The preparation of this book began after the April 1977 A.A. General Service Conference approved the project. Originally, a joint biography of the two co-founders was planned. When this proved impracticable, it became apparent that Dr. Bob’s biography should be written first, before Bill W.’s.

      The end of the last century was the setting for all of Dr. Bob’s childhood and youth. Even with the most thorough research, this early period includes months and years of which only the barest account can be given, and that in the memories of but a few men and women. Undramatic as these recollections are, they give glimpses into the innate character that would help to shape the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

      For Dr. Bob’s adult years—as an active and then as a recovering alcoholic—the material is far richer. In the course of research, the book naturally expanded from biographical limits into a memoir of early A.A. in the Midwest. Our co-founder was in the same position as any other A.A. member: Without the Fellowship and its program, his life would have been only a short story with a tragic ending.

      Both the individual and the larger history unfolded partially from A.A. literature and material in the archives at the A.A. General Service Office in New York City—but chiefly from face-to-face talks with relatives, friends, and acquaintances of Dr. Bob and with pioneer members of Midwestern A.A. The locales of these interviews included, not only Ohio and Dr. Bob’s native Vermont, but California, the D.C. area, Florida, North Carolina, New York, and Texas.

      The interviews yielded a greater wealth of historical material than could be included in one book; but the complete records are now in the A.A. archives. To all the people who shared their memories, the Fellowship owes a debt of gratitude.