Aa history Lovers 2010 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
Yüklə 25,47 Mb.
|
| By Associated Press Writer Leanne Italie -- Tues., Sep 28, 2010
In 1939, about 5,000 copies of a book offering hopeless drunks a spiritual path
to recovery through 12 steps were released by a fledgling fellowship of alcoholics. They called it "Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men
Have Recovered From Alcoholism." Sales were dismal at first, but interest picked up in 1941 with help from a story in The Saturday Evening Post and grew into a recovery revolution for everybody from over-eaters and the over-sexed to gamblers and shopaholics.
languages have been sold, but little was known about how the manual where none had ever
existed was conceived. Did AA's co-founder Bill Wilson, a fallen New York stockbroker, really write much of it himself with the help of early adherents?
manuscript to be published Friday for the first time. Called "The Book that Started it All," the document is filled with crossouts, inserts and notes, presumably based on feedback sought from about 400 hand-picked outsiders who included doctors and psychiatrists.
fragile
readers. Many others were rejected as the still-anonymous personalities behind
the notes fretted over how to handle God and religion, a Higher Power "bigger
than ourselves" and the influence of the Oxford Group, a religious movement embraced by Wilson and his fellow founder, Ohio physician Bob Smith, but later considered a preachy hindrance in working with problem drinkers. "The goal was to increase the likelihood that there would be fewer distractions and fewer reasons for throwing the book across the room," said Fred Holmquist, a student of AA history and director of the Lodge Program for the treatment program Hazelden. Hazelden's publishing arm was given high-resolution scans of the typed manuscript by its current owner, an Alabama businessman. They show off the mysterious edits and marginalia and are being published with commentary from AA historians. The manuscript passed to Wilson's widow, Lois, after he died in 1971 and has surfaced twice at auction since, including one sale for $1.56 million in 2004 to a California lawyer. It's a rare glimpse into the inner-workings of an organization that was shrouded
in mystery (some early members wore face masks when speaking in public) but remains the dominant force in addiction recovery. "The spirituality side is what enabled the movement to grow very rapidly," said
Nick Motu, a Hazelden senior vice president and head of the publishing division. "Had this been about religion, I have doubts it would have succeeded as it had."
in one margin: "We have said constantly the trouble with org (sic) religion is that they try to dogmatically pour people into moulds. So why should we give specific instructions in the book such as saying do this and do that? You can obscure many alcoholics."
in its fourth edition, circulating in China and Iran -- and in Russia and Romania before the fall of Communism, Motu said. Founded in 1935, before addiction was truly understood as an illness, Wilson believed "you can't tell drunks what to do. That was his genius," said Susan Cheever, who wrote the Wilson biography "My Name is Bill."
right tone in a chapter for atheists and agnostics that made it through vetting with few changes. One telling sentence weighing a life in "alcoholic hell" against being "saved" was edited to say "alcoholic death" or life "on a spiritual basis." Patrick H. of Las Vegas knows that chapter well. He's four years sober with help
from AA, and he's also an atheist. "I kind of have a cafeteria plan, where you take the things that work for you
and discard the things that don't work," he said. Among other accepted edits was a softening of the book's "directive" tone to a more suggestive one, especially in the early chapters. "Do people like to be told they will be instructed," wrote one of the editors in red pencil as he nipped away at a passage discussing a solution in Chapter Two:
"This volume will inform, instruct and comfort those who are, or who may be affected." The word "instruct" was dropped. In Chapter Five, "How it Works," the opening line was: "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our directions." In the same red pencil, the language was changed in the book's first edition to "followed our path." In the opening chapter, which tells Wilson's story, one commenter questions this
sentence: "God has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish."
Dr. Howard's suggestion, was changed to "Faith." Some mentions of God became "God as we understood him," and the famous "We" at the beginning of the first step was added later at the suggestion of one among five or six to make notes on the manuscript, including Wilson himself. In the seventh step, where Wilson and his collaborators indicate to their readers that they "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings," a reference to doing so "on our knees" was crossed out and never made it into print. There were other slippery slopes. In the heavily edited second chapter is a note warning against saying AA members
who have "found this solution" would be "properly armed with certain medical information" to quickly win over other drinkers. "Doctors are a jealous lot and don't like this," one note says. "I have had to ask WHAT MEDICAL INFORMATION? Why not cut?" The risky phrase was changed to "properly armed with facts about himself ..."
