Recovery Speakers

09/04/2026

📕 A RED BIG BOOK ISN’T AUTOMATICALLY A FIRST PRINTING.

Red cloth is one of the best-known features of the 1939 First Printing of Alcoholics Anonymous — but color alone doesn’t tell the whole story.

A rare red-cloth Second Printing from March 1941 also exists. The red Second retains gold title lettering on the front board, making it easy to see how a quick visual identification could go wrong.

That’s why collectors look beyond cloth color.

The copyright page, physical format, textual points, and dust-jacket details all need to agree before a printing can be identified confidently. The guide specifically cautions that cloth can fade, darken, stain, or appear different under changing light.

And while every known First Printing is bound in red cloth, the existence of the rare red Second Printing means red does not automatically equal First Printing.

Details matter.

From The Collector’s Guide to First Edition Big Books: A Printing-by-Printing History, 1939–1954.

Next in The First Edition Files: File 004 —
Second Printing, March 1941: The Big Book Begins to Change.

RecoveryCollectibles.com

09/03/2026

🎙️ Getting sober is the beginning. How do we continue living it?

In this excerpt from the 2005 Stateline Retreat in Primm, Nevada, longtime A.A. speaker Tom I. of Southern Pines, North Carolina shares his experience with Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve. The complete presentation was recorded on December 11, 2005.

These final Steps bring the program into everyday life:

10 — Continue the inventory.
11 — Continue the spiritual connection.
12 — Carry the message and practice the principles.

Tom had been sober since February 2, 1957, giving this presentation after more than 48 years of recovery and a life deeply connected with service and corrections work.

▶️ Watch the complete Steps 10, 11 & 12 workshop on the Recovery Speakers YouTube channel.

🌐 RecoverySpeakers.org

09/03/2026

🎙️ The Steps don’t end after Step Nine.

For many members, Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve become the daily practice that keeps the rest of the program alive.

Recovery Speakers is pleased to share this classic presentation from Tom I. of Southern Pines, North Carolina, recorded at the Stateline Retreat in Primm, Nevada, on December 11, 2005. Historical speaker archives consistently preserve the recording as Tom I. speaking specifically on Steps 10, 11 & 12.

The three Steps form a powerful progression.

Step Ten asks us to continue looking honestly at ourselves and promptly acknowledge our mistakes.

Step Eleven develops our spiritual life through prayer and meditation, seeking direction and the power to follow it.

And Step Twelve turns that spiritual awakening into action—carrying the message to another alcoholic and attempting to practice these principles throughout our lives.

For Tom, this was not abstract theory.

His sobriety began on February 2, 1957, after encountering Alcoholics Anonymous while incarcerated. When this recording was made in 2005, he had more than 48 years of continuous sobriety behind him.

His story eventually became known throughout recovery circles as an extraordinary journey from convict to warden. After leaving prison, Tom went on to a lengthy career in corrections; a North Carolina retrospective records 39 years with the Department of Correction, much of his later work focused on programs serving people affected by alcoholism and addiction.

That history makes this particular subject especially meaningful.

Tom had spent decades learning that recovery could not survive on yesterday’s spiritual experience alone.

Inventory had to continue.

Spiritual contact had to continue.

And the message had to continue moving from one person to another.

A.A. describes the Twelve Steps not as abstract theories but as attitudes and actions meant to be applied in everyday living.

In this Stateline Retreat presentation, we hear Tom sharing what those continuing Steps looked like after nearly half a century of actually trying to live them.

🎙️ Tom I. — Southern Pines, NC
📖 Steps 10, 11 & 12
🏛️ Stateline Retreat
📍 Primm, Nevada
📅 December 11, 2005

▶️ Watch the complete historic presentation here:

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzZP_7_lCnM

🌐 Explore more recordings from Tom I. and thousands of historic recovery talks at RecoverySpeakers.org.

Tom continued carrying the message until his death in 2022. His recordings now allow people who never had the chance to meet him to continue learning from his experience.

If this presentation helps you, pass it along to someone else.

That is where Step Twelve begins again.

09/02/2026

A prayer that has inspired generations in recovery.

In this historic recording, A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson reflects on the Prayer of Saint Francis and its message of humility, service, and peace.

