AA Manual excerpts

#212

开云体育

I have attached excerpts and commentary from a 1940s pamphlet: “A manual for Alcoholics Anonymous.”

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Bob S

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Bob S

An AA Manual Excerpt.pdf

Re: An AA historical inexactitude.

#211

Good work, Bob!

Thanks

jim

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On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 11:27 PM Bob S <rstonebraker212@...> wrote:

Dear AA history buffs,
?
I find AA history fascinating—who wouldn’t! However, it has not been engraved deeply into a stone of irretrievable “facts.”? Bill Wilson will remember an event a particular way, but? ?Ebby Thacher remembers otherwise. But then a newspaper explanation will be again differently all together.? Some of us have read about Bill and Ebby’s airplane “ Jag.” As Bill tells it on page 84 of PASS IT ON: “A new airport was being built at Manchester, but no planes had yet landed.” ??Ebby Thacher also reiterates this “first landing” fact, below.? ?
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However, please read the report from the attached newspaper article from THE MANCHESTER JOURNAL and you will find the first landing actually happened about six months earlier!
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Just one instance! To learn of further AA history “inexactitudes,’’ I would suggest reading WRITING the BIG BOOK, by William H. Schaberg.
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Remember: “In our history lies our hope!” We are AA history for those yet to be born.
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Bob S
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Bob S

An AA historical inexactitude.

#209

开云体育

Dear AA history buffs,

?

I find AA history fascinating—who wouldn’t! However, it has not been engraved deeply into a stone of irretrievable “facts.”? Bill Wilson will remember an event a particular way, but? ?Ebby Thacher remembers otherwise. But then a newspaper explanation will be again differently all together.? Some of us have read about Bill and Ebby’s airplane “ Jag.” As Bill tells it on page 84 of PASS IT ON: “A new airport was being built at Manchester, but no planes had yet landed.” ??Ebby Thacher also reiterates this “first landing” fact, below.? ?

?

However, please read the report from the attached newspaper article from THE MANCHESTER JOURNAL and you will find the first landing actually happened about six months earlier!

?

Just one instance! To learn of further AA history “inexactitudes,’’ I would suggest reading WRITING the BIG BOOK, by William H. Schaberg.

?

Remember: “In our history lies our hope!” We are AA history for those yet to be born.

?

Bob S

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Bob S

1st landing ar Equinox Airport_.png

Newspaper article search.

#208

开云体育

I am searching for a full ?article from THE MANCHESTER JOURNAL, describing the Grand Opening of the Equinox Airport in Manchester, VT. ?This event took place on July 4^th, 1928.? ?(Six months before Bill and Ebby landed) The pilot’s name was W. C. Billings. I believe I one had this full article but it became lost in the shuffle.

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Thank you.

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Bob S

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Robert Stonebraker

212 SW 18^th Street

Richmond, In? 47374

(765) 935-0130

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Bob S

Mother's Day, 85 years ago

#207

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Dear AA history-minded friends,

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I have attached three picture-pages of what some consider the most important day of AA pre-history—The beginning of the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship began the next month after this event on Mother’s Day 1935.? The attached pages are from a 93-page book titled: “A PRE-AA HISTORY BOOK, A Study of Synchronic Events Between Years 1926 and 1935 which culminated in the Birth of Alcoholics Anonymous.”? (This is an expanded version of the 43-page previous book of the same title)

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If you would like a PDF link to this new book, please request from Bob S: rstonebraker212@....?? Of course, there is no charge.

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In grateful service,

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Bob S

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Bob S

26, 27 28.pdf

Re: AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

#206

Thanks! Can’t wait

Theresa Connecticut?

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On Sunday, May 10, 2020, 6:59 AM, Glenn Krainz <gkrainz@...> wrote:

The Virtual Tour Through AA History attached earlier (Yellow poster) has the incorrect Meeting ID, the last two digits are reversed. Please use Meeting ID?920-2033-9294 (The earlier yellow poster has ID 920-2033-9249 which is NOT valid)

To confirm, the pink poster has the CORRECT Meeting ID.

Re: AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

#205

The Virtual Tour Through AA History attached earlier (Yellow poster) has the incorrect Meeting ID, the last two digits are reversed. Please use Meeting ID?920-2033-9294 (The earlier yellow poster has ID 920-2033-9249 which is NOT valid)

To confirm, the pink poster has the CORRECT Meeting ID.