Wilson would have hated the idea of forcing it down the throats of anybody, including prison inmates or court defendants, against their will. "He understood that very well," she said. "He said over and over and over again
that never works." ___________________________________________ ONLINE COPIES AT: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_fea_lifestyles_aa_s_big_book http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5htW8eaaHKr5-SYUScZ005bWC9p 4wD9\
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 6913. . . . . . . . . . . . font used in Big Book From: Janis R . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/1/2010 12:23:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I have a sponsee who is a bit of an expert in fonts. She has found a font called "Kaufman" established in 1936 that looks identical to the capital letters you see in the first edition of the Big Book. I haven't seen that anyone has sent this information in, but if I missed it and everyone already knows this, I apologize. I can send a link to the font if anyone is interested. Thanks, Janis Janis S. Raley Director, Dallas Intergroup Assn. 214-887-6699
misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm." Robert Louis Stevenson
From: Dougbert . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/1/2010 9:15:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Janis, I am a graphic designer and you got it right . . .it is Kaufman. A very popular
font during the art deco phase in the twenties. dougbert - - - - PHOTOS OF THE DROP CAPS (courtesy of Larry Holbrook, along with photos of the fonts) KAUFMANN in First Edition, Ninth Printing, 1946: http://www.laurenceholbrook.com/AAHistoryLovers/FirstEdition.htm PARK AVENUE in Fourth Edition, First Printing, October 2001 (AAWS made a switch to this different font at that time): http://www.laurenceholbrook.com/AAHistoryLovers/FourthEdition.htm - - - - From GC the moderator: if you Google for Kaufmann and Park Avenue, it seems to be easy to find sites where you can download copies of these fonts for a small fee (these are presumably better quality versions of these fonts). But there are also sites noted on Google where they say that you can download copies of these fonts for free: KAUFMANN: http://www.webpagepublicity.com/free-fonts-k.html#Free%20Fonts http://www.searchfreefonts.com/font/kaufmann.htm http://www.hdicon.com/fonts/kaufmann-bold-bt/ PARK AVENUE: http://www.fontemple.com/free-download/8788-Park-Avenue-BT.html http://www.fontstock.net/8966/parkavenue.html IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 6915. . . . . . . . . . . . Encore Performances of Grapevine Play (75th Anniv. International Convention) From: jaxena77 . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/28/2010 6:36:00 PM
Final Two Performances Tickets Available Online $15.00 in Advance/$20.00 at the door ($1 convenience fee per online ticket purchase)
4:00 pm AA/Al-Anon Meeting AA Speaker - Nicole D. - Oakland, CA Al-Anon Speaker - Liz M. ============================================== I am writing today with a request for your service and assistance. This July, a group of the San Francisco fellowship performed an original play during the 75th Anniversary International Convention in San Antonio called In Our Own Words: Pioneers of Alcoholics Anonymous. The play was enthusiastically received during
the convention, and our two performances were seen by over 700 people. However,
we turned away almost that same number, many of them from members from Northern
and Central California. Since our performances in San Antonio, I have received many requests from members throughout California, asking us to bring the show to their area. However, the cast is made up of volunteers, who have jobs and personal lives and
service work to fulfill, and it is impossible for us to tour the show, much as we would like to. Our solution was to perform the play two more times, and to do our best to spread the word to members throughout Northern and Central California.
organization that serves members in San Francisco and the Penninsula. There are two performances scheduled that day, to accommodate those who may be traveling, at 2 PM and 6 PM. An AA meeting is being held at 4:00 pm, so that members can come to the play and stay for the meeting, or come to the meeting and stay for the play. The theater is very large and can accommodate 500 people for each performance. We are asking your help to PASS IT ON! Please post and if possible, copy and share with your members and group representatives. We are hoping that announcements can be made at meetings as well. Anything you can do to help will
be greatly appreciated, by those of us in this project, but also those members
who have not had a chance to see this production. Tickets are on sale, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Proceeds
will go towards The Spirit of San Francisco, future recovery productions and donations to our San Francisco Central Office and GSO in New York. I have electronic (pdf) and email versions of the flyer available if you would
find that a more convenient way of sharing this information. Please email me at
(inourownwords.sanantonio at gmail.com)
www.spirit-sf.org. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email me. Thank
you for your service. In Love & Service, Jackie B. Author, In Our Own Words ==============================================
manuscript of the Big Book From: Shakey1aa@aol.com . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/30/2010 3:06:00 AM
Lobdell, Glenn Chesnut, dougbert, and Chuck Parkhurst - - - - From: John Moore (contact.johnmoore at gmail.com) Got mine today! It is a beautiful volume. High resolution scans of every page
including all the penciled markings ... a wonderful job of printing. I got mine for $40.95 and free shipping from Amazon. John M South Burlington, Vtermont - - - - From: Thanks for the heads up on the cheaper method. - - - - From: dougbert8@yahoo.com (dougbert8 at yahoo.com) > Hi group, > > If you Google for: > > The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous > > and go to the Amazon.com site, you will be able to purchase it for $40.95 instead of the normally given price ($65.00): > > http://www.amazon.com/Book-That-Started-All-Manuscript/dp/159285947X > > dougbert - - - - From: "J. Lobdell" (jlobdell54 at hotmail.com) MAYBE -- THEY SAY IT'S OUT OF STOCK AND HAVE NOT CHARGED MY CARD FOR THE ORDER I
SENT IN LAST WEEK NOR OTHERWISE ACKNOWLEDGED THE ORDER - - - - From: "Chuck Parkhurst" Amazon is listing this item as "sold out." Has anyone actually PURCHASED this
