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Article: Getting Better: Inside Alcoholics Anonymous.
- Article from:
- The Washington Monthly
- Article date:
- June 1, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Washington Monthly Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What Alcoholics Anonymous can teach the rest of us. On The Wagon
Henrietta Seiberling, a divorced mother of two in Akron, Ohio, was at home with her children when the stranger called. The caller had gotten Henrietta's name from an Episcopal minister who said Henrietta might be able to help him with his problem. His problem? "I'm a rum hound from New York," said the stranger.
It was May 1935, and the stranger was Bill Wilson, a failed stockbroker from Brooklyn who had come to Akron on one more ill-fated business trip. A bigtalking and manipulative drunk, Wilson had spent years of his life drinking all day and every night. His hands shook so badly ...