March 16

March 16 – AM          Page 63, How It Works, Chapter 5

We found it very desirable to take this spiritual step with an understanding person, such as our wife, best friend, or spiritual adviser.  But it is better to meet God alone than with one who might misunderstand.  The wording was, of course, quite optional so long as we expressed the idea, voicing it without reservation.  This was only a beginning, though if honestly and humbly made, an effect, sometimes a very great one, was felt at once.

March 16 – PM          Page xvii-xviii, Foreword to Second Edition (1955)

With the appearance of the new book a great deal began to happen.  Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, the noted clergyman, reviewed it with approval.  In the fall of 1939 Fulton Oursler, then editor of Liberty, printed a piece in his magazine, called “Alcoholics and God.”  This brought a rush of 800 frantic inquiries into the little New York office which meanwhile had been established.  Each inquiry was painstakingly answered; pamphlets and books were sent out.  Businessmen, traveling out of existing groups, were referred to these prospective newcomers.  New groups started up and it was found, to the astonishment of everyone, that A.A.’s message could be transmitted in the mail as well as by word of mouth.  By the end of 1939 it was estimated that 800 alcoholics were on their way to recovery.