Aa history Lovers 2009 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
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Group, official registered in New York as Jackson Group #2, held its first meeting on the first Sunday of September 1945. Where the meeting was held has been forgotten but the date was confirmed by a copy of the minutes of business meetings from 1950, 1951 and 1952 that I got from Bud C. whose late brother-in-law had been group secretary in those years. Barb S. borrowed the notebooks to read over, and lost them all in moving to Texas and then back to Jackson. Tom says that Bud S. also told him that Al C. had a coffee shop in the Otsego Hotel in the early 40's. One night each week, Al closed early so that AA could meet in the coffee shop. Copyright© 2006 The Jackson Group http://www.aa-semi.org/ Note 2 Waunakee Wisconsin – Local A.A. activity, but members attending meetings in Chicago. After an exhaustive search, I found no groups listed in Waunakee, Wisconsin prior to October 1, 1940, however there was indeed mention of AA activity in Waunakee, during this period. Early correspondence reveals that Harry S., of Waunakee, WI, may have been the first individual to contact GSO from this city. Harry's earliest letter dates November 20, 1939 and reads, "I thank you for your letter of the 14th I would be pleased to correspond with your Chicago membership and perhaps would go there to see more of it." In a letter dating July 24, 1940, Harry writes: "My position as Chief Chef for the Mendota State Hospital, Mendota, Wisconsin, (a suburb of Madison Wisconsin) brings me in close contact with all types of alcoholics. A good many of these are more than anxious to stop drinking and are well worth saving, as a matter of fact, I have talked to a number of them and have outlined your procedure…I have had some correspondence with your Miss Coultis of Chicago who has very kindly invited me to attend some of their meetings there…I am eager to start a group in Madison and would so much appreciate any information you might give me which would enable to do so."
from
Harry are all filed with other group correspondence in the "Madison" folder. (Asst. GSO Archivist Michelle M. correspondence with JB in late 2008) These notes do cast doubt in my mind but that is only my conclusion I hope more
will be revealed! Lastly,for those who are interested I was able to fully document 34 groups in 29
cities spread out over 14 states and the District of Columbia at the close of 1940. God Bless John B. --- In AAHistoryLovers@yahoogroups.com, Glenn Chesnut > > List of all the cities with A.A. groups as of > Dec. 31, 1941. Very impressive growth, going > from one or more established groups in 22 cities > in November 1940 to three times that size in > only one year: this list shows one or more > established groups in 69 cities as of December > 1941 (plus groups in two other cities handwritten > into the list). > > Sent to us by A.A. archivist and historian > Bruce C. from Muncie, Indiana. > > See bottom of page > http://hindsfoot.org/archive3.html > > Which links to a copy of the list at > http://hindsfoot.org/dec1941.pdf >
++++Message 6116. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Re-writing history in the movies From: Arthur S . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/17/2009 7:51:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Hi Al In a July 1949 obituary and Grapevine memorial article paying tribute to Dr Bob's wife Anne, Bill W wrote that she was "quite literally, the mother of our first group, Akron #1 and in the full sense of the word she was one of the founders of AA." Likewise, I think it quite fair and accurate to state that Lois W was, "in the full sense of the word" also one of the founders of AA. I just don't see how the AA Fellowship could have gotten off the ground without both of these remarkable women (plus these days we do not give non-alcoholics anywhere near the tribute they deserve for helping to get AA started - particularly those in medicine and religion).
written about Lois and Bill - is the number of historical inaccuracies published based on what seems like shoddy research. There is a weakness emerging in contemporary AA history writings that seems to center on failure to corroborate facts via multiple sourcing, inadequate vetting in editing and over-dependence on anecdotal sources - these are the kind of things that will propagate situations of hearsay being viewed as history.
From: Doug B. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/15/2009 6:17:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Have faith Al...it is based on the book by the same author who wrote "My Name is Bill W" and the book is based on hours of interviews with Lois herself. The book was great...I'm happy that Bill Borchert got the movie made. Doug Barrie www.aahistory.com - - - - On the authors web site, the first sentence in the second paragraph describes Lois Wilson correctly as the co-founder of Al-Anon, not AA:
Lois Wilson, THE CO-FOUNDER OF AL-ANON, and ... Barry Pepper as ... Bill Wilson, THE CO-FOUNDER OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS." - - - - From the authors web site: 11-11-09 PRODUCTION OF THE LOIS WILSON MOVIE NOW UNDERWAY The Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, "When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story," began shooting in Toronto, Canada on November 9, 2009. It is scheduled for completion by the middle of December.
