SAN DIEGO — On a fateful day in 1935, a stockbroker from New York and a surgeon from Akron, Ohio--both mired in lifelong alcoholism--decided to find a way for alcoholics to help other alcoholics get sober, one day at a time.
This weekend, on the 60th anniversary of the improbable meeting between Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the organization they founded is holding its international convention here, the biggest convention this convention city has ever seen, the biggest gathering Alcoholics Anonymous has ever organized.
An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 AA members and guests are in the midst of four days of celebrating a movement that has changed the attitude of Americans toward alcoholism and radically altered the way the culture approaches myriad ills and afflictions.
It is hard to exaggerate the impact of AA and its founders, known to members as Bill W. and Dr. Bob.
"AA gave birth to the modern [self-help] treatment industry," said Michael Neatherton, administrator of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage for drug and alcohol addiction, and an enthusiastic booster of AA.
Thanks to the influence of AA, modern America is replete with self-help groups, often with the term anonymous in their titles, for all manner of physical and behavioral maladies and obsessions. Many of these AA progeny use the 12-step approach contained in AA's "Big Book" or a close variant.
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From its humble, do-it-yourself beginning, AA pioneered a problem-solving technique that has become firmly rooted in the American psychosocial soil: that people with similar problems can improve their plight by sharing their experiences in a group, offering sympathy, encouragement and tough love to one another. Underlying the technique is a simple principle: Nobody understands an addiction or an affliction as well as those who suffer from it.
There had been other efforts to fight alcoholism--Wilson and Smith were both reluctant participants in the moralistic, temperance-based Oxford Group--but AA spread like no prior movement. It was championed by the usually skeptical mass media, starting with radio commentator Gabriel Heatter and the Saturday Evening Post.
The American imagination was seized by the term anonymous , by the offer of supportive fellowship, by the unlikely tale of Bill W. and Dr. Bob, and mostly by their 12-step approach. The steps start with admitting a problem, proceed to turning to God and making a "fearless moral inventory," and end with making amends for past transgressions and attaining a spiritual awakening.
AA has its critics and its rivals but after 60 years, its supremacy as the best-known program to help the nation's 20 million alcoholics shows no signs of serious challenge.
William DeJong, a social psychologist and lecturer in alcohol addiction at the Harvard School of Public Health, said the success of AA can be measured by the number of other self-help groups that have imitated it.
"Among professionals in the field, AA is almost universally acclaimed," DeJong said.
Surprisingly, given its size-- 1.8 million members in 145 countries--and cultural dominance, little is known about Alcoholics Anonymous outside the enthusiastic fellowship of its members, many of whom continue going to weekly or even daily AA meetings even decades after taking their last drink. AA holds international conventions only once every five years, lest planning for annual conventions should detract from the work of local chapters.
"It's not like we're trying to keep AA a secret," said Roy, a teacher and AA member. "It's just that we're too busy trying to stay sober and keep others sober to spend much time talking about AA to outsiders."
AA is certainly no secret to San Diego this weekend.
The size and diversity of the AA movement is on full display, with conventioneers crowding local tourist attractions and restaurants (which are ready with special nonalcoholic fruit drinks and copious amounts of coffee and ice cream). A fleet of 500 buses has been assembled to shuttle AA members from 115 hotels, motels and dormitories at several colleges.
Members from 72 countries are in attendance, in keeping with the convention's motto, "AA--Everywhere, Anywhere." Translation at major sessions is available in Finnish, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and American Sign Language.
An old-fashioned block party was held outside the city's waterfront convention center Thursday night. Conventioneers packed San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on Friday night for an opening session with hoopla befitting the Olympic Games. Tonight, a rally is set for the stadium to honor AA members who have been sober 40 years or longer.
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Alcoholics Anonymous is a uniquely American organization, with its underpinnings in Protestant religiosity and American optimism about the power of the individual to conquer all obstacles. Its philosophy holds that alcoholism is a disease, not a moral failing, and that resisting alcohol involves constant struggle.
