Pacific Group Meeting – Anthony H.

About This Speaker Tape

Tony recounts a life built on the hustle—from feeling like an outsider in school to becoming a successful actor. His descent into heavy drinking began in the early 1960s, fueled by a need to keep up. The turning point wasn't a single event, but a slow, painful realization, crystallized by a woman named Mary in New Y.

. After a scare in the hospital, he hit rock bottom, leading to a period of intense hallucination and spiritual searching. The final snap came in a Beverly H. party, where the shame of potentially killing someone forced him to admit, 'I'm an alcoholic and I need help.' This admission, and the subsequent guidance from others, marked his true homecoming to sobriety.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Introduction: Tony states, 'My name is Tony, I'm an alcoholic.'
• 0:35 Discussing his childhood feeling of being an outsider, noting his father's comments about him.
• 1:30 Recalling the first night at the Pacific Palisades meeting and feeling he 'had somehow come home.'
• 4:40 Describing the conversation with Mary, who explained sobriety using the subway/elevator metaphor.
• 12:00 The moment of crisis at the Beverly Hills party: 'I said somebody's stolen my car... I'm an alcoholic and I need help desperately; I'm finished.'
• 16:30 The call to the Westwood office, where he expected a dramatic scene but found a simple, grounding interaction.
• 20:00 The final realization that 'it's all over now you can start living,' marking the end of the craving.
• 25:00 Concluding thoughts on the 'continuity' of the fellowship, noting the longevity of the meetings.