Aa history Lovers 2004 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page

coffee, a battle was fought there which has led to your salvation and

mine. It was she, perhaps, who first understood the miracle of what

passed between Bill and Dr. Bob. And, in the years to follow, it was

she who knew with divine certainty that what had happened in her home

would happen in other homes again, again, and yet again.

For Anne, understood the simplicity of faith. Perhaps that's why God

chose her for us. Perhaps that's why Anne never once thought of

herself as a 'woman of destiny' but went quietly about her job.

Perhaps that's why, when she said to a grief-torn wife, "Come in, my

dear, you're with friends now - friends who understand" that fear and

loneliness vanished. Perhaps that's why Anne always sat in the rear

of the meetings, so she could see the newcomers as they came, timid

and doubtful...and make them welcome.

There's a plaque on the wall of Akron's St. Thomas hospital dedicated

to Anne. It's a fine memorial. But there's a finer one lying

alongside the typewriter as this is being written - letters to Dr.

Bob from men and women who knew and loved her well. Each tries to put

in words what is felt in many hearts. They fail - and that's the

tribute beyond price. For real love, divine love, escapes even the

poet's pen.

So, in the simplest way we know, and speaking for every AA

everywhere, let's just say 'Thanks, Dr. Bob, for sharing her with

us.' We know that she's in a Higher Group now, sitting well to the

back, with an eye out for newcomers, greeting the strangers and

listening for their names!

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++++Message 1747. . . . . . . . . . . . Traditions applied to GSO? Compiled.

From: [e-mail] . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/10/2004 1:54:00 AM

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The following have been deleted from the list and combined here:

From: [e-mail] [25]

Date: Thu Apr 8, 2004 11:43 am

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Traditions applied to GSO?

I have been trying to find a reference that indicates if GSO is to be guided

by the traditions or were the traditions written to apply only to groups. So

far I have not been successful in my efforts. Specifically, I would like to

find out if any one knows of a reference of GSO being self supporting. I would

really like to figure out if there has been any conference action that

indicates that GSO is to follow the tradition.

Kent D

Concord, CA

From: Jim Blair

Date: Thu Apr 8, 2004 11:43 pm

Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] Traditions applied to GSO?

In an article in the November, 1952 AA Grapevine Bill W. stated that A.A.'s

Twelve Traditions-

Define my relation to the group.

Define my group's relation to AA as a whole.

Define our relations with the public.

Give us a set of attitudes towards money, property, power and prestige.

I think this will answer your question.

Jim

From: Jeff Your

Date: Fri Apr 9, 2004 9:11 am

Subject: Re: GSO and Traditions

Kent,

Take a look at Concepts III and XII:

[III] To insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of AA. --

the

Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs,

committees, and executives -- with a traditional "Right of Decision."

[XII] The Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. tradition, taking care

that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient

operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place

none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that

it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and, whenever possible,

by

substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an

incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government,

and

that, like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in

thought and action.

Now, I don't know how much you want to split hairs, but these two Concepts, as

well as references within the other Concepts clearly indicate to me that all

AA entities recognize and follow the Traditions. At the same time, the

Traditions are not legal documents and do not provide the necessary language

in

corporate circles to allow AA to live within the real world and conduct the

business of AA outside the rooms of AA. So, there are other documents and

by-laws which govern the day to day workings of the Trustees, when acting on

behalf of our Fellowship.

From: "Arthur"

Date: Fri Apr 9, 2004 12:32 pm

Subject: RE: [AAHistoryLovers] Traditions applied to GSO?

The Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts are spiritual

principles that are supposed to be practiced by AA as whole (i.e. members,

groups, districts, central offices, areas, regions, GSOs, Conferences, etc.,

etc.). That’s how we pass on the Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity and

Service throughout the Fellowship.

Following is an abbreviated timeline of the evolution of the GSO in NY (which

in its early days was called the “NY Headquarters” office):

Aug 11, 1938: the Alcoholic Foundation was established as a charitable trust

with a board of 5 Trustees (in Language of the Heart 61, Bill W said it

started with 7 Trustees). Non-alcoholic board members were Willard (Dick)

Richardson (who proposed the Foundation) Frank Amos and John E F Wood. One of

the early challenges facing Wood was legally defining the difference between

an alcoholic and non-alcoholic. (Language of the Heart, pg 61) Alcoholic board

members were Dr Bob and NY member William (Bill) Ruddell (whose Big Book story

is A Business Man’s Recovery). Bill R was the first Board Chairman but

returned to drinking and resigned in Feb 1939. The board composition began a

long (and later troublesome) tradition of making non-alcoholics a majority. An

advisory committee to the board was also established. It consisted of A LeRoy

Chipman, Bill W, Albert L Scott and Hank P. (AA Comes of Age 151-152, Lois

Remembers 197, Not God 66, 307, 330, Pass It On 188 -- Not God 330 end note

states that the AA Comes of Age date and Amos’ date of Aug 5 are in error

and gives the date as Spring 1938, Language of the Heart 142 and AA Comes of

Age 15 say Spring of 1938).

