Dr. Bob and His Library: A Major A.A. Spiritual Source

One of author Dick B.'s prized discoveries was the library of books A.A. co-founder Dr. Bob had read, studied, recommended, and circulated. Dick first found part of them in the home of Dr. Bob's surviving daughter Sue Smith Windows in Akron. Later he found most of the balance with Dr. Bob's son Smitty and his wife in Nocona, Texas. A.A. literature reported that the books had been given away on Dr. Bob's death. But that was not the case. Once the discovery was made, Dick checked out the details with the Smith children, and located other books that Dr. Bob had used. The importance of the find was that it illuminated the real Bible-based ideas and program of early A.A. This because Dr. Bob used the books and recommended them for use in recovery. Their scope is wide: Bible, prayer, Quiet Time, Jesus Christ, healing, the mind, psychology, devotionals, Oxford Group, William James, Carl Jung, Richard Peabody, Sam Shoemaker, New Thought, and much much more. There were hundreds in all. And Dick has taken this treasure trove of books, categorized them by subject, identified which were actually owned and still extant in possession of the relatives, and listed the source of others used. Those in the recovery movement who wonder what Bill Wilson meant when he wrote in the Big Book that there were many "helpful books" and that suggestions could be obtained from one's rabbi, minister, and priest will no longer wonder why Bill also wrote: Be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they have to offer. A.A. never was a cloister which banned educational, psychological, religious, medical, or inspirational literature. Quite the contrary, pioneers did make use of what they had to offer. The Akron fellowship strongly recommended the use of "outside" literature. And Bill and Bob were still making that recommendation when they spoke together on the stage of the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in March, 1948, before an audience of 4500 AAs and their families. Here's the place to find, read, and use the books the founders used as they achieved healing.