Matt J. describes his family tree as “littered with problem drinkers”, of which he became one all too quickly. As an only child, Matt grew up in a home where verbal and physical abuse reigned supreme. By the time his parents got divorced, his coping mechanisms included locking himself in his room with books and baseball cards upon which he could obsess. Such means of escape followed him into his teenage years when he found alcohol as a ready-made solution to his feelings of isolation, fear, and shame. Curiously, at a relatively young age, he reflected on his own drinking and wondered if he needed AA. But such introspection soon passed as he continued to drink more heavily throughout his college years and early business career. With drinking-related problems mounting, Matt’s solitary drinking damaged his marriage and job to the extent that suicide appeared an attractive option. Subsequently, though diagnosed with clinical depression, the prescribed medications did little to help as he continued to drink. Financial ruin, in the form of personal bankruptcy finally backed him into a corner from which there was no escape and Matt entered the rooms of AA in 2014.

Finding that some of his obsessive nature accompanied him into AA, Matt set about mastering the literature to the point of self-isolation in the Program. Fortunately, some old-timers convinced Matt to get involved in a balanced Program with service and fellowship as the core elements in his sobriety. Since then, Matt’s involvement in AA has emanated from the center of the Program. In addition to regular meetings, Matt co-hosts the podcast, Sober Friends, on which I’ve had the opportunity to appear.  

Considering his background, Matt’s success in Alcoholics Anonymous is encouraging evidence of the healing and gifts AA holds for those who really want it and who are willing to do the work. Matt’s personal level of contentment correlates beautifully with the level of service work he does within his Program and admirably reflects his desire to carry the message to other alcoholics.

So please enjoy the next 60 minutes with my podcasting friend and AA brother, Matt J.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperbackfrom Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

[Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has so freely been given to me.

Today’s podcast is my interview is with Ron B., a man whom I’d just met  at a Friends of Bill W. meeting on an enormous cruise ship earlier this year. As we had both attended floating AA meetings before, neither of us was surprised when the two of us were the only attendees. After talking for a while, I asked Ron if he’d like to share his story of 43 years of sobriety. Seeing it as an opportunity to help others, he immediately said “yes”.

So, as the ship made its way from its home port in Galveston Texas to the western Caribbean, Ron shared his captivating story of long-term sobriety. We talked about Ron's childhood and adolescence. It was a mostly normal family in which there was no excessive alcohol use nor verbal or physical abuse. But even as innocuous social use of alcohol portended little fear of becoming an alcoholic, Ron’s behavior around booze morphed into full-blown alcoholism by his early thirties. As Ron contended with horrendous physical, mental, and emotional anguish, he was also neck-deep in the diseases’ ruinous effects on his family and job. His only two options were to stop drinking or go onto the bitter end. His last gasp for help resulted in a 30-day inpatient rehab, followed by immediate involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous. He stuck around to do the arduous work of building a better life without drinking, staying ever-vigilant of the hideous lures the disease can dangle in the faces of the uncommitted, prideful, uninitiated, or skeptical. In the  process, Ron has put together 43 years of contented sobriety.

I feel that you will identify with the valuable mixture of similarities and differences present in Ron’s story. So please sit back and enjoy this episode of AA Recovery Interviews with one of my newest ‘Friends of Bill W, fresh off the ship and here for you: Ron B.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperbackfrom Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

[Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has so freely been given to me.]

Ray’s difficult road to sobriety was paved with many failed attempts to get sober over the years. Each attempt was thwarted by the belief that his situation was somehow different than the people he met in 6 different treatment centers and sporadic AA meetings. The similarities of his loneliness and wanting to fit in were eclipsed by the differences he saw in his social standing and material advantages he enjoyed via his family of wealth and privilege. Each alcoholic debacle he encountered over the years, such as totaling 3 new BMWs and facing multiple DUI charges, was met by his parents’ earnest, yet enabling, efforts to bail him out of trouble. After each extrication, Ray’s half-hearted commitments to sobriety were accompanied by fabulous business opportunities that were viewed by all as some kind of antidote to his worsening alcoholism. Though he did quit drinking, he continued to use marijuana and his behavior didn’t change at all. The resulting downward slide, unaided by family help in the end, brought Ray both business ruin and ruptures in all of his relationships. He finally came back to AA. Though he encountered a few more slips along the way, he got a sponsor, worked the steps, and was ultimately able to claim his last sobriety date in 2009.

