Big Book Podcast

This story was printed only in the Second Editions,  so it has remained largely unseen by those AAs who’ve otherwise been raised on the Third and Fourth Editions. As with the last story, the author of this story is unknown. A deep dive into AA history indicates little about this author, except the fact that he was a Canadian man who got sober in the middle to late 1940’s. But like many other anonymous stories, the obscurity of the author does not diminish the impact of his testimony.  As you listen to it, perhaps for the first time, I think you’ll find many similarities to contemporary AA stories.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

Unlike many stories in the First and Second Editions of the Big Book, the author of this story is unknown. We know from the story that he got sober in 1950 and was still sober four years later when he wrote the story for the Second Edition. Whether his ultimate obscurity was intentional or not, the story itself still resonates in the annals of AA history with familiar strains for all who hear it. As it was printed only in the Second and Third Editions, if you’ve never seen it,  I hope you enjoy listening to it for the first time.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

This story's author, Esther E., got sober in Texas in 1941 and was inspired to seek help from AA’s relatively new General Service Office in New York after reading Jack Alexander’s seminal article about Alcoholics Anonymous published in the Saturday Evening Post. A week after she wrote to the GSO, she received literature and a referral to a local sober member of AA who could help her. But, as she related in a 1953 speech, it was the personal handwritten letter from Ruth Hock, the non-alcoholic secretary at the General Service Office, that gave her the most hope that AA could work.

In her 19 years of sobriety, until her death in 1960, Esther’s service work helped establish the Houston Group, as well as AA groups in Dallas, Fort Worth, New Orleans, and San Antonio. In 1953, one of her fellow members summed up the importance of her involvement in the Program by saying, “Esther was the catalyst that made AA work…, I don’t think the opportunity exists now for any one person to be as influential in establishing AA as Esther.” Written in the early 1950's, this story was printed only in the Second and Third Editions, so it may be heard as "brand new' by many listeners.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Alcoholics Anonymous and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First & Second Editions. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

This short, but powerful, story was written by John P. and appeared only in the Second Edition, which is why most AA’s have never seen it. John enumerated four paradoxes of the AA program and why they are so important: 1) We surrender to win; 2) We give away to keep; 3) We suffer to get well; and 4) We die to live. He also wrote a poignant update to his Big Book story for the July 1967 issue of the Grapevine. With the perspective of 12 years of sobriety, John said: “…in A.A. we don't just quit drinking. We learn to change our self-centeredness, to stop running away from things we don't like, and to remove or at least adjust our emotional shortcomings. We do these things by taking seriously and honestly our Twelve Steps, the nearest thing to a 'cure' for alcoholism that anybody has yet discovered.” He went on to say, “We learn to do these things not by just memorizing the Steps (though that is a good idea), but by attempting to live and act them each day or our lives. And eventually, often when we least expect it, we discover that as a result of all this we are happy and contented and full of thanksgiving -- something I once knew (or thought I knew) I could never be, without drinking."

"The Professor and the Paradox" is story 3 in part 2 of the Personal Stories section of the Second Edition of the Big Book published in 1955.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

This relatively short story was authored by Ceil M., who got sober in New York City in 1949. As with other authors of Personal Stories in the Big Book who achieved long-term sobriety in AA, Ceil M. provided an update to her story some 18 years after she and her husband, George, first came into the Program. In an article published in the September 1968 issue of the Grapevine, Ceil spoke of the happiness she and George had enjoyed in the intervening years as active members of AA. She said, “Friends ask us why we continue to go to meetings, do Twelfth Step work, and speak at other groups. They ask, ‘Isn't eighteen years enough time to prove you have the alcoholic problem licked?’ My answer,” she said, “is always the same: that I love my AA. It is the one Fellowship that has given us our lives, our freedom, and happiness. We are not reformed drunks -- but informed alcoholics.”  

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

The first of 12 stories in Part 2 of the Big Book presents a compelling case to stop drinking sooner than later and save years of infinite suffering. It was written by Pete W., who got sober in 1945. It was published only in the Second and Third Editions, so it’s likely those who’ve been raised by the Fourth Edition will find it to be a fascinating "new" story. Historically, not much is known about Pete W., but in a speaker tape I found from 1962, I was impressed by his continuous involvement in AA through the 12th Step work he did throughout his sobriety. During the speaker meeting, Pete mentioned his wife, Florence, many times and her ardent support of his efforts to stay sober in AA over their many years of marriage. She is the heart of this captivating story I’m sure you will enjoy.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

Most readers of the Big Book will recognize “The Keys of the Kingdom”, as it was published in the Second, Third, and Fourth Editions. Its author, Sylvia K, traveled from Chicago to Akron and Cleveland, Ohio in early 1939, around the time that the Big Book was first published, but not yet widely available. After reading the book and meeting with recovering alcoholics, she was encouraged to return to Chicago to get a group started there. Although she ultimately did not get sober until September 1939, both she and Earl T., whose story, “He Sold Himself Short” was presented in an earlier episode, worked diligently to establish Chicago’s first AA group. Together, they were the two most important founding members of Chicago AA. Sylvia stayed sober until her death in 1974, and held the distinction of being the first woman to achieve long-term sobriety as the direct result of Alcoholics Anonymous. She was a true pioneer in every sense of the word.

