Dick B.: The Real "Power" Behind Alcoholics Anonymous: February 2015

A.A. Cofounder Dr. Bob’s Youngstown, Ohio, Talk about the Bible and Prayer

By Ken B. (based on research done by Dick B.)

A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob gave a lead (“talk”) in Youngstown, Ohio, in the early 1940’s in which he described the role of prayer and Bible reading in the lives of A.A. members at that time. In his talk, Dr. Bob said in part:

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous begin the day with a prayer for strength and a short period of Bible reading. They find the basic messages they need in the Sermon on the Mount, in Corinthians and the Book of James.[1]

Dr. Bob also indicated in that talk that he himself had been an ardent reader of the Bible, as will be seen in the fuller discussion about his talk presented below. In fact, the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers states that Dr. Bob “. . . read the Bible from cover to cover three times and could quote favorite passages verbatim.”[2] DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers also states about Dr. Bob:

(Dr. Bob was always positive about his faith, Clarence said. If someone asked him a question about the [A.A.] program, his usual response was: “What does it say in the Good Book?” Suppose he was asked, “What’s all this ‘First Things First’?” Dr. Bob would be ready with the appropriate quotation: “‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’”)[3]

Here are some of author Wally P.’s comments about the summary by A.D. LeMinte [or “Le Monte”[4]] of Dr. Bob’s talk given in Youngstown, Ohio, in the early 1940’s.

A fifth pamphlet that came out of Akron in the 1940s was titled What Others Think of Alcoholics Anonymous. This pamphlet was published by the Friday Forum Luncheon Club of the Akron A.A. Groups.

The pamphlet consisted of a series of reprints from various newspaper articles written in the early 1940s about Alcoholics Anonymous. The pamphlet was described in an article in the February 1943 newsletter, the Cleveland Central Bulletin: . . .[5]^,[6]

The pamphlet contained a “lead” given by Dr. Bob in Youngstown, Ohio. Dr. Bob’s words were summarized by A.D. LeMinte of the Youngstown, Ohio Vindicator . . .[7]

The speaker told how he ended 35 years of steady drinking after trying various methods that included hospital and sanitariums. Ardent reading of the Bible and an earnest desire to stay sober also failed. He still got drunk every night. Then he met the other founder-to-be, who had been sober for four months and had learned that the way to convince himself was to convince some other drunk.

Then they began working on a third alcoholic and this practical cure for drunkenness was born.

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous begin the day with a prayer for strength and a short period of Bible reading. They find the basic messages they need in the Sermon on the Mount, in Corinthians and the Book of James.

“But that is not enough,” the speaker said, “for you cannot honestly accept what you read without putting it into practice, and that means you must help somebody else. . . .”^{[13] [8]}

So here we see again the importance of the Bible and prayer in early A.A.—particularly in Ohio.

Gloria Deo

[1] Dick B., The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible, 2d ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 1997), 21. See also: The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks (New York, NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975), 13.

[2] DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (New York, N.Y.: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980), 310.

[3] DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, 144.

[4] The last name of the writer of the article in the Vindicator is spelled “Le Monte” in at least two other sources: (1) Stephanie Muravchik, American Protestantism in the Age of Psychology (Cambridge University Press, 2011), 126, fn. 57. [Muravchik’s source of the pamphlet: “Pamphlet Box 3, file ‘Ohio,’ GSOA” (“GSOA” = “General Service Office Archives, New York City”)]; and (2) Bill Lash, “What Others Think of AA (1940s),” [post/message] 5318, in “AAHistoryLovers” Yahoo Group, Oct 23, 2008: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/aahistorylovers/conversations/messages/5318; accessed 2/19/2015. [Lash’s source of the pamphlet: “. . . found in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, archives”—i.e., the A.A. archives in that city.]

[5] Wally P., But, for the Grace of God . . . (Wheeling, WV: The Bishop of Books, 1995), 43. Thus we know that Dr. Bob gave his talk in Youngstown, Ohio; and that A.D. LeMinte [or “Le Monte”] wrote the related article in the Vindicator; by no later than February 1943.

[6] A purported transcript of the entire What Others Think of Alcoholics Anonymous pamphlet may be found here: Bill Lash, “What Others Think of AA (1940s),” [post/message] 5318, in “AAHistoryLovers” Yahoo Group, Oct 23, 2008: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/aahistorylovers/conversations/messages/5318; accessed 2/19/2015.

[7] Wally P., But, for the Grace of God . . . , 43.

[8] Wally P., But, for the Grace of God . . . , 45. Footnote 13 on page 46 of Wally P., But, for the Grace of God . . . , states: A.D. LeMinte, “Alcoholics Anonymous Co-Founder Tells of Breaking 35-Year Drunk” Vindicator; reprinted in What Others Think of Alcoholics Anonymous (Akron, OH: Friday Forum Luncheon Club of Akron A.A. Groups, 1944) 4-5.