“I believe that people are good if you give them half a chance and that good is more powerful than evil. The world seems to me excruciatingly, almost painfully beautiful at times, and the goodness and kindness of people often exceed that which even I expect.”
- Lois Burnham Wilson
Born – March 4, 1891 in Brooklyn Heights, New York. (Of course – I see you JJ)
Died – October 5, 1988 at 97 years old.
Lois’ father was a gynecologist and surgeon. Her Mom’s name was Matilda and is described as “a woman of refinement.” Lois had two brothers and two sisters (a …read more

Bill Wilson’s words, reproduced in “The Language Of The Heart” on page 274, are very intriguing to me, especially having recently had some controversy about having a choice or not.
Bill said;
“During my first couple of years I had two or three severe temptations to drink. But having practiced the AA program pretty faithfully, I was fully able to see the consequences of so doing at the time I was tempted. The usual blinding rationalizations were not present. I had been restored to sanity, respecting alcohol. I nevertheless had to make a choice. But under these conditions it was not hard. …read more

This is a topic I could probably write much more on and perhaps I will later. I find myself intrigued by the story of Bill Wilson’s grandfather Willie.
I also believe that this is yet another example of alcoholism being a family disease.
From Francis Hartigan’s book “Bill W., A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson,” Thomas Dunne Books, New York, 2001, on pages 10-11.