A timeless spiritual reminder that recovery is not only about what we leave behind—but who we become.

▶️ Watch the full recording on YouTube
https://youtube.com/

09/02/2026

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace…”
These words have been spoken by countless people seeking a deeper spiritual life, including generations of members of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Today we share a rare recording featuring Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, reflecting on and reciting the Prayer of Saint Francis.

The prayer’s message is deeply connected with the spiritual principles found throughout recovery:
To bring peace where there is conflict.
To bring forgiveness where there is resentment.
To bring love where there is fear.
To serve rather than seek only for ourselves.

For many in A.A., these words have become closely associated with the Eleventh Step and the ongoing journey of spiritual growth.

While commonly known as the Prayer of Saint Francis, historians note that the prayer’s exact origins are not directly traceable to Francis himself. Its lasting influence comes from the powerful message of humility, compassion, and service it carries.

Hearing Bill W. share these words offers a unique glimpse into the spiritual foundation that has inspired generations of people in recovery.

🎙️ Bill Wilson
Co-Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous

▶️ Listen to the full recording: https://youtu.be/Jx12FerxCNE?si=pAuSlDf9x3zcPOtW

Recovery Speakers is dedicated to preserving the voices, stories, and history of recovery.

09/01/2026

📜 How was A.A.’s history passed from one generation to the next?

In this excerpt from the 2007 Stateline Retreat in Primm, Nevada, longtime speaker Cliff R. of Oceanside, California presents his perspective on The History of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Recorded on December 8, 2007, Cliff’s history presentation was part of a weekend program that also walked through all Twelve Steps with a remarkable lineup of speakers.

Cliff’s surviving recordings span years of A.A. meetings and conferences, and archival collections identify him as a longtime Oceanside member who lived from 1926 to 2017.

🎙️ Hear A.A. history through the voice of someone who spent decades within the Fellowship.

▶️ Watch the complete presentation on the Recovery Speakers YouTube channel.

🌐 RecoverySpeakers.org

09/01/2026

📜 A.A. history is not only preserved in books and documents. For generations, it was also passed from one alcoholic to another — in meetings, workshops, retreats, and recorded talks.

Recovery Speakers is pleased to share Cliff R. of Oceanside, California, presenting The History of Alcoholics Anonymous at the 2007 Stateline Retreat in Primm, Nevada.

Recorded on December 8, 2007, Cliff’s presentation came during a remarkable weekend of recovery.

The archived 2007 Stateline program included:

• Tom I. — Steps 1 & 2
• Ralph W. — Step 3
• Howard P. — Step 4
• Charlie C. — Steps 5, 6 & 7
• Vince & Pat Y. — Steps 8 & 9
• Bob B. — Steps 10 & 11
• Scott L. — Step 12
• Cliff R. — The History of A.A.

Speaker archives have affectionately described the Stateline Retreat as “The Original Woodstock of AA,” reflecting the extraordinary collection of speakers and workshops that passed through the retreat over the years.

And among those voices was Cliff.

Historical speaker collections identify Cliff R. of Oceanside, California, 1926–2017, and preserve several of his recordings from meetings and conferences around the country. His talks continued circulating long after they were originally recorded.

This recording is different from a traditional personal-story talk.

Here, Cliff turns his attention to the history of the Fellowship itself.

Alcoholics Anonymous traces its beginnings to 1935, when Bill W. met Dr. Bob in Akron, Ohio. From that meeting grew the experiences that would eventually produce the Big Book, the Twelve Steps, the Twelve Traditions, General Service, and a worldwide Fellowship. A.A.’s official historical resources continue to document that development today.

But recordings like this preserve something documents alone cannot:

the way A.A. members themselves understood and told that history.

Cliff was speaking more than seventy years after A.A.’s beginnings, carrying forward stories and perspective to another room of members in Primm, Nevada.

Now, nearly two decades after that retreat — and years after Cliff’s passing — the recording still allows another generation to listen.

🎙️ Cliff R. — Oceanside, CA
📖 The History of Alcoholics Anonymous
🏛️ 2007 Stateline Retreat
📍 Primm, Nevada
📅 December 8, 2007

▶️ Watch the complete historic presentation here:

🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znvg0qDoXLg

🌐 Explore thousands of historic speaker recordings, workshops, archival material, and recovery-history resources at RecoverySpeakers.org.

