Unless you are involved in an Archives Committee, have a subscription, or browse the AAWS website from time to time, you might not have noticed the newest edition of Markings, Your Archives Interchange, Volume 28, #2, Summer 2008. 

   The lead article, Origins of the Preamble, and other FAQs, is a fun and interesting article about some of the readings we hear in AA meetings and some of the urban legends we hear spoken around the tables everyday. Here are some of the topics the article addresses:

1) Who wrote A.A.’s Preamble? And when was the word “honest” dropped from it (i.e. “honest desire to stop drinking”), and why?

2) I’ve heard it said that Bill always wished he could change the beginning of “How It Works” to read “Never have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path” (rather than “Rarely have we seen…”). Is this true?

3) What is the history behind A.A.’s Responsibility Statement?

4) What is the history behind A.A.’s Unity Declaration?