Feb 8, 1940: John D Rockefeller Jr. held a dinner for AA at the Union League

Club. 75 out of 400 invited guests attended. Nelson Rockefeller hosted the

dinner in the absence of his ill father. The dinner produced much favorable

publicity for AA. It also raised $2,200 ($29,000 today) from the attendees

($1,000 from Rockefeller). Rockefeller and the dinner guests continued to

provide about $3,000 a year ($34,000 today) up to 1945 when they were asked to

stop contributing. The Alcoholic Foundation received the donations and income

from sales of the Big Book. (Lois Remembers 197, AA Comes of Age viii,

182-187, Not God 92-94, Pass It On 232-235).

Mar 1, 1941: Jack Alexander's Saturday Evening Post article was published. The

publicity caused 1941 membership to jump from around 2,000 to 8,000. Bill and

two other members’ pictures appeared full-face in the article. (AA Comes of

Age viii, 35-36, 190-191, Language of the Heart 149-150, Pass It On 245-247)

The article, led to over 6,000 appeals for help to be mailed to Box 658 for

the NY Office to handle. (Service Manual S7, Pass It On 249) The NY office

asked groups to donate $1 ($12 today) per member for support of the office.

This began the practice of financing the NY office operations from group

donations. (AA Comes of Age 112, 192, Language of the Heart 149, SM S7)

1945: The Alcoholic Foundation wrote to John D Rockefeller, Jr. and the 1940

dinner guests that AA no longer needed their financial help. Big Book

royalties could look after Dr Bob and Bill W and Group contributions could pay

the general office expenses. This ended all “outside contributions” to AA.

(AA Comes of Age 203-204)

1950: AA members were asked to donate $2 per year ($15 today) to support the

NY office. (Language of the Heart 159)

1958 General Service Conference Advisory Action: The suggestion of the name

change from General Service Hq. to General Service Office be adopted. (M-39)

The earliest written reference would likely be the long form of Tradition Nine

which states the following:

Each A.A. group needs the least possible organization. Rotating leadership is

the best. The small group may elect its Secretary, the large group its

Rotating Committee, and the groups of a large Metropolitan area their Central

or Intergroup Committee, which often employs a full-time Secretary. The

trustees of the General Service Board are, in effect, our A.A. General Service

Committee. They are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of

voluntary A.A. contributions by which we maintain our A.A. General Service

Office at New York. They are authorized by the groups to handle our over-all

public relations and they guarantee the integrity of our principle newspaper,

"The A.A. Grapevine." All such representatives are to be guided in the spirit

of service, for true leaders in A.A. are but trusted and experienced servants

of the whole. They derive no real authority from their titles; they do not

govern. Universal respect is the key to their usefulness.

Page S69 in the 2003-2004 Service Manual states the following:

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: According to the Seventh Tradition, every group should be

self-supporting, and the Tradition includes such pooled services as those

provided by G.S.O. A.A. World Services has two sources of revenue: group

contributions and income from the publishing operation. For reporting

purposes, activities at G.S.O. are lumped into two categories: service and

publishing expense. In the past, A.A. groups have contributed enough to cover

about two-thirds of the service expenses (services provided to all registered

groups, whether or not they make a contribution). The rest was covered by

publishing income, which was in excess of that required for publishing

expenses.

In 1986, the General Service Board asked for a special effort to inform the

Fellowship of the dangers inherent in this situation; particularly that a

substantial fraction of the publishing income now comes from outside sources.

The effort was begun to inform the groups about this growing problem. The

challenge was to make G.S.0.S service work self-supporting through

contributions of the membership and to sell literature at cost to everyone.

The number and extent of group services have increased over the years, but the

real cost of service per group has decreased consistently owing to the growth

of the Fellowship. However, all groups do not contribute to the support of the

service work. About one-half do not. This places a heavier burden on the

groups that do. More important than the dollar amount of contributions,

however, is group participation in this part of A.A. service work, as in the

other activities that make groups members of the A.A. community. Making

regular contributions to world services ties a group to A.A. worldwide.