"The Keys of the Kingdom" is story 12 in part 1 of the Personal Stories section of the Second Edition of the Big Book published in 1955.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

This was one of only five of the original 29 stories in the First Edition to make it into the Second Edition. Its author, Clarence S., got sober in early 1938. Along with a dozen other sober alcoholics from Cleveland, he would make the 40 mile drive to Akron each week to attend the Oxford Group with Dr. Bob and other original members of the Akron group. At the time, a majority of the Cleveland contingent were Catholic. According to Clarence S, when the Roman Catholic Church learned that these men were attending the Protestant-based Oxford Group, it threatened excommunication if they continued to attend.

Clarence informed Dr. Bob and the members of the yet-to-be-named Akron group that Catholics in the Cleveland group would have stop coming, which might result in their drinking. The initial reluctance of the Akron group to sever ties with the Oxford Group quickly created a rift between the Cleveland and Akron groups. As a result of that rift, Clarence and several others put together their own group in Cleveland in May 1939. They named the group "Alcoholics Anonymous" after the title of the newly published Big Book and modeled it upon the 12 Steps therein. Some AA historians consider this to be the very first AA group, not affiliated with the Oxford Group. Along with the Big Book, it soon became the model for groups everywhere. Eventually, the Akron group also split from the Oxford Group to focus solely on AA and become an organization that is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution.

Though it may not be referenced in his story, Clarence’s personal influence on AA’s pillars of inclusiveness and universality, have certainly earned him a place among the great early AA pioneers.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

Earl T., got sober in 1938 with the help of Dr. Bob and a number of original members of the fledgling Akron group. He then took his newfound sobriety and program knowledge back to his hometown, Chicago. For more than a year, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to put together an AA group. Finally, he was able to attract a few members, but not before he had sent them to Akron to be indoctrinated into the Program by Dr. Bob and others, and then return to Chicago. It seems that Earl did not feel up to the job, or adequate to pass the program onto new members, without the help of Akron’s established AAs.  

Nonetheless, Earl’s efforts to spread AA’s message to a major city like Chicago was an important step forward and his would have been a captivating story for the First Edition. However, when calls for stories for the First Edition came out in 1938, Earl refused to write his story for the yet-to-be published Big Book. While the reasons are not entirely clear, some AA historians suggest that there was a mistrustful and somewhat toxic atmosphere in 1938 and '39 surrounding the writing of the Big Book and its use of personal stories among Akron's members.

Earl T. and Bill D. were among a faction concerned that the writing of the Big Book was more about making money for its New York author, Bill W., than anything else and refused to submit stories for the First Edition. It wasn’t until years later, well-after that notion was dispelled and when the Big Book’s true purpose was firmly established, that Earl T. and a few others allowed their stories to be published in the Second Edition for the first time. The fact that Earl T’s story has been included in every edition of the Big Book since, is proof-positive of its timeless message and significant impact.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.

“The Man Who Mastered Fear” was printed in the Second, Third, and Fourth Editions. It’s actually is an expanded version of a story printed in the First Edition of the Big Book titled “The Fearful One” by Archie T. from Detroit which was less than four pages long. “The Man Who Mastered Fear” was nearly twelve pages in length and written shortly before the publication of the Second Edition when Archie T. had over 16 years of sobriety.

Archie got sober in Akron in 1938 and, as a matter of fact, lived with Dr. Bob and his wife Anne for nearly a year during which he was active in Akron AA. In 1939, Archie returned to Detroit to make amends to those he had harmed and establish AA in that city using the simple model created by Bill W. and Dr. Bob of making contact with doctors, ministers, lawyers, and others to identify alcoholics with whom he could work. Though a struggle at the time, Archie’s efforts eventually resulted in the formation of Detroit’s first AA group in late 1939 and the saving of many lives in the process.

If you go back and listen to the earlier episode of “The Fearful One”, I think you’ll agree that the additional details Archie provided in “The Man Who Mastered Fear” make for a richer and more colorful story everyone  can enjoy.

Howard L, sober since January 1, 1988, presents this inspired reading of the Big Book and encourages listeners to revisit earlier podcast episodes that feature the main chapters and stories in the First Edition of the Big Book. Enjoy listening on our website, BigBookPodcast.com, or download and subscribe to the podcast for free at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you have a minute, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Also join our facebook group, Big Book Podcast Listeners, where you can share your thoughts and experiences with fellow listeners.