12. He Sold Himself Short

But he found that there was a Higher Power which had more faith in him than he had in himself. Thus, A.A. was born in Chicago.       I GREW up in a small town outside Akron, Ohio, where the life was

11. The Man Who Mastered Fear

He spent eighteen years in running away; and then found he didn’t have to run. So he started A.A. in Detroit.       FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS, from the age of twenty-one to thirty-nine, fear governed my life. By the time I was

10. From Farm To City

She tells how A.A. works when the going is rough. A pioneer woman member of A.A.’s first Group.       I COME FROM a very poor family in material things, with a fine Christian mother, but with no religious background. I was

9. The News Hawk

This newsman covered life from top to bottom; but he ended up, safely enough, in the middle.       WITH NOTHING but a liberal arts education, very definitely estranged from my family and already married, soon after graduation from college I became

8. The Vicious Cycle

How it finally broke a Southerner’s obstinacy and destined this salesman to start A.A. at Philadelphia.       JANUARY 8, 1938—that was my D-Day; the place, Washington, D.C. This last real merry-go-round had started the day before Christmas and I had really

7. The European Drinker

Beer and wine were not the answer.       I WAS born in Europe, in Alsace to be exact, shortly after it had become German and practically grew up with “good Rhine wine” of song and story. My parents had some vague

6. Women Suffer Too

Despite great opportunities, alcohol nearly ended her life. Early member, she spread the word among women in our pioneering period.       WHAT WAS I saying . . . From far away, as if in a delirium, I had heard my own

5. He Thought He Could Drink Like A Gentleman

      I WAS BORN in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1889, the last child of a family of eight children. My parents were hard working people. My father was a railroad man and a Civil War veteran. I can remember that in my

4. He Had To Be Shown

“Who is convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” But not this man.       I WAS THE OLDEST of three children, and my father was an alcoholic. One of the earliest memories that I have is of a

3. Alcoholics Anonymous Number Three

Pioneer member of Akron’s Group No. 1, the first A.A. group in the world. He kept the faith; therefore, he and countless others found a new life.       ONE OF FIVE children, I was born on a Kentucky farm in Carlyle