Many groups have found it convenient to set up a regular contribution plan

whereby they send in a predetermined percentage each month or each quarter.

For part of this â€" or to make additions to it - they use various methods.

The Birthday Plan is one: On their A.A. birthdays each year, group members

make their personal contributions (through group treasuries) on the basis of

$1.00 for each year of sobriety. G.S.O. will send special Birthday Plan

envelopes on request.

Many groups have their own ways of getting their regular or special

contributions together. In Memoriam contributions honor the memory of a

deceased member. Of course contributions of this type, like those of any

other, can be accepted from A.A. members only. In keeping with the Traditions,

G.S.O. accepts contributions only from A.A. members, groups or other A.A.

entities. Furthermore, the General Service Conference limits individual

contributions to $2,000 per year. This limit also applies to a one-time

bequest of $2,000 in the wills of deceased members.

Arthur

PS Last year around 46% of the groups in the US/Canada contributed to the GSO.

From: "Dean @ e-AA"

Date: Fri Apr 9, 2004 5:46 pm

Subject: Re: [AAHistoryLovers] Traditions applied to GSO?

GSO belongs to AA World Services, Inc., one of the two operating

corporations "owned" by the General Service Board of Trustees. (The other

corporation being the AA Grapevine, Inc.)

The Steps, Traditions (short form), and Concepts all appear in the GSB

bylaws. Here are some snippets from the bylaws:

"The General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc., now has but one

primary purpose, that of serving the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous."

"The General Service Board in its deliberations and decisions shall be

guided by the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. ..."

"The General Service Board also shall be guided by the spirit of the Twelve

Concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous. ..."

The GSB bylaws are included in the "AA Service Manual."

-- Dean C.

Monterey Peninsula, California

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++++Message 1748. . . . . . . . . . . . Reference to "As Bill Sees It"

From: Sheila . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/14/2004 6:59:00 AM

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In the Book "As Bill Sees It" there are several referenced footnotes

to "A.A. Today". However, I cannot find any info or links to this

literature. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks

Sheila

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++++Message 1749. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Reference to "As Bill Sees It"

From: Arthur Sheehan . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/17/2004 6:35:00 PM

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Hi Sheila

"AA Today" was the first book published by the AA Grapevine. It was unveiled

in 1960 at the 25th Anniversary Convention in Long Beach, CA. The book was an

album styled volume containing original pictures and articles by Bill W, AA

pioneers and early surviving AA friends.

Similar (but smaller sized) books were published in the anniversary years of

1985 ("50 Years With Gratitude") and 1995 ("AA Everywhere - Anywhere").

Arthur

----- Original Message -----

From: Sheila

To: [e-mail]

Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 6:59 AM

Subject: [AAHistoryLovers] Reference to "As Bill Sees It"

In the Book "As Bill Sees It" there are several referenced footnotes

to "A.A. Today". However, I cannot find any info or links to this

literature. Can anyone help me out?

Thanks

Sheila

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++++Message 1750. . . . . . . . . . . . New Update of "A Narrative Timeline of

AA History"

From: Arthur Sheehan . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/17/2004 8:48:00 PM

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Hi AA History Lovers

For those of you who are familiar with Archie M's "Timelines in AA History

(1864 - present)" - his basic research data was used some time ago as a

starting point to develop an expanded chronology with added narrative and

reference sources. It is titled "A Narrative Timeline of AA History" and will

be sent, in PDF file format, to any member of AA History Lovers who replies to

this message. If you desire a copy of the timeline, please be careful to reply

only to [e-mail] and not to [e-mail].

Otherwise Nancy O, our moderator, will get burdened with the replies.

The timeline document is marked "confidential" and is intended for AA members

and serious AA history researchers only. It contains last names and this

version should not be publicly posted. There is also a "public" version of the

document that can be posted on a web site and be distributed to the general

public (last names have been reduced to last initial).

Arthur

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++++Message 1756. . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Alexander Article pictures.

From: Jaime Maliachi . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/19/2004 4:12:00 PM

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*

bold;">Bill W. Told us in A.A. comes

of Age, that in the *Jack Alexander's _Saturday Evening Post_ article, some

pictures were required by editors.

