How Carl J. Told Him He Had the Mind of a Chronic Alcoholic – Bob

About This Speaker Tape

Retreat/Workshop -

The refrigerator was singing to him when Bob S. walked into his first meeting in 1975 hallucinating and drunk. A lifelong historian of the movement Bob S. treats the early days of AA not as a dusty archive but as a living map for survival. He traces the jagged line from the wealthy desperate Roland H. and the exiled Ebby T. to the fateful kitchen table meeting between Bill W. and Dr. Bob. He describes the brutal 'puke and purge' medical treatments of the 1930s and the raw high-stakes nature of early sponsorship where a misplaced scalpel or a bad mood could end a career. For Bob S. the history of the fellowship—from the Rockefeller funding that almost spoiled the movement to the 'spontaneous writing' of the 12 Steps—is the only place where the hope for modern recovery actually lives.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:45 Bob S. describes his first meeting in 1975, mentioning hallucinations and the 'singing refrigerator'.
• 12:15 Discussion of the 'Fourth Dimension' group and the rapid-fire step work used in the early days.
• 25:30 Detailed history of Roland H. and his interaction with Carl J.
• 38:10 The story of Ebby T.'s exile to Vermont and his 'conversion experience' after shooting pigeons.
• 52:40 Laughter: The story of Bill W. and Ebby T. flying a plane while drunk.
• 1:05:15 Description of the 'belladonna treatment' (puke and purge) in the 1930s.
• 1:22:00 The meeting between Bill W. and Dr. Bob on Mother's Day, 1935.
• 1:45:30 The Rockefeller funding and the decision to limit the money to avoid spoiling the fellowship.
• 2:05:10 The 'spontaneous writing' of the 12 Steps and the transition from the Oxford Group.
• 2:25:45 Clarence S.'s story of drinking paint thinner and his early sponsorship with Dr. Bob.