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The Greatest Annotated Bibliography of A.A. Historical Materials, Sources, and Roots Apr 17, 2008
By Daxton Lyon
I'm a researcher. I'm a student. And I am a Marine Corps vet. I am also an avid reader of the Bible and a believer. I lived with Dick B. for a while before I joined the Marines. Then I was married, and I was stationed in Oahu and frequently saw Dick, his son Ken, an their respective huge libraries; and so did my wife. I helped Dick inventory, prepare for shipment, and ship the 23,900 historical items that he had amassed and assembled on Maui and used in his continuing research and historical publishing. Then much of the material was donated to the Griffith Library at Bill Wilson's birthplace in East Dorset, Vermont. But not before Dick had inventoried the books and materials, the places where they were acquired, the libraries from which they had come, the people who made them available, and their relevance to aspects of A.A. history like the Bible, Jesus Christ, Quiet Time, Dr. Bob and his library, Anne Smith and her journal, the Oxford Group, Sam Shoemaker, New Thought writers, William James, Carl Jung, Dr. Silkworth, the Cleveland materials, the Clarence Snyder materials, materials on alcoholism and addiction and recovery, prayer, healing, guidance, the great mentors of A.A. like the YMCA, Salvation Army, Christian Endeavor, and so on. It's all in this book. It's a reference tool worth having for life. It's a source for historical study. It is a fascinating account of all the elements that fed A.A. It's a well-done bibliography. There's nothing like the content of this book. I'm all for it.
An Alcoholics Anonymous Complete A.A. History Bibliography Oct 18, 2011
By Dick B.
"Dick B."
It was not until author Dick B. had written a number of books, collected a large amount of books and manuscripts, and begun publishing on the application of Alcoholics Anonymous History to the A.A. program today, that there was a need for this comprehensive work. Individual history topics had been explored, researched, and made the subject of Dick B.'s publication. But many who do research on, teach on, and help others with the comprehensive A.A. picture needed to see the whole picture in one place.
As a result, this fine book laid out the historical books and materials that pertained to each of the A.A. sources--the Bible, Quiet Time, the Oxford Group, Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Dr. Bob's wife Anne Smith, the Akron founding, and the stories of those who contributed to the founding. Moreover, it told where the source books came from and where they can be found in several libraries and archives today--places like the Wilson House, Dr. Bob's Home, Brown University, and Calvary Episcopal Churches in New York and Pittsburgh.
This one volume fully equips students of Alcoholics Anonymous History to find almost all the relevant books on the subject in one place. It is a valuable resource for AAs and newcomers alike.
The Best A.A. Bibliography and History Index Nov 16, 2006
By John Albert Hill Jr.
"Bible student in recovery"
I personally had a hand in the immense task Dick undertook in gathering these materials. We visited Jim Newton in Florida before his death and acquired all Jim's relevant Oxford Group library. Ditto Rev. Willard Hunter in California. And I helped Dick and others display, list, and prepare for shipping the huge library of history that Dick had shelved in the Maui A.A. Research Library in a room set aside for that very purpose. Shelves lined every single wall. Work tables held the groupings. And there were several huge groupings: (1) The huge amount of Oxford Group materials Dick had obtained from Newton, Hunter, MRA leaders and offices, and MRA packrat George Vondermuhll, Jr. (2) The huge Shoemaker collection Dick had obtained from the Shoemaker family, Episcopal Archives, Shoemaker churches, personal journals, and church records. (3) A complete duplicate of all the books in Dr. Bob's Library. (4) The temperance books, the religious books, the evangelism books, the contemporary A.A. and alcoholism books and reviews, and the many stories by alcoholics that were part of AAs' studies and heritage. (5) A complete set of the Big Book Second Edition printings. (6) A large collection of printings of the Third Edition. (7) Forty binders of historical papers. (8) Several huge boxes of tape recordings, including the entire collection of Bill W.'s public talks. (9) A host of similar materials purchased from collectors Danny Whitmore and Dennis Cassidy and elsewhere. (8) Books Dick had personally acquired and used in his research and writings. It's all in this book. And most of it is now lodged, through the generosity of several of Dick's benefactors, in the Griffith Library located adjacent to Bill Wilson's birthplace at The Wilson House in East Dorset, Vermont. The books and materials are there to be studied, copied, posted on the internet, and utlized to help AAs. Their wide variety insures that this is not just a collection that fits some particular collector's fancies. It far exceeds in volume the collection at Brown University, at Stepping Stones, and at Dr. Bob's Home and the Akron archives. And it is far more accessible to those who really want to learn and get well by studying the details of their fellowship history. And doing it in the delightful New England atmosphere of East Dorset, Vermont. It also serves as a backup documentation for the thousands of footnotes and comments in the history books by Dick and others striving for an accurate picture. This compilation is a gem, should be part of every reference library, and can be obtained as part of the reference set of Dick'b books.
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