Hi All (you too, Dick),

For doubtless the too-many-eth time:  A.A. began in New York and New
Jersey as well as in Akron.  Dick B's works tend to overlook that.

For my part, I admit that *Not-God* underplays some of the Akron
aspects, mainly because it was more difficult to get to (from Boston)
and so I spent less time there.  Also, although the Akron people were
unfailingly generous with their time and memories, that city did not at
that time contain the kind of hard documentation that one needed in
writing a doctoral dissertation.

Several oldtimers commented to me in the course of my research:  "AA
needed two co-founders.  If it had been only Bill Wilson, AA today would
have more franchises around the world than MacDonald's and Coca-Cola
combined.  If it had been only Dr. Bob Smith, AA today would be
completely housed in a Carvel stand on the road to Stow."

Even to begin to "understand" A.A., one has to study what happened in
*both* founding locations and the newer locations that in time spread
off from them, and why.  That is why today there are still so many
"Varieties of the AA Experience" -- to the enrichment of us all,
alcoholic and researcher alike.

ernie kurtz (Ph.D - Harvard 1978)