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Recovery in the News
Alcoholics Anonymous Rooted In St. Johnsbury Institution
Taylor Reed
The Caledonian-Record
October 12, 2007
ST. JOHNSBURY -- The influence of St. Johnsbury may reach further than residents think.
An author from Hawaii says the town's cultural institutions provided the backbone for Alcoholics Anonymous, an international organization.
St. Johnsbury was the childhood home of the late AA co-founder Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith, better known as Dr. Bob.
The religious teachings Smith received at St. Johnsbury Academy, the North Congregational Church, the former YMCA, and groups like Christian Endeavor, provided the foundation for AA, said author Dick B., an alcoholic who, in keeping with the AA tradition of anonymity, wouldn't give his last name.
"What came out of it - St. Johnsbury and Dr. Bob's training - was the original Alcoholics Anonymous program," he said.
On Tuesday, Dick B. was at the Kingdom Recovery Center on Summer Street in St. Johnsbury, Smith's childhood home. Recovery center-staff, board members, and AA adherents listened intently as he talked about the early days of AA, and its roots in the religious teachings Smith received as a boy in St. Johnsbury.
"It's just amazing at the stuff St. Johnsbury Academy taught that found it's way into AA," said Dick B.
He cited prayer and chapel at the Academy as examples of the school's influence.
Dick B. read a brief statement Smith made in his adult life.
"I had excellent training in the Bible as a youngster," he said.
Dick B. is on a mission to explore the religious training Smith got in St. Johnsbury. He has already visited the Academy and North Congregational Church.
"If you turn a hyperactive drunk loose on a book-writing campaign it never ends," he said.
Dick B. plans to write a biography on Smith, using what he learns in St. Johnsbury, and other sources. The catalyst for the biography springs from the mystery around Smith and his contributions to AA.
"As time has gone on, I've gotten more and more interested in the fact his contributions are unknown," said Dick B.
Dick B., a retired attorney, has already written more than 30 books on the history of alcoholics anonymous. "Dick B." is the name all his books carry.
Aside from the biography, Dick B., with the help of benefactors, hopes to bring a library to Kingdom Recovery. The books would detail the history of AA and the principles Smith learned growing up in St. Johnsbury.
"My hope is those books can be used to train the trainers," he said. "It's a golden opportunity."
Dick B., with about $1 million from benefactors, already created a library in East Dorset, the home of the other late AA co-founder, William Griffith Wilson, better know as Bill W.
At the time, Smith's childhood home in St. Johnsbury wasn't a recovery center yet.
St. Johnsbury, however, offers greater hope for recovery than East Dorset, said Dick B. St. Johnsbury is much larger and provides a host of resources, like dedicated staff and volunteers at Kingdom Recovery, which, as Smith's boyhood home, is an AA shrine, Dick B. said.
"We know there are many paths to recovery and many things to recover from, and here's this terrific center that can just go, go, go, in the recovery arena," he said. "It offers a good promise of having people that can do something more than go to a meeting and tell a drunk story. You've got something here that isn't happening anywhere else in the world."
The center is within walking distance of the institutions that provided Smith with his religious training, and AA with its foundation, said Dick B.
"The history is right here and you've got the people and the resources," he said. "It's quaint, historic, and powerful."
Kingdom Recovery officials are thrilled about the prospect of a library at the recovery center.
"It would become a learning center, a resource center," said Nancy Bassett, recovery center co-coordinator.
Recovery-center officials are also working to recreate Smith's childhood bedroom.
Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital owns the building, but offers it to Kingdom Recovery rent free. Recovery officials and supporters hope to turn it into a tourist attraction of sorts, for anybody interested.
"We get visitors from all over the United States and the world," Bassett said.
Steve Kline, of the recovery center, said St. Johnsbury is a basis for Alcoholics Anonymous.
During the discussion at the center Tuesday, two AA adherents praised Dick B. and his books.
"He saved my life," said Jeff F.
Boston Bob said his work is very enlightening.
Dick B., has written, "Turning Point: A History of Early A.A.'s Spiritual Roots and Successes," "Courage to Change: The Christian Roots of the Twelve Step Movement," "The Akron Genesis of Alcoholic Anonymous," "Dr. Bob & His Library," "Ann Smith's Journal," and more.
Alcoholics anonymous was founded by Smith and Wilson in Akron, Ohio, in 1935.
© The Caledonian-Record News 2006-2007