Welcome to Decoding the Big Book, a special limited series of the Sober Friends podcast.

Researched and sourced from writing the big book by William Sheaberg, the purpose of each episode is to provide context and history for each chapter of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, followed by a

reading of the chapter from the fourth edition. Each section is marked by chapters, so feel

free to skip ahead to what you're interested in and leave the rest.

Chapter 7 of the big book, Working with Others, was actually written before the steps were formulated, even though it is prefaced as being about step 12.

Bill had been helping other alcoholics for almost four years at this point, with his relationship with Towns Hospital providing him with an almost unlimited stream of prospects. This chapter was easier to write than the

one on agnostics, or even Bill's own story due to his prior experience working with other

alcoholics. Bill's early work had helped both the New York and Akron groups find common ground

on two foundational principles for Alcoholics Anonymous.

That the message of recovery is best delivered from one alcoholic speaking directly to another,

and that reaching out to help another person is the single most effective way to

ensure your own continued sobriety. These ideas were based on Bill's own experience and

confirmed by almost every other early member since then. Bill's faith in this progress was

established in May 1935 when he traveled to Ohio with a team of investors in a proxy fight over National Rubber Machinery, a small Akron tool company.

It was Bill's first real work since leaving Towns Hospital the previous December, and he wanted desperately to succeed.

Should the takeover be successful,

Bill was promised the presidency of the company. It soon became clear there were not enough proxy votes for the takeover to be successful and his partners left Bill behind to fight on alone.

Stranded, he was left with just a few dollars in his pocket. Based with

this business failure and only five months sober, Bill felt his recovery was on shaky ground.

Alone now in the hotel, I paced up and down the lobby. There was a bar at one end, a church

directory at the other. I would look into the bar where, it being Saturday afternoon, the local boys and girls were beginning to get an edge on.

Then I would wander out and look absently at the church directory, listing the services to be held the next day.

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