Bill W.: Alcoholics Anonymous

His whole life was plagued with depression. His drinking cost him his education, his colleagues, and almost his marriage. He considered himself hopeless until a visit from a friend changed his whole perspective on life. William Griffith Wilson, or Bill W., was a man that has helped change the lives of over 2 million people. He fought through his depression on countless occasions and found a way to help others like him. Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, would not be possible today without him. He was born in East Dorset, Vermont on November 26, 1895 in the middle of a snowstorm and in the bar of his grandparent’s hotel. What a fitting birth place for a man whose drinking was the pathway for other’s sobriety. Bill had a fairly happy childhood with his younger sister, Dorothy, until he turned 11. His parents divorced and went their separate ways; his father moved to British Columbia and

Bill decided to take an afternoon and visit the city’s cathedral. While there, Bill felt an overwhelming presence of God which left him reassured. Bill didn’t see much fighting during his service. After being dispatched, he returned to Brooklyn and got a position in a surety company while he took night classes in economics and law. Sadly, Bill was unable to take his final exam because of his drinking. His potential career in law ended. Bill continued his drinking when he decided to work on Wall Street. The brokers he worked for tolerated his alcoholism because they were making so much money from Bill. He knew he had a problem and had even tried to quit a few times, but to no avail. Towards the end of the decade, Bill’s drinking became so bad that his colleagues and even his wife began to avoid him. Then came the market crash in 1929. As his income and ego shrank, his drinking problem grew. He lost his job and spent his days in seclusion and booze-induced blackouts. By 1934, he was emotionally