A.A. was started in 1935 by a New York stockbroker and an Ohio surgeon, who had both been "hopeless" drunks. At first, most A.A. members also had been seriously ill; their drinking had sent them to hospitals, sanitariums, or jails. But more and more people began to hear about A.A., and soon many alcoholics found that they did not have to let their illness do that much damage. They could recover in A.A. before their health had been totally wrecked, while they still had their jobs and their families.
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