we went to Akron.

[00:24:41.494 – 00:24:49.354] We got there a little bit late, and, uh, we went to Dr.

[00:24:49.354 – 00:24:53.814] Bob’s house and had to climb the stairs.

[00:24:53.814 – 00:24:58.274] There’s an ir- There’s, uh, stone steps up to his porch.

[00:24:58.274 – 00:25:08.314] And then after we got in the house, we had to go up the stairs and to the right and into a little cubicle, where he had chairs

[00:25:08.314 – 00:25:17.094] set up in a circle, and there was five men in that d- in that circle, and they was all o- there on their knees praying.

[00:25:17.094 – 00:25:27.294] And Cl- and Clarence motioned for me to s- uh, to kneel down in front of them chairs, which I did, and he did the same

[00:25:27.294 – 00:25:29.294] thing while Dr.

[00:25:29.294 – 00:25:30.434] Bob was praying.

[00:25:30.434 – 00:25:32.214] Dr.

[00:25:32.214 – 00:25:42.394] Bob was ta- doing the talking and praying, and after we got through, I, he stood up, and we held hands, and they said the Serenity Prayer,

[00:25:42.394 – 00:25:44.714] and I mumbled it because I didn’t know it.

[00:25:44.714 – 00:25:47.374] I didn’t even know the Serenity Prayer.

[00:25:47.374 – 00:25:50.754] But I learned it very fast.

[00:25:50.754 – 00:25:54.454] And, uh, Dr.

[00:25:54.454 – 00:25:57.034] Bob had a good long talk with me that evening.

[00:25:57.034 – 00:26:07.114] He wanted to know who I was, where I was, where I came from, what I’d done, and how I was, and why I had

[00:26:07.114 – 00:26:08.874] got in the position that I was in.

[00:26:08.874 – 00:26:17.294] And I told him everything that I c- possibly could about myself at that time, which wasn’t very much.

[00:26:17.294 – 00:26:22.994] That I just loved alcohol so much that that’s all I wanted, was alcohol.

[00:26:22.994 – 00:26:30.494] But, uh, now that I’d been away from it a week, I wanted sobriety.

[00:26:30.494 – 00:26:34.074] I wanted to live a normal life.

[00:26:34.074 – 00:26:36.894] I knew I wasn’t living a normal life.

[00:26:36.894 – 00:26:39.414] My life was miserable.

[00:26:39.414 – 00:26:41.394] I had no life.

[00:26:41.394 – 00:26:46.874] And I was 29 years old when I came into the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

[00:26:46.874 – 00:26:48.514] More or less, how it was in Dr.

[00:26:48.514 – 00:26:53.064] Bob’s house, around the kitchen table or in the, the parlor and all that?

[00:26:53.064 – 00:27:02.434] The kitchen table was on the left by the windows, the same, the same as it was when I was there, when I visited the place.

[00:27:02.434 – 00:27:10.274] The furniture was almost exactly in the same position, except, uh, the upstairs.

[00:27:10.274 – 00:27:15.434] It, that little alcove upstairs was changed, changed a little bit.

[00:27:15.434 – 00:27:21.434] But it was a, it was a wonderful feeling to know that I was back with Dr.

[00:27:21.434 – 00:27:22.974] Bob, and I could feel him.

[00:27:22.974 – 00:27:25.774] I could feel him there with us.

[00:27:25.774 – 00:27:26.904] His presence, huh, the spirit.

[00:27:26.904 – 00:27:28.054] His presence was there.

[00:27:28.054 – 00:27:29.914] Dr.

[00:27:29.914 – 00:27:34.074] Bob was one of the greatest men, I believe, in the world.

[00:27:34.074 – 00:27:37.814] This is my interpretation.

[00:27:37.814 – 00:27:38.934] Dr.

[00:27:38.934 – 00:27:48.474] Bob, it doesn’t seem possible that I have 50 years of, of sobriety, but it’s beautiful to know that I’m here and alive, and Dr.

[00:27:48.474 – 00:27:51.514] Bob is the one who got me started.

[00:27:51.514 – 00:28:02.914] And if it wasn’t for him and Clarence Snyder getting me going, and Jim Brennan, Harry Ryan, and

[00:28:02.914 – 00:28:08.194] a few of them other old-timers, if it wasn’t for them, uh, I wouldn’t be here today.

