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June 1990

What We Were Like

Fragments of AA History

Los Angeles


In 1939, there was no AA group west of Akron, but in Los Angeles, Ty M., a practicing alcoholic, had been given a prepublication multilith copy of the Big Book. He was impressed, saying it was the "first time he'd ever seen something which understood him--who he was and why he drank." Kaye, his nonalcoholic wife, had been trying for several years to sober her husband up, and she immediately wired the New York office for the nearest location of a meeting. Undeterred by the response that the nearest AA group was in Ohio, Ty and Kaye made the long trip to Akron so that Ty could join with Dr. Bob and the Akron group. Kaye traveled on to New York for an inspired talk with Bill W., who gave her a copy of the newly published Big Book. She attended an AA meeting in New York, and returned to Los Angeles resolved to spread the fame of this new and most promising movement, whether Ty got sober or not.

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