Though these are poor these are a couple
of actual images of Jim B's Book
click on the small image to view the larger image

The spark of Alcoholics Anonymous was ignited about the middle of November
1934 in a kitchen on a second floor at 182 Clinton Street, Brooklyn. This was
Bill Wilsons home. The occasion was the visit of a schoolboy friend of his
from Vermont, Ebby Thacher. Bill was in the middle of a binge, which had
started on Armistice Day. His friend Ebby had heard of Bills trouble with
alcohol. Ebby was sober and Bill said later that this was the first time he
had seen him in that condition for many years, for he always thought that
Ebby was a hopeless drunk. He greeted Bill on this visit with the words,
I've got religion, Bill says at the time he thought poor Ebby had probably
gotten sober only to become balmy on religion. While still drinking, he
listened to Ebby's story about being converted some six months previously by
the New York Oxford Group. He told Bill about the main idea of this group
being one person helping another, and their other formulas. Bill said he
listened to all this talk while he was in the process of keeping the jitters
down by continuously drinking and probably smiling cynically to himself.
When Ebby left a few hours later he practically dismissed the incident, but
he later found that this was not the case. Within five days he found himself
wheeled into his refuge, Townes Hospital on Central Park West in New York,
for the third time that year. On his arrival at the hospital with his wife
Lois, he was greeted and put to bed immediately by his old friend, Dr.
Silkworth, the Director. (Editors Note: Incidentally, this is a great
friend of the Group, who later wrote the Doctors Opinion in the AA book.)

Bill said that after he had been in bed a short while he heard the doctor
talking to Lois by the door, saying that if her husband came out of this
episode and did drink again, he did not honestly believe he would live six
months. [This was during an earlier hospitalization. ] Bill states that
when he heard these words he was immediately carried back to his talk with
his friend and could not dismiss the idea that although Ebby might be batty
with religion, he was sober and he was happy. He kept turning this over in
his mind, in a mild delirium, and came to a vague conclusion that maybe Ebby
did have something in a mans helping others in order to get away from his
own obsessions and problems. A few hours later when the doctor came in, he
felt a tremendous elation and said, Doc, I've got it. At the same time he
felt that he was on a high mountain and that a very swift wind was blowing
through him, and despite the several weeks of drinking, he found he was
completely relaxed and quiet. He asked Dr. Silkworth, Am I going crazy with
this sudden elation I have? The doctors answer was, seriously, I don't
know Bill, but I think you had better hold on to whatever you have.

While he was in the hospital Ebby and the other Oxford Group people visited
Bill and told him of their activities, particularly in the Calvary Mission.
On Bills release, while still shaky, he visited Dr. Shoemaker at Calvary
Mission and made a decision to become very active in the Missions work and
to try and bring other alcoholics from Townes to the Group.

This resolution he put into effect, visiting the Mission and Townes almost
daily for four or five months, and bringing some of the drunks to his home
for rehabilitation. During this time he was also trying to make another
comeback in his Wall Street activities, for Bill, like many others, had built
up tremendous paper profits in the roaring twenties, only to go broke in the
29 crash. However, he did make a temporary comeback in the depression years
of 32 and 33 as a syndicate man, only to have John Barleycorn wipe him out
more completely than ever in his worst drinking year of 1934. Through hard
work and a little good luck, by May 1st, 1935, he managed to become a leader
of a minority group of a small corporation, and obtained quite a few proxies
from others. This group sent him out to Akron, Ohio, hoping to get control
of the corporation. Bill said later that if this had happened, he would
probably have been financially independent for life, but when he attended the
stockholders meeting he found himself snowed under by the other faction. So
around the middle of May, there he was in the Portage Hotel in Akron
[Mayflower Hotel; Portage was the name of the country club at which Henrietta
Sieberling put Bill up for a few days, after which he moved into Dr. Bob's
home. } without even return fare home and completely at the end of his
rope. Bills story goes that he found himself pacing the lobby, backwards
and forwards, trying to decide whether to forget it all in the hotel bar,
when he noticed the Directory of Churches at the other end of the room. The
thought struck him that if he could talk to another alcoholic he might regain
his composure, for that had been effective back in New York. Although he had
worked consistently with drunks for over six months he had not been able to
save anyone, with the possible exception of himself. He telephoned several
of the churches listed, and was finally directed to one of the Oxford Groups
leaders in town, Henrietta Seiberling. Bill tells of calling Henrietta and
being so shaky that he could hardly get the coin in the slot. The first
thing he asked her was, Where can I find another alcoholic to talk to?
Henrietta's answer was, You stay right where you are until I get there, for
I think I can take you to the very man you are looking for.This she did,
and the man she took Bill to see was Dr. Bob Smith, who later became the
co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. When Henrietta and Bill got to Dr. Bobs
they found his wife, Annie, alone. She was in a mental uproar herself
because her husband had been on the loose for several days. After Bill and
Henrietta had waited and chatted on the Oxford Group policies, in popped the
good doctor himself, quite potted and with a potted lily in his arms for his
wife's Mothers Day gift. When Bob had been bedded Annie insisted that Bill
stay and try to straighten her husband out. Bill did this and his stay
lengthened into months. During the next few days Bill and Bob talked for
hours and decided to pool their resources to help other drunks. When Bob had
been dry only a few weeks, a new hurdle arose, for Bob found it was
imperative for him to go to a medical convention in Atlantic City. Bob did
make the convention, but suddenly found himself drunk on the train going back
to Akron. However, this turned out to be his last spree, for he dates his
last drink June 15, 1935. [Note that Jim's memory of the date differs from
official version of June 10.nmo]

This apparent calamity was probably one of the greatest blessings in disguise
for us later members, for it did cement Bob in this new fellowship they were
launching. Bill stayed on with the Smiths until the 1st of October and
during that time Bob and he managed to secure two more converts to the fold.
Bill then returned to New York where he continued his previous activities,
with daily visits to Townes and Calvary Mission. During the latter part of
October, Bill got his first real New York convert, Hank Parkhurst. Hank
later became one of the genuine inspirations of Alcoholics Anonymous, for he
was a red-haired, high-pressure human dynamo. Before his last trip to
Townes, where Bill found him, Hank had been sales manager for Standard Oil
of New Jersey. From the time of their meeting and during the latter part of
1935 it was Hank and Bill who did all the ground work, but even then they had
but indifferent success until their next real convert, Paul Rudell came in
about April 1936.

The next man to be pulled out of the mire, through Townes, was dear old Fitz
Mayo who joined the others about November 1936. From this time on the duet
became a trio, Bill, Hank and Fitz and they were the spearheads in
drunk-saving for the Oxford Group