Bill W: My First 40 Years

the long version

"I was born, to be exact, in a hotel then known as Wilson House... I was born, perhaps rightly, in a room just back of the old bar."It was the beginning of a life that would change the lives of millions. Told here for the first time in his own words is the story of the man who would come to be known as Bill W. — a man who, for his part in founding the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, would be celebrated as one of the important figures of the twentieth century."The terrifying darkness had become complete. In agony of spirit, I again thought of the cancer of alcoholism which had now consumed me in mind and spirit, and soon the body." But what of the Great Physician? For a brief moment, I suppose, the last trace of my obstinacy was crushed out as the abyss yawned.I remember saying to myself, "I'll do anything, anything at all. If there be a Great Physician, I'll call on him." Then, with neither faith nor hope I cried out, "If there be a God, let him show himself."