A co relics Anonvmous. by its very

nature, could not have been

founded by one person. Its es-

sence is sharing. Fhereforc. Bill

W. and Dr. Bob are always re-

ferred to within the Fellowship as

the c0-founders. So far. among the

majority of A.A. members, the

Ohio surgeon has been less well

known than his parmer. He died

in 1950, when A.A. was only 15

years old.But his influence on the

whole A.A. program is permanent

and profound.

This book attempts to give a

portrait of Dr. Bob as full-scale

and balanced as possible for the

most part, in the words of those

who knew him personally. Fhe

youngster who grew up in Ver-

mont of the late 19th century be-

came a hard-drinking college boy,

then a medical student fighting

the onset of his own alcoholism, a

respected physician, a loving but

increasingly unreliable family

man, and at last a desperately ill

drunk,without hope until he met