Saturday Evening, April 16th 1994. 

The Travers Anniversary Dinner. 

Dinner at the Fosters Rooms, Bristol (£25.00) with overnight accommodation in the Grand Hotel at reasonable weekend rates. Sally introduced Peter of Blackpool as the speaker this evening and she calls him ‘one of our greatest supporters. I don’t know what we would have done really without Peter in the last couple of years.’ 

 “My name is Peter I’m an alcoholic...... Well, we’ve got quite a few anniversaries to mention this evening. First of all, Bristol. It is forty years since AA was brought to Bristol by our friend Jim H., Dr Jim, who we see annually when he comes and lights the candle for our marathon meeting and the Bristol Reunion. I don’t know how long Jim’s been sober but its forty years since he came to Bristol with the message. So he has obviously over 40 years of sobriety and is a tremendous example for us all. And he’s such a quiet humble man! What I remembered chiefly about him is he always says ‘I will drink again, unless I do something about it today.’ I recently learned that our oldest member in Coventry (I say our because I was in Coventry for many years). Our oldest member there, Eugene, has just found out that Jim was the one who 12^th Stepped him. So he not only brought AA to Bristol he must have been the one who brought it to Coventry as well. I’m not a great one for archives, Pat will be able to tell you much more about the history of the Bristol AA. but I do know that the first meeting was held at the half Moon Public House. A great place for an AA meeting. When they moved from there they went to the Royal Hotel. Then there was a very sad fall because from there they went to the Social Service Offices.

We also celebrated this year the 21^st Anniversary of the Newcomers group. I’ve always said it is the best group in Great Britain, the best group in Great Britain because it’s the only group that is entirely dedicated to carrying the whole of the AA message. And that has been its dedication since it first began. To carry the whole of the AA message to the suffering alcoholic Newcomers. Some of the Newcomers to the Programme have been in AA for a long time, unfortunately. And the Newcomers group of Bristol is still dedicated to that end, to carry the whole of the message.

And of course associated with the Newcomers group is that wonderful institution, unique institution, Bristol Fashion, which is not only a journal but also a dedicated group ,dedicated to encouraging the growth of spirituality in Alcoholics Anonymous. Such a small group of people, it was 3 alcoholics and 1 non-alcoholic doing such marvellous things. They introduced Retreats for alcoholics into England. The first Retreat in England for alcoholics was held under the auspices of the Bristol Fashion. There are plenty of them now but the first one was held by Bristol Fashion and I had the privilege of being there in 1972. And since then Bristol Fashion have expanded not only Retreats but Workshops and also Bristol Fashion was instrumental in bringing the Big Book Study to Great Britain. The Big Book Study which is doing so much to revitalise Alcoholics Anonymous and bring us back to the Programme of Recovery, we here are all very grateful to it.

But chiefly, at this dinner we are remembering Travers. When I was in the company of Travers, I always felt that I was very near to the origins of AA. Travers' sponsor was, as you know, Sackville, who was very close to Bill W.  So I always felt in Travers' company that I wasn’t far away from Bill & Bob and the other old-timers. I think Travers had a wonderful beginning in AA, he had a wonderful opportunity right at the beginning of his AA. And I had the same opportunity but I wasted it.

At the beginning of his sobriety, Travers spent some months in the locked ward of a mental hospital. In the beginning of my sobriety I spent some months in the locked ward of a mental hospital. I took with me a book entitled ‘Teach yourself Calculus’, I was never very good at Calculus and I spent my time in the locked wards studying mathematics. Travers took with him a copy of the Big Book and he spent his months in the locked wards studying the Big Book. And so he had a wonderful knowledge of the book Alcoholics Anonymous and the recovery programme that is found in it. So when he left the Mental Institution and came into AA, he knew all about the recovery Programme. It must have been a great shock to him when he went to some of the meetings because at that time and I think for some years afterwards AA had seemed to forget the importance of the Big Book.

Just to remind you of the importance of the Big Book I have here an extract of a talk given by Bill in 1958. He wrote or he said: “It was in 1937 when Dr. Bob and I first began to see what we must do. We knew there would have to be an AA text of principles and methods. Other Old-timers agreed. By 1939 with lots of help we had published the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous. This ended all doubt about AA’s methods. The 300,000 Big Books today in circulation constitute the platform of recovery upon which our whole Fellowship stands.” A platform of recovery upon which our whole Fellowship stands. And yet in many of our meetings the Big Book is ignored.

However, Travers had studied the Big Book and was able to talk about the Programme of Recovery with authority. He had not only studied the Big Book he had put into practice the principles of the Big Book. He had put into practice the programme of the recovery and he had recovered.  He had experienced recovery in AA. His belief that a power greater than himself could restore him to sanity, his belief was changing to faith.

He knew that a power greater than himself could restore him to sanity because he had experienced it. And when you have experienced a thing, when you know a thing is true, you can speak about it with authority. And that was a great thing about Travers when he was talking about the AA programme of recovery he spoke with authority. You know I have often wondered why some people called Travers a controversial figure in AA. And many people do. "Oh yes I knew Travers, very good member but controversial." Travers wasn’t controversial he was the most orthodox man I’ve ever heard speak in AA. Because all he said was in the Big Book and what he said was true. He was most particular that his own thoughts would be separated from what he said when he was talking from the Big Book.

I remember him talking to me once about the 5^th Step and when he told me what the 5^th Step was he put forward an idea of his own but he made it very clear that the idea of his own was not in the Big Book and therefore I could ignore it if I liked. His own idea was that once he’d made his 5^th Step and the person to whom he’d made it, died. Travers felt he should make another 5^th Step because he wanted some living person to know all about him. And he made it very clear that, that was his own idea. But when he spoke about what was in the Big Book he spoke with authority using the authority of the Big Book. And that is why some people I think called him controversial because he spoke with authority.

In some ways, you know, Alcoholics Anonymous is hard to define. You can define Alcoholics Anonymous as a book, we can define Alcoholics Anonymous as a fellowship, you can define Alcoholics Anonymous as a spiritual programme and we can define it as a human structure. In some ways it is rather like the Church. The Church is a spiritual entity but it has a human structure and the church is sometimes isn’t very fond of people who speak with authority. And people in the church who speak with authority unless their Bishops or Arch-Bishops or Popes or Patriarchs are usually dealt with in either one of two ways. Sometimes people who speak with authority are told to shut up or take the consequences. Those declared to be heretics might finish up being excommunicated or even worse. Other people who speak with authority are sometimes called Saints. Now, every man who is called a Saint means he is so very good that it is no good trying to imitate him. All we can do is put him in the litany of Saints and ask him to pray for us and forget all about him. And sometimes the Church will do both that is declare him to be a heretic and later on declare him to be a Saint. Like Joan of Arc for example. Joan of Arc was burned as a heretic and witch and then she was declared to be a Saint. Because she was an extreme case she was a little peasant girl who had the nerve to speak with authority and that didn’t go down well at all. In some ways Travers reminds me of Joan of Arc, Joan of Arc reminds me of Travers because they were both people of tremendous courage. They were both rather fond of criminals and they were both people with tremendous vision. Travers had a vision, he had a vision of a Fellowship practising a programme of recovery. And actually recovering wholly from alcoholism and joining together in Fellowship recovered alcoholics. Having the same programme thinking the same things.

Now Travers wasn’t a Saint. He was a man whose example we can follow, we can have that same vision. The vision of complete recovery from alcoholism. Practising this programme of recovery helping each other and joining together in carrying this message of recovery complete recovery from alcoholism. That was his vision and I hope we’ll honour his memory by trying also to work for that vision.”   Peter S.

The things he used to say...