book DIRECTLY from Amazon and can attest that it was EVER available through them? Amazon has shown the book's "page" for weeks as coming soon, even AFTER it was available from the main retailer In Service with Gratitude, Chuck Parkhurst - - - - From: Glenn Chesnut Jared and Chuck, Amazon accepted my order which I sent in on Sept. 28, and as of today (Oct. 2) they are no longer saying that it is out of stock. I suspect they're getting that low price by waiting until they have enough orders to do a very large mass
printing, which lowers the per unit price. And John Moore (above) says that he has received his copy, and the Amazon printers did a really good job. Amazon has always done a good job at printing and selling our Hindsfoot Foundation books and we've never had any complaints from those who bought them there: http://hindsfoot.org But I haven't yet actually received the copy I ordered from them of the original
working manuscript, so for now, caveat emptor and all that. Glenn IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 6917. . . . . . . . . . . . Washington Post article on newly published Big Book manuscript From: Bill Lash . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/1/2010 10:14:00 AM
531.\
============================================= AA original manuscript reveals profound debate over religion By Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, September 22,
2010 For millions of addicts around the world, Alcoholics Anonymous's basic text - informally known as the Big Book - is the Bible. And as they're about to find out, the Bible was edited. After being hidden away for nearly 70 years and then auctioned twice, the original manuscript by AA co-founder Bill Wilson is about to become public for the first time next week, complete with edits by Wilson-picked commenters that reveal a profound debate in 1939 about how overtly to talk about God. The group's decision to use "higher power" and "God of your understanding" instead of "God" or "Jesus Christ" and to adopt a more inclusive tone was enormously important in making the deeply spiritual text accessible to the non-religious and non-Christian, AA historians and treatment experts say. The editors softened Step 7 of AA's renowned 12 Steps for example, by deleting a phrase that evoked church worship. "Humbly, on our knees, asked Him to remove
our shortcomings - holding nothing back," became "Humbly asked Him to remove our
shortcomings." In the first chapter, a sentence that read "God has to work twenty-four hours a
day in and through us, or we perish," was edited to replace "God" with "faith,"
and a question was added: "Who are we to say what God has to do?" Wide range of addictions In the years since the Big Book was first published, AA's 12-step program has
been adopted by millions of people battling a wide range of addictions, from drugs to food to sex to e-mail. It has been embraced by the authorities in the Islamic republic of Iran and the former Soviet Union and retooled by groups ranging from Chabad (for Jews) to Rick Warren's Celebrate Recovery (for evangelical Christians). "If it had been a Christian-based book, a religious book, it wouldn't have succeeded as it has," said Nick Motu, senior vice president of Hazelden Publishing, the world's largest purveyor of materials related to addiction. Hazelden is publishing the 4.5-pound, $65 manuscript, titled "The Book That Started It All" (the original was called, simply, "Alcoholics Anonymous").
could
have read differently. And the edits embody a debate that continues today: How
should the role of spirituality and religion be handled in addiction treatment? They also take readers back to an era when churches and society generally stigmatized alcohol addicts as immoral rather than ill. The AA movement's reframing of addiction as having a physical component (the "doctor's opinion"
that opens the book calls it "a kind of allergy") was revolutionary, experts say.
neurological component, we know there are spiritual, psychological and environmental components," said Joseph Califano, founder of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Califano said "virtually every rehabilitation program" in the country today includes a requirement to join an AA group. "The concept of the 'higher power' was important because it made the whole spiritual aspect available to Catholics, Jews, others," he said. While the Big Book describes addiction in a way that was complex for the time,
the 75-year-old movement has changed significantly as well. In addition to AA meetings, mainstream treatment today includes psychiatric treatment, group therapy, even nutrition. And despite objections from some secularists, experts
generally believe that "there is a significant spiritual component for the overwhelming majority of people" coming out of addiction to alcohol and drugs, Califano said. The question was - and is - in what way? The notes in the margins of the manuscript make clear there was disagreement, and even Wilson was torn. A sometime stock speculator from Vermont who wrestled with depression as well as
alcoholism, Wilson didn't attend church and had "the classic white flash experience" of a universal spirituality that gave him the strength to become sober, said Sid Farrar, Hazeldon's editorial director. Later in his life, he experimented briefly with LSD and parapsychology. "Wilson was divided, too," on how to talk about God in the Big Book, Farrar said. "But it's not generally known that there was a debate about religion." Analyzing the scribbles Much remains unknown about how the manuscript was edited - and by whom. Hazelden
said it hasn't had the resources to analyze the handwriting in the margins. Historians of AA and addiction treatment will not begin analyzing the scribbles and debating who wrote each one until the manuscript is published next week. Motu said Wilson sent his original book to about 300 recovering addicts, religious leaders and doctors, among others, but some think the writing visible in the margins belonged to a small number of commenters. The Big Book was first published in 1939, and the only things that have changed
through four editions are the personal stories of recovery added to the end. The
manuscript - which Hazelden says is the only one in existence - was stored for
nearly 40 years in the New York home of Lois and Bill Wilson. In the late 1970s, Lois Wilson gave the book as a gift to a friend in Montreal, who kept it private for decades. It was put up for auction in 2004 at Sotheby's, who sold it for $1.56 million. At the time, there was a flurry of criticism from
historians who said it was a major document that should be available to scholars. Yüklə 25,47 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|