96238193_234216664696298_5514064222184538112_n.jpg

Re: AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

#204

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Cool. Just zoomed in the meeting.?

Small part of that in the 2002. Did all 5 sessions in one day/WBC/multiple chairs. Good stuff. Thanks ?a bunch. john susini

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On May 8, 2020, at 6:26 PM, Thom R. <thombone@...> wrote:

?Eastern time zone so it starts in about 30 minutes from my writing this

Re: AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

#203

Eastern time zone so it starts in about 30 minutes from my writing this

Re: AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

#202

开云体育

Thom?

What time zone is that?

Thanks?

Get

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Thom R. <thombone@...>
Sent: Friday, May 8, 2020 12:26:35 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

?

Ugh my bad.? I confused it with this.? hasn't had my coffee yet lol.?

Attached is the fleet for the event I was thinking of. ..

Re: AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

#201
Edited

Ugh my bad.? I confused it with this. I haven't had my coffee yet lol.?

Attached is the flyer for the event I was thinking of. EASTERN time, they are in Florida.

Re: AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

#200

Today...the poster says May 10th.....?

Re: AA Virtual History Tour Zoom

#199

This is later TODAY. Hopefully see you there!

Short article I wrote on Jimmy B

#198

With the help of members of this group and others, I got to write the below article for the New Frontier newsletter of Western New York AA (can never remember which Area it is), maybe the 20th "This Month in AA History" article I've gotten to write for it.

Jimmy B:? The Man Who Helped So Many Into Our Fellowship?

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Jim, aka "Jimmy" B's sobriety date was June 15, 1938.? He did not come into the AA fellowship then as a glowing, clearly surrendered newcomer, simply ready to do whatever anyone said, or go wherever he was led by elder members.? His first sobriety date had been January of that year, and for months after that, he looked like New York AA's primary problem!? His own main problem had seemed to be "this God business," and he had stayed loudly insistent about it.? He had soon drifted away from the other early AA's, tragically relapsed, but thankfully made it back.? He stayed sober from that June on, and the contributions he made to Alcoholics Anonymous are still very much alive, even growing, today.

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The contribution that maybe most, if not all, AA members have been helped by:? his input on some crucial wording in the Big Book.? There was definite disagreement about how to present the "God" aspect of the program, with Fitz M and others on the side of a strongly religious message, Bill W in favor of compromise, and Hank P, for one, hoping for a more inclusive message.? Jimmy also supported more inclusiveness, and his voice helped with Bill's wording.? The phrase "God as we understood Him" came to be used twice in the 12 Steps, complemented by other statements in? the Big Book, like "When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God," on page 47.? With those words, hope and help became available for alcoholics of any and all belief systems.

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In many other people, that kind of great contribution might have been the final one.? But in 1940, Jimmy helped get the first AA groups started in 2 different cities:? Philadelphia and Baltimore.? Philadelphia was the first, in February.? Jim moved there with a recently published Big Book and the need for, as he put it, "other alcoholics to work and play with."? Only 8 weeks later, the new group had 50 members.? And only weeks after that, he was sitting in the first group in Baltimore, that he had worked with another Jim, Jim R, on getting going.? That group, too, put down roots and began to grow.? By sharing his experience and the Big Book that his contribution helped shape, Jimmy had brought help that spread, and continues to, in both cities and beyond.

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So in his first year of sobriety, he had made immensely important contributions that mostly involved face to face communication.? After that, he made more through writing.? He wrote the first known history of Alcoholics Anonymous--a short document with a limited scope that, nonetheless, set an important precedent.? And by the time of the 1955 International Convention, which Bill W used to frame our history for AA Comes of Age, his story, "The Vicious Cycle," was in the Big Book.? There, he got to share about his part in "Godas we understood Him," and his experience with the life-saving power of our fellowship.

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When Jimmy B passed in 1974, just a couple of years after Bill W, he had been sober well over 30 years.? And maybe we can take it as a lasting statement about the power of AA friendships, of how we sober drunks belong together, that his grave is only feet away from that of Fitz M.

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(Sources include the Big Book, "Writing the Big Book," "Not-God," "Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age," "Early AA in Baltimore," and April 1, 1940 issue of The Philadelphia Record)?

Re: Animated short film I'm working on about Early AA History.

#197

I eagerly await the day that you get to complete this. It's going to be a milestone project I just know it.