Wynona Ryder, as "Lois Wilson," the co-founder of Al-Anon, and the wonderful young actor, Barry Pepper, as her husband, "Bill Wilson," the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The distinguished director is John Kent Harrison and the Executive Producers are Brent Shields and Peter Duchow. The screenplay was written by William G. Borchert and Camille Thomasson.
is based on the book, "The Lois Wilson Story: When Love Is Not Enough," written by veteran author William G. Borchert who was a close personal friend of Lois Wilson for more than 15 years before her passing in 1988. Mr. Borchert was nominated for an Emmy for writing the highly acclaimed Hallmark film, "My Name Is Bill W." which starred James Woods and James Garner and was based on the lives of Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith and the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. Mr. Borchert long felt the story of Al-Anon must also be told and the heroic role Lois played in its founding. So four years ago he wrote her life story. Hallmark Hall of Fame then purchased the film rights to his book and now the movie is becoming a reality. Wynona Ryder, who expressed great eagerness to play the role of Lois, has been nominated for two Academy Awards and has starred in many box office hits. These include "Star Trek," "The Informers," "Edward Scissorhands," "The Age of Innocence," "Little Women," "The Crucible," "Being John Malkovich," "The Last Word," "Beetle Juice," and many others. Audiences have also gotten to know Wynona through her many TV appearances on such shows as Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, The Charley Rose Show and eight appearances on Saturday Night Live.
clearly showed in his major roles in "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Green Mile." A six-time nominee and winner of The Golden Globe Award, Barry has starred in many other feature films such as "We Were Soldiers" and "Flags of Our Fathers." He has also starred in major television movies such as "61" where he played New York Yankees home run slugger Roger Maris and in "Lonesome Dove:The Outlaw Years." Like Wynona, audiences have seen him interviewed on many TV shows such as The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson and the Rosie O'Donnell Show. The man guiding these marvelous actors through the difficult task of portraying a loving couple battling the scourge of alcoholism is an outstanding director with many awards and credits to his name. John Kent Harrison understands this story from many points of view and considers it a personal privilege to be undertaking this challenge.
Hallmark Hall of Fame drama, "The courageous Heart of Irene Sandler" which won accolades from around the world. He also wrote and directed the TV movie, "Pope John Paul II" and the highly acclaimed movie, "The Sound and the Silence" about Alexander Graham Bell.
shown on the CBS Television Network in late April of 2010, just before Mothers Day. Stay tuned for further news on this important event. http://williamborchert.com/movie.html Doug Barrie www.aahistory.com IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 6118. . . . . . . . . . . . RE: Re-writing history in the movies From: Lee Carroll, CPA . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/16/2009 12:06:00 AM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII A I understand it, they are correctly crediting Lois as the Co-founder of Al-Anon, not AA. Please see press release:
Barry Pepper to co-star in 'Lois Wilson Story' By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
to star in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story." Production starts this week in Toronto ; the longform will air later this season on CBS.
the co-founder of Al-Anon, and her relationship with alcoholic husband Bill Wilson, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. The couple enjoyed an upscale lifestyle in the 1920s, but his drinking eventually led to their downfall. Eventually, her husband became sober -- but Lois Wilson still struggled with her own issues surrounding his alcoholism.
assist people whose loved ones battle addiction. E1 Entertainment is producing the movie with Hallmark Hall of Fame Prods. John Morayniss, Ira Pincus and Brent Shields are exec producing, while John Kent Harrison is the director. Telepic is based on the book by William Borchert, who also wrote the script with Camille Thomasson. Ryder's upcoming credits include "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee," while Pepper was seen in "61*" and "Flags of Our Fathers."
(http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20091112cbs03) says that:
G. Borchert, Is About the Trials and Ultimate Triumph of the Co-Founder of Al-Anon, Whose Alcoholic Husband Co-Founded AA" I checked online after seeing the previous AAHL post. I don't think Bill B would let them make that mistake.
Shakey Mike Gwirtz Phila, PA USA
(email at LaurenceHolbrook.com) Excerpts from Variety, November 10, 2009 http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011136.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 Winona Ryder 'Enough' for Hallmark Barry Pepper to co-star in 'Lois Wilson Story' By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
the co-founder of Al-Anon, and her relationship with alcoholic husband Bill Wilson, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. ... She eventually helped start Al-Anon in 1951 to assist people whose loved ones battle addiction ...
who also wrote the script with Camille Thomasson. A similar news release by CBS published by UPI is here:
movi\
Hallmark Hall of Fame movie When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story, Variety reports.
and will air later this season on CBS. The story is about Lois Wilson, the co-founder of Al-Anon, and her alcoholic husband Bill Wilson, who founded Alcoholics Anonymous."
Thanksgiving celebrations From: Richard H . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/21/2009 7:05:00 AM
to AA & Thanksgiving? Best regards, Richard Humway Area 73 (West Virginia) Archivist
on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.)
