by Dan M.
“They were good-looking and well-dressed, and as we sat around drinking Coca-Cola, they spun yarns about their horrendous drinking misadventures. The stories sounded spurious, and after the visitors had left, I had a strong suspicion that my leg was being pulled.”
The 1941 article by Jack Alexander in the Saturday Evening Post marked a turning point for AA, quadrupling its membership.
Last month we explored the contributions of Jim B., instrumental in making changes to the language used in the program to ensure AA was accessible to believers and non-believers alike, the most notable of which was the addition of the phrase, ‘God as we understood Him’ to Step 3. Jim went on to start the Philadelphia group in 1940, and through another member of that group, the owner of The Saturday Evening Post, Curtis Bok, learned of Alcoholics Anonymous. Bok became so interested in the success AA was having in getting people sober that he assigned his star reporter, Jack Alexander, to do a profile of the program.
Alexander had recently done an exposé of the New Jersey rackets and had a reputation for toughness and cynicism. “I had an understandable skepticism about the whole business,” he said, of AA. He described the four AA members who came to see him: “They were good-looking and well-dressed, and as we sat around drinking Coca-Cola, they spun yarns about their horrendous drinking misadventures. The stories sounded spurious, and after the visitors had left, I had a strong suspicion that my leg was being pulled.”
Bill W. said, “We gave him the most exhaustive briefing on Alcoholics Anonymous any writer has ever had. We opened our records and showed him the books. He met our Trustees and New York people, and then we towed him all over the country.”
Not only was Alexander won over to the program, but he was deeply moved by the stories of recovery, several of which he recounted in his article. He told the stories of the founders’ first meeting, changing the names of Bill W. and Dr. Bob to ‘Griffith’ and ‘Dr. Armstrong’. He laid out the steps and explained how flexible a higher power can be. He also told how AA broke from The Oxford Group because of that group’s evangelism.
The response to the article came quickly. Ruth Hock, AA’s non-alcoholic secretary, said that the office had become swamped with 918 inquiries in 12 days as a direct response to its publication. And the letters kept coming. AA recruited volunteers to answer the letters personally. The demands of the office were such that AA had to ask groups to help support the headquarters for the first time. Growth of the groups was also dramatic. By the end of 1941, membership had grown to 8,000, an increase of 6,000 over the end of 1940.
Even before publication, when Bill W. read the piece, he wrote to Alexander, “I wish I could adequately convey to you the sense of gratitude that every one of us feels towards you and the Saturday Post for what is about to take place. You cannot possibly conceive the direct alleviation of so much misery as will be brought to an end through your pen and your good publishers. For many a day you will be the toast of A.A. – in Coca-Cola, of course!”
Jack Alexander remained a friend of the program, becoming a non-alcoholic trustee and eventually giving editorial advice on the Twelve and Twelve.
Read Jack Alexander’s article from the pamphlet on aa.org. The quotes in this post come from AA Comes of Age and Pass It On.
Dan M.’s home group is Fremont Men’s Stag, which meets on Monday nights at 7 at Irvington Presbyterian Church and online: 187 927 449 pc: 774746