The gifts of sobriety have been many for Ray over the years and, most importantly, they’ve been gifts of similarity shared with his fellows in the Program. Instructive, too, have been the severe challenges he has faced, including his battle with a form of lymphoma that many people don’t survive. Through it all, Ray has developed a deep love for the Program and an unwavering commitment to service work. Especially during the Covid pandemic, when his co-morbidities made it impossible for live meetings, he has been instrumental in setting up and managing a number of Zoom AA meetings around the country. Thankfully, his is the first face of recovery that many new AA members encounter when they log onto Zoom for their first meeting.

I’m grateful to have Ray in my life and appreciate all he does for our AA community. I think you’ll find his story to be both encouraging and illustrative. So settle in for the next hour or so while you enjoy the inspiring words of my good friend and AA brother, Ray O.

[This Encore Interview was originally released December 1, 2021 as Episode 54 in the AA Recovery Interviews podcast series.]

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperbackfrom Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

[Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has so freely been given to me.

[This is an encore of Episode 84 originally released June 29, 2022]

Alcoholism nearly ended Justin’s marriage and his career as an airline pilot. Then he found sobriety and recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous.  Raised in a family rife with alcoholics, Justin’s role model was a father who suffered with alcoholism and co-occurring mental health issues, and ultimately committed suicide. Though warned by his mother about the family proclivity for alcoholism, Justin continued to ramp up his drinking throughout high school and college. By the time his career as an airline pilot took off, so did his drinking. To quell any concerns from fellow pilots and crews that he might be drinking too much, Justin became a solitary drinker. He never drank on the job, but his after-hours and days off were spent drinking in hotel rooms and at home. Still, he functioned well-enough to start a family and keep his job amidst umpteen promises that he would cut back and control his drinking. But those promises turned hollow as each attempt to stop inevitably ended with still more drinking. When Justin first found AA, he made a half-hearted attempt to get sober. But four months in and none of the work done, Justin figured he’d gotten all he could from AA. So naturally, he decided he could drink like a normal man. With that first drink, his disease re-surfaced with vengeance and his life went into a tailspin. Justin hit his bottom when his wife expelled him from their home. Fortunately, he turned to his pilot’s union and employer for help. He was immediately whisked away to an inpatient rehab facility followed by an intensive outpatient treatment and aftercare program. Though his medical certification was revoked and he could no longer fly, Justin persevered in treatment. He rejoined AA and began to seriously work the Program. His new commitment to AA was replete with sponsor, step-work, meetings, book study, prayer, and service. As sober days passed, his accountability to his wife, his Program, his employer and the FAA were re-established while he concurrently fulfilled the rigorous requirements to re-instate his certification to fly.

Two years later, Justin has become firmly entrenched in AA and is a regular member of several meetings I attend. He does Zoom meetings and live meetings wherever he travels. He has a sponsor to whom he remains close, and sponsors other men to keep himself sober. The gifts that Justin has realized from the Program include getting his marriage back intact and being reinstated to his job as a trusted pilot for a major airline. Justin’s enthusiasm for AA and his infectious smile naturally draw newcomers and old-timers into his life. His story is timeless and continues to generate hope, especially for those in his profession, who reach out for his help. His two years of experience shared within the fellowship are invaluable to those who want it.

It’s with real gratitude that I offer you this exceptional episode of AA Recovery Interviews. So please enjoy the next hour and ten minutes with my fine friend and AA brother, Justin M.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first pub...

Nadia's personal story was published in the 4th Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous in 2001. She’s the first AA member I’ve interviewed whose backstory can be read by anyone with a Big Book. Combined with today’s interview, Nadia’s story comes alive in many ways, beginning with her emigration from France after World War II with her mother who had suffered as a slave laborer under the Nazis. Landing in Canada after the war, her childhood was a wretched time in her life, during which her mother was beaten by her stepfather, while Nadia was abused both verbally and physically. By the time she left home at 18, her escape was aided greatly by the same excessive use of alcohol that had helped her survive her teenage years. University and a law degree steered her into becoming an attorney, where her first years were spent in heart-wrenching criminal cases, before she moved into corporate governance law. As with many of the attorneys I’ve interviewed, heavy drinking quickly became part of her life. Like many other lawyers, Nadia was able to confine her drinking to non-work hours while she continued to function and even succeed in her legal career. But inevitably, the effects of her blossoming alcoholism, including hangovers and declining performance at work, began to intrude upon her work life. After some half-hearted attempts at sobriety, Nadia rapidly descended into the darkness of despair, from which the faint beacon of Alcoholic Anonymous finally guided her toward the rooms. Thoroughly licked, and ready to do the work, Nadia found AA in 1980, and immersed herself in all aspects of the Program, including sponsoring other women and all manner of service work, both in Canada and around the world.

