Letter from Bill Wilson to The Burwell's
August 29, 1962
W.G.W.
Box 459 Grand Central Annex
New York 17, N. Y.
August 29, 1962
Dear Folks,
Your
letter reached us while on vacation in East Dorset,
Vermont, the old home town. Sometimes I wish I
could resettle up here.
Thanks
for all the news and views. As you imply, we
are not so young as we used to be. I'm
beginning to feel this also, as is Lois.
However, we are still doing okay, thank God.
About
the late lamented April Conference. There, I
think we made some A.A. history, but I question just
the right kind. I do think that my
recommendations for strengthening the General
Service Board would have bucked up our situation a
good deal against a future time of real trouble.
Routinely, things would go along nicely with
present setup. But if the heat really came on
in a big way, I would rather see a stronger
situation to handle it, so I'm sure we ought to
experiment in this direction -- something that the
Conference and trustees seemed very adverse to
doing.
It
wasn't [so] much that I was surprised or
disappointed by the Conference decision -- the thing
I deplored was the haste and even recklessness in
which it was taken. At the very least I think
I might have been aloud [sic] to get my
recommendations printed as an Appendix to the Third
Legacy Manual, along with the Concepts. But
evidently the Conference and the Trustees thought
the material to be of so little merit that it should
not be put on permanent record in this fashion.
In a way, this attitude amounted to
censorship, something I can't exactly relish. I
hope future Conferences will allow me the courtesy
of being printed permanently. After all, the
recommendations might prove to be some use later on.
But
one good thing did come of it. Future
responsibility was so completely and eagerly taken
away from me that my trip to the sidelines has been
greatly facilitated. It's now strictly up to
the Trustees and to the Conference and on their own
say-so. In a sense, this is a great relief,
because, as you know, I have been backing away for
along [sic] time. So the job is now complete.
All
the best now, and God bless you both. In this
Lois joins,
Affectionately,
/s/
Bill
Bill
WGW/nw
Mr. and Mrs. James Burwell
4193 Georgia Street
San Diego, California
Back
to AA History Page
|
|