[00:28:08.194 – 00:28:13.293] I’m gonna play that old song that I started with in the saloons.

[00:28:13.293 – 00:28:14.434] Yeah.

[00:28:14.434 – 00:28:14.974] Yeah, that’s the one.

[00:28:14.974 – 00:28:19.034] Fill them glasses with whiskey and beer.

[00:28:19.034 – 00:28:22.174] Sweet little Clancy was here.

[00:28:22.174 – 00:28:26.854] I was here to fill you all full of good cheer.

[00:28:26.854 – 00:28:29.734] Come on, everybody smile.

[00:28:29.734 – 00:28:34.214] You know it’s all the same wherever I go.

[00:28:34.214 – 00:28:38.254] All them funny faces in them lousy places.

[00:28:38.254 – 00:28:42.054] So fill up all that good old whiskey and beer.

[00:28:42.054 – 00:28:45.034] Sweet little Clancy was here.

[00:28:45.034 – 00:28:52.438] Sweet little Clancy was here.

[00:28:52.438 – 00:28:57.337] I was here to fill you up with cheer.

[00:28:57.337 – 00:29:00.338] Come on, everybody smile.

[00:29:00.338 – 00:29:04.358] You know it’s all the same wherever I go.

[00:29:04.358 – 00:29:08.518] All the funny faces in them lousy places.

[00:29:08.518 – 00:29:11.598] So drink up all that good old whiskey and beer.

[00:29:11.598 – 00:29:14.978] Sweet little Clancy was here.

[00:29:14.978 – 00:29:25.328] Now, now I want to tell you what Doctor Bob told me to tell anybody

[00:29:25.328 – 00:29:35.538] and everybody, wherever I went in an AA group, two, three, or more together, and never forget

[00:29:35.538 – 00:29:46.198] before leaving that meeting to tell them about the four absolutes, which is honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love,

[00:29:46.198 – 00:29:47.818] and then add a little service.

[00:29:47.818 – 00:29:57.958] This was his, this was his gift to me, and now I am

[00:29:57.958 – 00:29:59.478] giving him my gift.

[00:29:59.478 – 00:30:21.338] All

[00:30:21.338 – 00:30:23.838] funny faces in a lousy place.

[00:30:23.838 – 00:30:27.398] So drink up all the good old whiskey and beer.

[00:30:27.398 – 00:30:31.378] Sweet little Clancy was here.

[00:30:31.378 – 00:30:41.438] Boy, this really brings back, uh, memories from reading Doctor Bob and

[00:30:41.438 – 00:30:42.618] the good old timers.

[00:30:42.618 – 00:30:52.638] Reading about those first hundred alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous

[00:30:52.638 – 00:31:01.958] when it started right here in Doctor Bob’s house, where it all started, 1935.

[00:31:01.958 – 00:31:10.878] It’s where Bill Wilson came to meet and get sober, Doctor Bob.

[00:31:10.878 – 00:31:21.018] They call it June 10th, 1935, Founders’ Day.

[00:31:21.018 – 00:31:31.398] We give thanks to God, who through so many friends, through so many means and channels,

[00:31:31.398 – 00:31:38.458] has constructed this wonderful edifice of the Spirit in which we are now dwelling.

[00:31:38.458 – 00:31:49.178] It seems as though He had directed us to construct a cathedral of the Spirit, whose

[00:31:49.178 – 00:31:59.458] foundations already rest upon the corners of the earth, and thereon we have long since inscribed our 12 Steps of recovery.

[00:31:59.458 – 00:32:10.098] The older ones among us have seen the sidewalls of this cathedral going up, and one by one the buttresses

[00:32:10.098 – 00:32:19.518] of AA’s 12 Traditions set in place, containing us, we hope, in unity for so long as God may will it so.

[00:32:19.518 – 00:32:28.498] And now, eager hearts and hands have lifted the spire of our cathedral into its place.

[00:32:28.498 – 00:32:38.508] That spire bears the name of service, and may it ever point upward, straight towards

[00:32:38.508 – 00:32:38.878] God.

[00:32:38.878 – 00:32:47.598] And so we can celebrate this program every day of our lives, in our own living, in the way in which we live, because it is a celebration.

[00:32:47.598 – 00:32:57.988] This is a celebration, a magnificent one, a celebration of life, a celebration of spirit, and

[00:32:57.988 – 00:33:04.138] a celebration of love, for God is love right here, right now.

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