Thom

Re: 1947 Paper by Bill: “Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

#196

Thanks Rick!

On Thursday, May 7, 2020, 12:05:34 AM EDT, Richard Tompkins <richardwtompkins@...> wrote:

Mike,

If it's not a grapevine piece, the ideas were most likely integrated in the 1949-1950 Alcohic Foundation pamphlet about the planned General Service Conference.

Contact GSO Archives and Michelle Mirza with your request,? she would be happy to assist.?

Best to,?

Rick, Illinois?

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S9, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone

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-------- Original message --------

From: "Michael Margetis via groups.io" <mfmargetis@...>

Date: 5/6/20 10:31 PM (GMT-06:00)

To: [email protected]

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] 1947 Paper by Bill: “Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

Hi all,

Can someone point me to where I can find this paper by Bill W.???“Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” from April, 1947.

Thanks so much!
-Mike

Mike Margetis
mfmargetis@...

Re: 1947 Paper by Bill: “Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

#195

Thanks JIm!

On Thursday, May 7, 2020, 01:39:19 PM EDT, Jim <jimincancun@...> wrote:

Arthur S. In his timeline says:?

"1947 - April 8, after a difficult year of talks on policy and structure, Bill W wrote a paper titled “Our AA General Service Center-The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” It outlined a history of the Foundation and recommended an experimental General Service Conference and renaming the Foundation to the General Service Board. The report echoed Bill’s concerns raised in his July 10, 1946 letter to the Board. Most AA members today would not associate the seeds of the Traditions and Concepts with the years 1946 and 1947 respectively. AA was on the verge of its teenage years and a visionary Bill W was laying the groundwork for its coming of age. The Trustee’s reaction was at first defensive then outright negative. They saw no need for change. Passive resistance turned into solid opposition. (AACOA 210-211, www, GSO-AC)"?

Here is a copy of the paper:?

?

regards

jim??

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On Wed, May 6, 2020 at 10:31 PM Michael Margetis via <mfmargetis=[email protected]> wrote:

Hi all,

Can someone point me to where I can find this paper by Bill W.???“Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” from April, 1947.

Thanks so much!
-Mike

Mike Margetis
mfmargetis@...

Re: 1947 Paper by Bill: “Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

#194

Arthur S. In his timeline says:?

"1947 - April 8, after a difficult year of talks on policy and structure, Bill W wrote a paper titled “Our AA General Service Center-The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” It outlined a history of the Foundation and recommended an experimental General Service Conference and renaming the Foundation to the General Service Board. The report echoed Bill’s concerns raised in his July 10, 1946 letter to the Board. Most AA members today would not associate the seeds of the Traditions and Concepts with the years 1946 and 1947 respectively. AA was on the verge of its teenage years and a visionary Bill W was laying the groundwork for its coming of age. The Trustee’s reaction was at first defensive then outright negative. They saw no need for change. Passive resistance turned into solid opposition. (AACOA 210-211, www, GSO-AC)"?

Here is a copy of the paper:?

?

regards

jim??

Show quoted text

On Wed, May 6, 2020 at 10:31 PM Michael Margetis via <mfmargetis=[email protected]> wrote:

Hi all,

Can someone point me to where I can find this paper by Bill W.???“Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” from April, 1947.

Thanks so much!
-Mike

Mike Margetis
mfmargetis@...

Re: 1947 Paper by Bill: “Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

#193

开云体育

Mike,

If it's not a grapevine piece, the ideas were most likely integrated in the 1949-1950 Alcohic Foundation pamphlet about the planned General Service Conference.

Contact GSO Archives and Michelle Mirza with your request,? she would be happy to assist.?

Best to,?

Rick, Illinois?

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S9, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone

Show quoted text

-------- Original message --------

From: "Michael Margetis via groups.io" <mfmargetis@...>

Date: 5/6/20 10:31 PM (GMT-06:00)

To: [email protected]

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] 1947 Paper by Bill: “Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

Hi all,

Can someone point me to where I can find this paper by Bill W.???“Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” from April, 1947.

Thanks so much!
-Mike

Mike Margetis
mfmargetis@...

1947 Paper by Bill: “Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”

#192

Hi all,

Can someone point me to where I can find this paper by Bill W.???“Our AA General Service Center The Alcoholic Foundation of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” from April, 1947.

Thanks so much!
-Mike

Mike Margetis
mfmargetis@...