*Somebody

knows who were the A. A. members that gave the face in that event?*

*Some body

has any image about?*

*

bold;"> *

*

12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;">Jaime F. Maliachi Pedrote.*

*

12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;">servidor y amigo.*

*

12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;">57 85 68 00 57 85 68

26*

*

12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;">fax [phone]*

12.0pt;">

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++++Message 1760. . . . . . . . . . . . Trip to the Lois Wilson Picnic,

Leaving from Berkeley Heights NJ, 6/5/04

From: Lash, William (Bill) . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/20/2004 7:43:00 AM

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JOIN US FOR A TRIP TO THE ANNUAL 2004 LOIS WILSON PICNIC

At Stepping Stones

(where Bill & Lois Wilson lived from 1941 until they died)

62 Oak Road, Bedford Hills (Katonah), NY

Stepping Stones contact number is 914-232-7368.

Saturday, June 5, 2004

House & Wit's End is open for viewing at 12noon.

AA (someone who knew Bill Wilson), Alanon, & Alateen speakers meeting begins

at 2pm.

Only coffee, soda, & dessert will be served at the house so we will be

stopping for lunch on the way.

We are meeting at:

The Union Village United Methodist Church

1130 Mountain Ave., Berkeley Heights, NJ

We will be leaving from Berkeley Heights at EXACTLY 10:45am.

For more info or to call the day of the trip please contact Barefoot Bill at

732-939-5907 (cell).

Directions to The Union Village United Methodist Church (10:45am start):

Traveling Rt. 22 West take Watchung Ave - VA Hospital Exit. Proceed straight

on Watchung Ave. to traffic circle. Make first right then immediate left

toward Berkeley Heights. The Union Village Methodist Church is approximately 3

miles on Hillcrest Rd. before blinking red light.

Traveling Rt. 22 East take Watchung Ave. exit, make the first right and go

over Rt. 22 to the red light. Turn left onto Watchung Ave. and follow

directions above.

Traveling Rt. 78 West take Exit 40 and make a right a yield sign. Proceed

straight on Hillcrest Rd. for approximately 1 1/2 miles. Church is on the

right before blinking light.

Traveling Rt. 78 East take Exit 40 and make a left at stop sign. Proceed

straight on Hillcrest Rd. for approximately 1 1/2 miles. Church is on the

right before blinking light.

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++++Message 1761. . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Isadore Tuerk - Compiled

From: [e-mail] . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/21/2004 4:11:00 AM

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This is a compilation of posts about Isadore Tuerk:

The Alcoholics Anonymous West Baltimore Group began in 1947. It's website

mentions a Dr. Tuerk.

"One of the members approached Dr. Tuerk, who was in charge of the state

mental institutions and was given permission to bring alcoholic patients to

the meetings in Charlie C's home."

You can read more about the West Baltimore Group at this website:

Alcoholics Anonymous West Baltimore Group, alcoholism, recovery, aa, AA,

health [30]

Last week I attended the NCADD-Maryland Tuerk Conference where I spoke on AA

history. The following was in the first page of the program book for the

conference:

REMEMBERING DR. TUERK

Isadore Tuerk, a psychiatrist who served as Maryland's Mental Health

Commissioner for eight years, died of heart failure at the age of 81 on

February 26, 1989. A native of Baltimore, Dr. Tuerk oversaw the state's

mental hospital system from 1960 to 1968 before leaving public service, and

continued practicing psychiatry and teaching at the University of Maryland

and Johns Hopkins medical schools.

Dr. Tuerk grew up in the neighborhood around the School of Medicine, and

first came into contract with the school as a child when he delivered

clothes made by his tailor father. A 1924 graduate of Baltimore City

College, Dr. Tuerk completed undergraduate studies at Hopkins and received

his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1934. He served in the

U.S. Army during World War II as a division psychiatrist in the European

Theatre, was awarded a bronze star and was discharged in 1946 as a

lieutenant colonel.

As a public servant, he fought for more dollars for the state's mental

hospitals and pioneered group therapy techniques for alcoholics. All were

welcome to the Saturday morning sessions he launched at Spring Grove State

mental Hospital where he became a staff psychiatrist in 1939 and

superintendent 10 years later. Even street people sometimes showed up for

the sessions. His son Jonathan recollected that Dr. Tuerk only once threw

someone out of the sessions - a man who came in with a bottle of whiskey.

"It was the only time he ever kicked somebody out of the group and years

later he kept asking whether that was the right thing to do."

Dr. Tuerk was an honorary member of the Maryland Society on Alcoholism

Treatment and was named its Man of the Year in 1957. Tuerk House, an

alcoholic treatment center, formerly a University of Maryland drug and

alcohol abuse treatment center, was named in his honor in 1970. He retired

in 1986.

A loyal member of the Medical Alumni Association, Dr. Tuerk received the

Gold Key and Honor Award in 1981. He was a faithful caller in the Annual