++++Message 6120. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Music in early AA From: Lynn Sawyer . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/17/2009 10:43:00 PM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Dear fellow HistoryLovers, I have a need/request. I emailed to a friend in Brazil about "music in A.A.," and he speaks Portuguese as his 1st language, and cannot understand the words of the songs, as they are singing too fast!! Are the words published somewhere, that I could connect him with? I'd appreciate whatever you could do. Thanks for bein' there!! :-) - - - - From G.C. the moderator: Lynn is asking about Message 6101 http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AAHistoryLovers/message/6101 which gave a YouTube version of a song they called "I'm an Alcoholic" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR_lrsnov5Y They added their own chorus to the song: "I know everything there is Folks all say that I'm a whiz I'm an alcoholic."
folksong from the English-speaking world called "I was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago."
http://www.ibiblio.org/folkindex/i03.htm gives thirty different folk versions of the song, collected by John and Alan Lomax, Carl Sandburg, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN-C7avRiMI Tommy Makem's Irish version from County Mayo (which Fiona Dodd insists is the correct version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IJ0Zkl0FPk
Elvis Presley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNfCAzY1U4I
(remembering that since it is a folk song, there are a number of different versions -- none of the ones online, for example, exactly match the version I heard in Kentucky as a child):
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/i/iwasborntenthousandyearsago.shtml http://www.whitetreeaz.com/yfof/tenthou.htm http://www.raypfob.com/iwasbornabout.htm IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 6121. . . . . . . . . . . . Re: A.A. and the U.S./Canadian Thanksgiving celebrations From: James Blair . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/21/2009 11:20:00 PM
to AA & Thanksgiving? The November 1949 issue of the AA Grapevine was dedicated to AA's 12 Traditions and a suggestion was put forward that Thanksgiving week be dedicated to meetings and meditation on the Traditions.
covering specifics to all group secretaries and that if the groups approved, special materials would be prepared and sent out. The November 1950 and 1951 issues celebrated Thanksgiving as Traditions week and then it was dropped.
Thanksgiving celebrations From: Charlie Bishop, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/21/2009 10:33:00 PM
November as "Gratitude Month," the information below is transcribed from Box 459 Vol. 46, No. 5/ October - November 2000 - - - - Gratitude Month Our Chance to Say `Thank You!' "The idea is in the air that A.A. might adopt Thanksgiving week as a time for
meetings and meditation on the Traditions," A.A. co-founder Bill W. wrote in the
November 1949 issue of the Grapevine (The Language of the Heart, p. 95) shortly
after publication of the Twelve Traditions. In fact, the idea had already taken
hold earlier in the decade when, each fall, the General Service Board hosted small Gratitude Dinners - precursors of the larger, more elaborate Gratitude Luncheons that would be held during the '60s as an initiative of the trustees' Public Information Committee.
designed
to coincide with Thanksgiving week in the U.S. (Canada celebrates in October), occurred in 1956, when the Sixth General Service Conference approved the motion,
stipulating that "this action be noted in the annual pre-Thanksgiving appeals to the groups for funds to help support A.A.'s worldwide services." Three years later, Bill urged in a letter, "Gratitude should go forward, rather than backward... if you carry the message to still others, you will be making the best possible repayment for the help given to you." (As Bill Sees It, p. 29).
personal gratefulness for the gift of sobriety; to carry the message of A.A. to other alcoholics; and to express appreciation to our professional friends for their numerous articles, books and radio and TV interviews relating to A.A. in the year just past. It was hoped, in the words of a General Service Office memo circulated at the time, that the luncheons would "advance A.A.'s public relations by bringing editors, publishers, writers and broadcasters in personal
contact with sources of reliable information on the movement." Held without fail in November at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel, the luncheons were always well-attended. A typical list of invitees to the 1965 luncheon included representatives of The New York Times, McCall's Magazine, Medical World News and The Christian Science Monitor. Bill W. always addressed the gatherings, as did the late "Dr. Jack" Norris, then serving as A.A.'s Class A (nonalcoholic) trustee chairman. A discussion period followed the proceedings, an ample selection of A.A. literature was available for the taking, and in 1965 Bill sent an autographed copy of A.A. Comes of Age to every guest. The luncheons were discontinued in 1968, but the concept of gratitude persisted and expanded in scope. For decades now, A.A.s in the U.S. have set aside all of November as Gratitude Month - marking the occasion with special contributions to G.S.O. In the spirit of the Seventh Tradition A.A. is self-supporting through its members' contributions, and frequently turns away money from well-meaning outside contributors. This means that the active input of every A.A. is vital to the life of the Fellowship. Grateful for the sobriety they've been given and eager to pass it on, A.A.s are
busier than ever in Twelfth Stepping and service. They are reaching out in greater numbers to Loners, people with special needs, members of minority groups and previously unreached alcoholics. It is clear from their sharing that an overwhelming number of A.A.s - along with many of our professional friends - find their own special ways to say thank you during Gratitude Month and, indeed, all year long. Writes one member: "Enclosed is a check for Gratitude Month, because I want A.A. to be there for all those who need it, just as I did." From
another: "The enclosed check is from my own pocket, to help groups in correctional facilities like mine. Some of us are struggling to turn our lives around. We begin the process in here ourselves, and by reaching out." And a nonalcoholic missionary wrote from India, "It is a matter of great encouragement and satisfaction that your A.A. has been a rich resource of guidance, help and
light for a number of organizations dealing with problems related to alcohol...." Besides observing Gratitude Month, many a member uses the A.A. Birthday Plan "to
give back what's been given to me," as one wrote. And from another fateful A.A.:
"I want to say thanks today for my life and my family's - or all of us alcoholics in recovery," he wrote. "Enclosed is an anniversary check, because I want the hand of A.A. to be there for all who need it." Like him, many Yüklə 11,49 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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