Dr Bob and Bill W. Speak: AA's Cofounders Tell Their Stories

by Michael Fitzpatrick

Overview

Learn about the luminaries behind one of the greatest social movements of our time through the never-before-published recordings, letters, and stories found in this intimate multimedia retrospective.

Learn about the luminaries behind one of the greatest social movements of our time through the never–before–published recordings, letters, and stories found in this intimate multimedia retrospective.This unique book and audio CD draw on letters, journal entries, and speeches from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) conferences, and recorded conversations to tell the personal stories of AA cofounders Dr. Bob and Bill W. The book and CD reveal the cofounders’ unique contributions to the creation and development of AA, the Big Book, and the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. The book explores their lives, starting with their early drinking days, while the audio recordings begin with their first speeches in the 1940s and continue through Bill W.’s last talk given at the Miami International Convention in 1970, just months before he died.AA historian and archivist Michael Fitzpatrick used his research conducted at Stepping Stones (the former home of Bill W.) and Dr. Bob’s home, excerpts from the AA Grapevine, and his own private collection to offer this multimedia retrospective.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616494155
Publisher:	Hazelden Publishing
Publication date:	11/06/2012
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael Fitzpatrick is coauthor with William G. Borchert of 1000 Years of Sobriety and author of the first book under the Legacy 12 imprint, We Recovered Too. He is also co-author with Mel B. of Living the Twelve Traditions in Today's World. He is one of the leading historians and speakers in the field of alcoholism, specializing in the development of the Twelve Step movement. He owns what is possibly the largest audio archive related to the Twelve Step movement ever assembled: more than three thousand original reel-to-reel recordings of the voices of the men and women who pioneered the Twelve Step movement.Fitzpatrick lives in Chandler, Arizona.

Table of Contents

Guide to the Audio CD xi

Introduction 1

Prologue 5

1 The Messenger 13

2 "If There Is a God, Will He Show Himself?" 37

3 The Meeting That Changed History 49

4 "The Prince of All Twelve Steppers" 69

5 The Princess and the Prince 85

6 "Let's Not Louse It All Up" 103

7 AA's Beginnings in New York 121

8 The Birth Pangs of AA through Bill and Bob's Early Letters 135

9 Bill Speaks about AA's Future 161

Epilogue: The Rest of the Story 187

Appendices

A Bill W.'s Interview with Mike Wallace 191

B Correspondence between Bill W. and Dr. Bob, Spring 1940 197

C A Personal Exchange between Dr. Bob and Bill W. by Wire 203

D Obituary Excerpts 205

E The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous 207

F The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous 209

Notes 211

About the Author 215