Bill W.: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Co-Founder Bill Wilson

FROM OUR EDITORS

Saving Lives, Step by Step

The story of Bill Wilson is also the story of Alcoholics Anonymous: Even as the group values principles over personalities, it is impossible to extricate the group's early history from its founder's quest for sobriety. Without his descent into desperation and the brilliant moment of spiritual clarity that brought him out of it, an organization that currently comprises almost two million members worldwide would not exist. Francis Hartigan's Bill W.: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Co-Founder Bill Wilson examines the life of the man as well as the life of the group he helped create.

As a teenager, Wilson suffered from the neglect of his parents, a lack of direction, and frequent panic attacks. He did poorly in school; while obviously bright, he seemed incapable of governing his own behavior and sometimes lashed out at those most inclined to help him. According to Hartigan, these early examples of poor judgment and reckless disregard for his own welfare foreshadowed the problems he would have later, as both an alcoholic and a leader: "Bill's tendency to react to difficulties in hostile or self-destructive ways would work to undercut his positive achievements all the rest of his life."

Wilson first began drinking in the army. When he was discharged in 1919, he found himself unprepared for the rigors of civilian life, unable to restrict his drinking to nights and weekends or to reliably hold a regular job. He left jobs for reasons that seemed arbitrary, with no apparent consideration of the consequences, drinking heavily all the while. His behavior was erratic, to say the least, and Hartigan credits Wilson's wife for the fact that he was able to function at all: "If he had had a different wife, or no wife at all, his drinking might have taken him to the streets and an unmarked grave."

Even with the support of his wife, Lois, Wilson sank to horrifying depths; Hartigan's descriptions of their life are vivid and disturbing. Even temporary hospitalization failed to suppress Wilson's unshakeable desire for alcohol—by 1935 Lois was quietly researching the possibility of having Wilson committed. But Wilson's reunion with a boyhood friend precipitated the change that would save Wilson's life: Ebby Thacher, a lifelong drinker, appeared on Wilson's doorstep one night, and he was sober.

Thacher had gotten sober with the help of a religious organization called the Oxford Group. His success made a deep impact on Wilson, particularly Thacher's explanation that he had simply realized his own defeat, admitted it, and turned his life over to God's care. Wilson was frustrated, however, by his own inability to feel God's presence and, in an empty room, shouted, "If there be a God, let Him show Himself now!" Wilson described what happened next as a "hot flash": The room flooded with light, and a benevolent presence seemed to envelop him. When the moment ended, Bill Wilson was a changed man: He had lost all desire to drink.

In hope of learning how to help other alcoholics, Wilson approached the Oxford Group. It was from the Group that AA would draw its theoretical underpinnings, but Wilson was never truly welcome there: Their focus was on developing the Christian character of its members, not in saving drunks from their own dangerous impulses. It was through church members, however, that he met Dr. Bob Smith, the alcoholic proctologist who would become the cofounder of AA.

Hartigan's account of the early years of AA is fascinating; the method that Wilson and Smith developed was revolutionary at a time when alcoholism was believed to be a moral failing, and Hartigan capably examines the group's success in context. Besides the concerns that were unique to AA, such as the importance of maintaining anonymity and the difficulty of establishing the legitimacy of the 12-Step program, the organization's story is interesting simply as a general study of group dynamic and development. While Wilson was always an important figure in the group's hierarchy, he often caused controversy; it cannot be said that he was universally loved by the fellowship, even though his first priority was always to help them.

In fact, attempts to normalize the group dynamics of AA occupied most of the rest of Wilson's life. Hartigan theorizes that this massive burden contributed to the unremitting depression that Wilson experienced. While Hartigan does not stigmatize this depression, he juxtaposes it with the more sensational aspects of Wilson's life, such as his indiscreet appetite for women and his experimentation with LSD; the picture that emerges is that of a complicated, unhappy man searching for the comfort that sobriety alone could not bring him.

Hartigan's biography of Wilson is ultimately a deeply humane look at a man whose alcoholism became his life's work: His own near-destruction equipped him to effect the rescue of countless other alcoholics around the world. Wilson routinely ended speeches at AA gatherings with a Middle Eastern phrase he'd heard: "I salute you and I thank you for your lives." Their sober lives validated his own, even as his sober life enabled theirs.

—Julie Robichaux

Julie Robichaux is a freelance writer. She lives in New York City.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Bill W.: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson, Francis Hartigan presents an extraordinary and rigorously honest examination of the man Aldous Huxley once described as "the greatest social architect of the twentieth century."

When Bill Wilson, with his friend Dr. Bob Smith, founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, his hope was that AA would become a safe haven for those who suffer from this disease. Thirty years after his death, AA continues to help millions of alcoholics recover from what had been commonly regarded as a hopeless addiction. AA is now approaching its sixty-fifth anniversary and can be found in more than 140 countries worldwide where an estimated two million people attend their meetings each week. AA was also the first to use the now-famous twelve-step program that has become the cornerstone of every recovery program today. Without question, AA has touched the lives of millions, and without Bill Wilson, it would never have existed.