Though Nadia’s personal story is well-told in the Big Book, it’s the 21 years since that story was printed that truly enhance the tale of life well-lived according the principals of the 12 steps. It’s a tale that runs the gamut from tragedy to triumph, replete with human foibles along the way. I am grateful to walk alongside people like Nadia on the road of happy destiny.

Whether you read Nadia's Big Book story before or after listening to this interview, I think you’ll be doubly impacted by the power and grace in both versions. So please enjoy the next hour and five minutes of this episode of AA Recovery Interviews with my new friend and AA sister, Nadia S.

[This is an encore of Episode 77 originally released May 11, 2022]

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperbackfrom Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

[Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA

By age 15, Kristina had already been in treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm, and a suicide attempt. It took another 14 years for her to find lasting and contented sobriety in AA. Kristina’s struggles with addiction, alcoholism, and mental illness began with a difficult childhood. Though raised in affluence, her childhood was marred by a myriad of family chaos and conflict. By age five, Kristina was already engaging in self-harm (cutting) and other behaviors to cope. By her adolescence, she had added alcohol and drugs to her escalating means of escape, and even attempted suicide. By 15, her parents had run out of conventional treatment approaches and put Kristina into a three-year program with other troubled youths. During that time, she first experienced AA meetings, albeit as a unwilling and reluctant attendee. Amazingly she stayed clean and sober for three years, though her ultimate plan to return to drugs and alcohol was fulfilled shortly thereafter. More failed attempts to help Kristina culminated in devastating crisis at age 22 when her boyfriend of two years suffered a fatal drug overdose. Crushed by the loss, she abruptly stopped using intravenous drugs. Instead, she turned solely to alcohol and cutting to deal with her grief and anxiety. Kristina’s odyssey over the next seven years was fraught with additional attempts at treatment and even some progress amidst her functional alcoholism. But it was debilitating depression and hopelessness that paved her way to the bottom. At 29, with seemingly no other alternative than suicide, Kristina was finally ready to accept help. That meant in-patient medical help for her mental health issues, intensive outpatient treatment, and a new willingness to work a God-centered AA Program.   

At nearly 4 years of sobriety, Kristina’s journey from the abyss to the center of AA is nothing short of a miracle. In addition to her arduous work in the Program to assure her own sobriety, her service work extends beyond AA into her professional life as a mental health therapist. It’s been amazing to watch Kristina’s rise from the depths of despair to the heights of true God-consciousness and reliance. Her story is an inspiration, especially to women of her generation who’ve struggled with alcoholism, substance abuse, and mental illness.

In full disclosure, I’ve known of Kristina’s struggles and successes, largely through a close friendship I’ve had with her father for many years. I’m grateful he never stopped believing in her. But it also took his very well-worked Al-Anon program to help him support her in many ways that benefited and blessed them both. His is an remarkable Al-Anon story I hope to share with you in a future show.

But for now, please enjoy this episode of AA Recovery Interviews as we focus the next 65 minutes on an extraordinary woman whom I am honored to call my friend and AA sister, Kristina C.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books.

Richard's life-long battle with alcoholism was abated for nearly two decades in AA. But he let up on his Program and ultimately relapsed on "thimbles" of moonshine in a Mississippi bar. His drinking resumed and he quickly found himself back in the same alcoholic quagmire that AA had extricated him from years earlier. Depleted physically, mentally, and emotionally, Richard found himself at the jumping off point. He was finally ready to accept help from two sober sisters and his mother, all of whom encouraged him to go s to AA. As the inevitability of an alcoholic death loomed large, Richard dragged himself back into the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous a little over two years ago. But getting sober this time was further complicated by serious pulmonary disease for which he uses an oxygen concentrator to breathe. As he awaits the possibility of a lung transplant, Richard has become the very model of courage in the face of adversity. His reliable service work for the AA club we both attend has endeared him to all of its attendees and has made him a ready resource of information about the club and AA in general.  

