Does anybody know the real story behind Bill Wilson, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous?

Answer 1

William Griffith Wilson (26 November 1895-24 January 1971) (commonly known as Bill Wilson or Bill W.), was a co-founder of the mutual-help group Alcoholics Anonymous. The other co-founder was Dr. Bob Smith. Bill's wife, Lois Wilson became the founder of Al-Anon, a group dedicated to helping the friends and relatives of alcoholics.

Wilson was born on 26 November 1895 in East Dorset, Vermont to Gilman Barrows Wilson and Emily Griffith. After a troubled childhood, he became an alcoholic at age 22. In the 1920s he was one of the first stock analysts and became quite rich until the market crashed, mainly as a result of the insider trading schemes that he was involved with himself. Plunged into poverty, his drinking only became worse.

One day, an old drinking friend named Ebby Thatcher visited him. Expecting to spend a day drinking and re-living old times Wilson was instead shocked by Thatcher's refusal to drink. "I've got religion" he reportedly said to Wilson's surprise. Thatcher had recently joined a fellowship known as the Oxford Group. The Oxford Group admonished alcoholics to achieve victory over drinking by performing various tasks such as making amends, acting as a witness to God's grace, admission of personal defeat, among others.

Wilson declined this invitation to sobriety. However, later while recuperating from alcoholism in a hospital, he had a religious vision, after which he never drank another drop of alcohol. One theory is that he connected his spontaneous release from addiction to the visit by Thatcher. This in turn inspired Wilson to seek out and help others as Thatcher had done for him.

Wilson joined the Oxford Movement, with a personal focus on helping alcoholic prospects. He had little success for the first six months of doing so. Then he made a trip to Akron, Ohio for a business deal. The transaction failed and, in a state of frustration, he was tempted to drink again. Instead he camped in a phone booth at the Mayflower Hotel and dialed up clergy from a church directory. He had concluded his only hope to avoid drinking was to locate a problem drinker to help, so he made these calls looking for one. This led him to a meeting with a reluctant local surgeon named Dr. Bob Smith. This would prove to be the start of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the date, June 10th 1935, is regarded as the date of origin for the fellowship.

Answer 2

www.stanhywet.org This where AA was created