History of Recovery Tom Powers sr of Hankins NY His Alcoholics Anonymous Recovery Story

Tom Powers was a very early New York area AA Member who was associated with Bill W. He was a very close friend to Bill W while the AA Book 12 Steps and 12 Traditions was being written. One can sort of hear echoes of that book in his description of the Alcoholics 'bottom' as crisis leading to the self-honesty needed to find the beginnings of sobriety. Very vivid descriptions of his hospitalizations and coming back after his first period of sobriety, that he calls a 'free ride'. One ghastly hospitalization involved Metrazol Shock Treatments. A heck of a thing to do to an alcoholic, but they did that stuff in the 1940s. The lasting sobriety, and Tom would accrue over 4 decades of it, required work and was not free ride. The importance of participating in the WHOLE AA Program to finding lasting sobriety and enjoyable serenity. Tom Powers sr was the founder of All Addicts Anonymous and Patriarch of the East Ridge Community at Hankins NY