Richard’s willingness to share his remarkable story of battling pulmonary attacks and alcoholism simultaneously shines a bright light on the importance of meetings to support each other in sickness and in health. I feel you will find much to be inspired about in Richard’s story. I invite you to sit back and enjoy another awesome episode of AA Recovery Interviews with my AA friend and brother, Richard B.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

Welcome back my friends to AA Recovery Interviews. I’m your host, Howard L. and I’m an alcoholic, sober since January 1, 1988, one day at a time. I’m grateful you’ve joined us. AA Recovery Interviews is the podcast where Alcoholics Anonymous members from around the world share their timeless and extraordinary stories of experience, strength, and hope. There are over 180 interviews in this podcast series, all of which you can enjoy on aarecoveryinterviews.com and all podcast apps.

As disturbing as some personal stories can be, most take place before sobriety. But in the case of today’s guest, Ted O., the worst of the worst happened at nearly ten years into the 42 years of sobriety. For it was on a mostly deserted road in rural Mexico that Ted and another AA friend were way-laid by three modern-day banditos. After being robbed, Ted was tied up and forced to lay in a ditch, while three shots rang out from across the road. Fearing he was the next to die, Ted was surprised when the murderers drove off, only to return to finish the job. The outlaw with the Glock fired two bullets into Ted’s torso. A third slug missed his head by inches. Being a gun owner himself, Ted diagnosed a jammed cartridge while he waited for the fatal shot…

Rather than make this intro a teaser for a true crime podcast, I’ll let Ted finish the story. And, as remarkable as Ted’s story is, what’s more remarkable is that he stayed sober in the midst and aftermath of a horrible situation in which less-grounded alcoholics might have drank. At 82 years of age and 42 years sober, Ted’s testimony is chock full of experiences, both good and bad, that many long-term members will identify with. Newer members may find parts of his incredible story hard to believe, but nevertheless, it is true. No matter where you are on AA’s road of recovery, I feel you will be enriched by Ted’s  story. It’s the latest of over 180 interviews in the AA Recovery Interviews podast series. So put please enjoy the next hour with my long-time friend and AA brother, Ted O.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

Richard's life-long battle with alcoholism was abated for nearly two decades in AA. But he let up on his Program and ultimately relapsed on "thimbles" of moonshine in a Mississippi bar. His drinking resumed and he quickly found himself back in the same alcoholic quagmire that AA had extricated him from years earlier. Depleted physically, mentally, and emotionally, Richard found himself at the jumping off point. He was finally ready to accept help from two sober sisters and his mother, all of whom encouraged him to go s to AA. As the inevitability of an alcoholic death loomed large, Richard dragged himself back into the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous a little over two years ago. But getting sober this time was further complicated by serious pulmonary disease for which he uses an oxygen concentrator to breathe. As he awaits the possibility of a lung transplant, Richard has become the very model of courage in the face of adversity. His reliable service work for the AA club we both attend has endeared him to all of its attendees and has made him a ready resource of information about the club and AA in general.  

Richard’s willingness to share his remarkable story of battling pulmonary attacks and alcoholism simultaneously shines a bright light on the importance of meetings to support each other in sickness and in health. I feel you will find much to be inspired about in Richard’s story. I invite you to sit back and enjoy another awesome episode of AA Recovery Interviews with my AA friend and brother, Richard B.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.

Nancy K. is an extraordinary woman whose 53 years of  continuous sobriety is a stunning achievement built upon the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Growing up in a home dominated by a violent alcoholic father, Nancy started drinking at age 12 to quell the constant fear and self-loathing she felt daily. Seemingly “rescued” at age 17 by her first failed marriage, Nancy continued to drink heavily with her husband, hastening the inevitable divorce. Her second marriage involved the same kind of abuse, dysfunction, and divorce. but was further complicated by three children. Lacking interest and skills in child-raising, Nancy turned to the bottle, but felt little relief after so many years of self-recrimination. Her drinking increased, and her completely hopeless state of mind manifest as feelings of guilt, shame, regret, and self-punishment. With her second divorce looming, Nancy’s thoughts turned to suicide. But she stopped short of it and a divine ray of hope lead her to Alcoholics Anonymous in 1972 at the age of 31.

My interview with Nancy K. covers a wide range of experiences over her 53 years of continuous sobriety. She talks about the good times and the bad times; the challenges of maintaining sobriety in the midst of both difficulties and good fortune; and the importance of using a sponsor, working the steps, attending meetings, and service work. It would be easy to point to Nancy’s 53 years of concurrent sobriety and AA membership as proof the Program works in the long-term. But it’s so much more than that. Hear it for yourself over the next hour as AA Recovery Interviews welcomes my newest friend and AA sister, the remarkable Nancy K.

If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, Apple Books, or Amazon.

 I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.