To the long-suffering alcoholic prior to 1935, the alternatives seemed bleak. Society was hardly sympathetic to the pathetic hard-core drunk, the individual who had traveled the road never paved, but well traveled by hundreds of thousands of problem drinkers.

Almost in the blink of eye, a chance encounter by a hustling New York stock broker, Bill Wilson, and a rectal surgeon, Dr. Robert Smith (“Dr. Bob”), in Akron, Ohio in 1935, formed the genesis of what one philosopher has deemed the most important contribution to the disease of alcoholism in the 20th century, Alcoholics Anonymous.

With contentious beginnings, a group led by the “recovery” of the two co-founders began to strip away those tenets in previous attempts that didn’t work and formulated a Program for living that embraced the 12 Steps of Recovery.

For 75 years, the fellowship has grown, thrived and survived its own growing pains to become a worldwide phenomenon in over 100 countries. The “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous is yearly the most published book behind the Bible.

There are no Chairmen, Presidents or leaders of AA. The individual groups take no outside contributions and survive by passing the basket at each meeting to cover expenses, like rent and utilities for the meeting venue. Any leftover money goes to a central office locally and nationally.

The success of the AA 12-Step Program has been copied by well over 200 groups attempting to adopt the tenets of the successful “prescription for living” as outlined in the compact 164-page book that has remained virtually unchanged from the time it was written in 1939. Not quite 5,000 books was the original publication number. Hundreds of groups will virtually copy the AA principles replacing the word alcohol with food or sex or gambling or any number of addictions plaguing society.

The thread that is woven throughout the 12 Steps is a belief in a Higher Power. Even though there is a reference to God, the original writers of the “Big Book” elected to follow the mention of God with “as you understand Him” to help the agnostic and atheists to avoid the appearance of being a religious cult, which was the downfall of a number of groups prior to 1935 that tried to help the alcoholic.

Most meetings revolve around one drunk talking with another drunk. Who better to understand the plight of a newly sober individual than one who has already been there. The “sharing” of how it was, how one got to AA, and how it is today gives the newcomer hope that they are not alone. It is in the identification of the feelings that the alcoholic senses a potential for a chance at sobriety.

The fellowship thrives on renewal. Once the alcoholic moves through the 12 Steps and achieves a degree of comfort that this new way of life will work – a day at a time – it is time for the new member to pass it along to a newer member of the fellowship. This is how the fellowship has perpetuated itself for 75 years.

Anonymity is a key component to that success. Despite the rantings of celebrities who make outlandish proclamations about the AA Program, the noise is ignored by those who are sober. The success comes about by quietly going where no professional can go – giving hope on a one-to-one level that has worked well for decades.

This website is dedicated to all 12-Step programs. This is an opportunity to share your successes with others. The forum will give you an outlet, in anonymity, to ask personal questions. No one will pontificate on what you should do. Rather someone who has experienced a similar scenario will share with you how they solved the problem.

-Don B.