Still, while Wilson was a visionary for millions, he was no saint. After cofounding Acoholics Anonymous, he stayed sober for over thirty-five years, helping countless thousands to rebuild their lives. But at the same time, Wilson suffered from debilitating bouts of clinical depression, was a womanizer, and experimented with LSD.

Francis Hartigan, the former secretary and confidant to Wilson's wife, Lois, has exhaustively researched his subject, writing with a complete insider's knowledge. Drawing on extensive interviews with Lois Wilson and scores of early members of AA, he fully explores Wilson's organizational genius, devotion to the cause, and extraordinary selflessness. The fact that Wilson, like all of us, had to struggle with his own personal demons makes this biography all the more moving and inspirational.

About the Author:

Francis Hartigan is a corporate communications professional who has produced documentary films and public service campaigns on alcohol-related topics. Mr. Hartigan first became aware of Bill W. more than 20 years ago, when a friend joined Alcoholics Anonymous. At the time, there were still many AA members in New York who had known Bill personally, and they were full of stories about him. Most of the members who knew him were highly admiring of Bill, but they also gossiped freely about his depressions, his womanizing, and his interest in LSD and Niacin. Mr. Hartigan found the combination of affection and irreverence they displayed toward him very intriguing.

In 1983, the author became secretary and confidant to Lois Wilson, cofounder of the Al-Anon Family Groups, Inc., and widow of Bill Wilson, the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He spent five, six and some-times seven days a week at Stepping Stones, which had been the Wilsons's home since 1941.

Although Lois was ninety-two when the author met her, she could talk about the events of the past as though they were yesterday, and Stepping Stones is chock-a-bloc full of photographs, gifts, plaques, and mementos. Mr. Hartigan accompanied Lois to A.A. functions, and he was present during the inter-views she granted, as well as con-versations held and meals shared with visiting A.A. "dignitaries," both past and present.

As a result, the author was able gain the perspective on Bill of virtually everyone still alive that had known him well. He was also able to interview many of these people later when he began work on this project.

While working for Lois, Mr. Hartigan met thousands of AA members, some of whom had traveled halfway around the world to explore AA's roots. They were grateful in the extreme for what A.A. had done for them, and many of the older members had anecdotes to share about Bill Wilson.

Mr. Hartigan had complete access to Wilson's papers, including the thousands of letters he wrote over his long tenure as AA's headman. There were also, of course, the daily conversations with Lois, who was an intimate part of Bill's life for nearly sixty years. Her favorite topic of conversation was Bill Wilson. The more time passed since Wilson's death and the bigger AA became, it was perhaps inevitable that fewer and fewer people seemed to have a sense of the man behind the icon. Mr. Hartigan came to realize that his unparalleled van-tage point had perhaps made him uniquely qualified to write a biography that would convey the humanity of the man Aldous Huxley call the "greatest social architect of the twentieth century."

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Bill Wilson (1895-1971), the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, never saw himself as a saint. In a biography that is admiring without being hagiographic, first-time author Hartigan, one-time assistant to Bill's wife, Lois, reveals a man whose accomplishments seem all the more extraordinary because his demons were so strong. A depressive, a chronic womanizer, a man who could not quit smoking even as he choked to death from emphysema, Wilson was, according to Hartigan, motivated by real spiritual sincerity and purity of purpose when it came to AA. At 39, on the edge of death from alcoholism, Wilson was "struck sober" in an incandescent moment when he felt surrounded by divine presence. Inspired by the Oxford Group, a Christian movement that sought to kindle such experiences, the famous 12 steps that Wilson developed led to gradual spiritual transformation. This approach was built not on white light but on Wilson's bone-deep sense that life without a higher power was unmanageable. Wilson was born in a small town in Vermont to parents who divorced and scattered, leaving the boy to be raised by loving grandparents who could not assuage the permanent wound to Wilson's self-esteem. After the death of his high school girlfriend, the handsome, talented Wilson fell into an almost catatonic despair, a foreshadowing of the depression and self-doubt that would descend on him even at the height of his fame. Frank about Wilson's experiments with LSD, religion and psychotherapy, this unofficial bio will do much to help a wide readership appreciate how Wilson exemplified the way in which weakness can lead us to exhibit extraordinary strength. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

A real contribution to the field of addiction recovery. A worthy endeavor deserving our attention. Highly recommended. — (Gary Null, Ph.D., investigative journalist and health advocate)

This is a very impressive effort. I knew Bill very well, but only after reading this book did I get the full flavor of who Bill Wilson was and what he accomplished. — (Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D., cofounder of Orthomolecular Psychiatry)