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THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF THE GREAT AMERICAN WOMAN WHO CREATED A WORLD WIDE MOVEMENT TO SAVE MILLIONS OF FAMILIES FROM THE DEVASTATION OF ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
About the Book
Near the bottom of her husband Bill's downward spiral into alcoholic hell, when he collapsed one night in a drunken stupor in the hallway of their Clinton Street, Brooklyn home, Lois Wilson felt she could bear no more. Pounding hysterically on his chest, she screamed out in despair: "You don't even have the decency to die!" The compelling story behind this painful, oft-repeated scene eventually led to two of the most important movements of the twentieth century: Alcohol Anonymous and Al-Anon.
Lois Wilson, the wife of the man who co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), stuck by her husband through his seventeen years of tormented and abusive alcoholic drinking, believing that her unconditional love could get him sober. But it could not. The daughter of well-to-do parents, this loving and determined women watched her husband, Bill Wilson, destroy his career, his relationships and his health, checking into and out of alcoholic sanatoriums as he neared the point of insanity and death. Finally, through a life-changing spiritual experience, the fellowship of AA was born.
It was through Lois Wilson's heart-rending, emotional struggle and her witnessing other spouses and children similarly impacted that she came to realize that alcoholism is a family disease and that the solution was a program for recovery, a family support group that came to be known as Al-Anon.
My Name is Bill W.Written by William G. Borchert
World War I veteran William Wilson has everything: loving wife, good health, Wall Street career - and a "drinking problem." After bottoming out, he meets Bob Smith, an Ohio surgeon with the same "problem." Together they discover a way to stay sober...one day at a time. Their triumph would save millions around the world.
James Woods won a Best Actor Emmy® Award for his no-holds-barred portrayal of Wilson in a powerful true story of how two lives intertwined at a crucial time - and how that friendship led to the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous. With over 100,000 chapters worldwide, the work of Wilson and Smith (James Garner) goes on everywhere, heroically...one day at a time. JoBeth Williams and Gary Sinise also star in this moving and memorable story.