Clancy I. (Venice, CA) — ‘Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditons Study’; 19920905 – Clancy

About This Speaker Tape

The speaker, Clancy, delivers a sprawling, self-aware address on the nature of alcoholism, comparing it to a 'disease of dis-ease.' He contrasts the desperate pleas of the sick in cancer wards or AIDS wards with the persistent, stubborn reality of the alcoholic ward. He argues that AA offers a unique answer, not through perfect adherence, but through willingness to grow spiritually. Clancy recounts his own history—from a successful advertising writer and university faculty member to being thrown out of a skid row mission—to show that the path is messy.

The core message is that the greatest gift is desperation, and that the work lies in the actions of the Steps and Traditions, not in achieving some perfect state.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Elizabeth Bailey introduces Clancy, emphasizing the value of sharing tapes to help save lives.
• 10:00 Clancy begins his talk, noting the difference between the 'authority in the sense of the book and of the steps and of the traditions' and personal experience.
• 1:45:00 Clancy discusses the difficulty of the amends process, detailing the struggle to write a letter of amends to his father, the man who victimized him.
• 2:00:00 Clancy concludes by contrasting the local meeting format with the Texas format, emphasizing his personal experience over any formal declaration.