If you know someone who loves A.A. history, pass this recording along.

History survives because someone takes the time to preserve it — and someone else takes the time to listen.

📜 How did a small fellowship of recovering alcoholics grow into Alc...

09/01/2026

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09/01/2026

A small piece of metal with a remarkable place in San Diego A.A. history.

For generations of people getting sober in San Diego, reaching 90 days has been marked by something distinctive: a small rectangular token bearing “AA San Diego” on one side and the Serenity Prayer on the other.

Its story reaches back to the earliest years of Alcoholics Anonymous in San Diego.

In 1946, Grace B. found sobriety in A.A. in San Diego. Her husband, Bill B., was not an alcoholic, but like many spouses in the early Fellowship he became deeply involved in A.A. service. Historical accounts even describe Bill traveling to honor camps in the San Diego backcountry to help carry the message to inmates.

Bill was also a jeweler and engraver.

According to San Diego A.A. history, in 1950 he created a special token to celebrate Grace's sobriety. The original was decorated with jewels. Other members saw it and wanted tokens of their own, and Bill agreed to make them—without the jewels.

From that story emerged the distinctive San Diego 90-Day Token: rectangular, pierced at the top so it could be carried on a key ring or chain, with “AA San Diego” on the front and the Serenity Prayer on the reverse.

Another account preserved in the San Diego Central Office newsletter adds an interesting piece of the story. It credits Howard S. with proposing a 90-day token and Bill B. with designing it. Bill reportedly made 500 bronze examples and donated them to Central Office. In April 1955, Central Office formally began issuing the tokens for 90 days of uninterrupted sobriety; the first under that system was presented to a member of the Rolando Group.

But perhaps the most meaningful part of the tradition was how the token was given.

Historically, San Diego groups kept the tokens on hand and provided them to sponsors to present to newcomers when they reached 90 days. The group—not simply the individual sponsor—provided the token.

The history displayed with the token puts the meaning beautifully: it was a reminder of the importance of the A.A. group in sustaining sobriety.

Over the decades, countless newcomers in San Diego have reached that milestone and held one of these small rectangular tokens in their hands.

And the tradition endured. San Diego Central Office publications continued listing the distinctive rectangular brass San Diego 90-day token alongside conventional sobriety chips decades later.

The story is also intertwined with the development of A.A. service in San Diego. The city's Central Office opened in 1947, initially in the old Broadway Building, before moving several times as the local Fellowship grew. Today, Alcoholics Anonymous continues serving the San Diego A.A. community from Mission Gorge Road, providing meeting information, literature, coordination and other local services.

What looks like a simple sobriety token is therefore also a tangible piece of local recovery history—born from one woman's sobriety, her husband's love and service, and a community's desire to recognize the fragile but extraordinary achievement of early recovery.

The card accompanying this example ends with a line worth remembering:

“Our 90-day token, created in love in the early years of A.A. in San Diego County, continues to symbolize recovery for us all.”

📷 Pictured: a San Diego 90-Day Token and the historical account of its origin.

Recovery Speakers
Preserving the voices, places, objects and history of recovery.

09/01/2026

TONIGHT: 🪑 Pull up a chair to the kitchen table of recovery history.

Recovery Speakers welcomes Jay S. and Jeanine J. of Sedona, Arizona for a special live Recovery History Workshop exploring the story behind Conscious Contact — Kitchen Table Edition.

Why a “Kitchen Table Edition”? Why present this history in this particular way? And what can we learn when we stop looking at the people of early A.A. simply as historical figures and begin imagining them as real people having real conversations across a kitchen table?

Tonight, Jay, the author, and Jeanine, the designer, will take us behind the project—its inspiration, purpose, design, and connection to the Wilsons’ historic kitchen table at 182 Clinton Street in Brooklyn.

It’s an opportunity to explore recovery history not as something trapped in the past, but as something we can still learn from today.

📅 TONIGHT — Tuesday, September 1
🕕 6:00 PM Pacific / 9:00 PM Eastern
💻 Live on Zoom
Meeting ID: 310 333 9445
No password required

Bring your curiosity and your questions.

Everyone is welcome.

Recovery Speakers
Where the Past Meets the Future.