Whole Life Times: AA—One Million Sober, And Counting

February 2006 | Letters from Readers

AA—One Million Sober, And Counting

My name is Bob K. I am sober and clean in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous for 22 years. When I say sober, I mean I’ve taken nothing stronger than aspirin during this time. Today is particularly significant because it’s the anniversary date of my sobriety.

A friend—much newer in sobriety—handed me an article “Rite of Passage” (by Rachel Dowd, 1/06) with the same look of horror about it that I would have had 20 years ago.

I must preface my remarks with the following caveat: My opinions are not those of any program I am involved in, but are my personal observations over this 22 year period of deep involvement in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. AA itself prefers to make no comment, but I don’t mind at all. I must also tell you that I have no other letter designations to my name, other than S.O.B.E.R.

The premise of the article is that AA won’t work very well, that its members are never cured, that it commands work and time (which is never compensated) from its members and that Chris Prentiss has found something much better.

Seventy years after its founding, AA has more than one million sober members in the United States alone. My home group has over 200 members sober longer than 20 years. The lack of success in AA that Mr. Prentiss quotes as fact does not exist. Our Book says of “alcoholics who came to AA and really tried, 50 percent got sober at once and remained that way, 25 percent sobered up after some relapse, and among the remainder, those who stayed with AA showed some improvement. Other thousands came to a few AA meetings and at first decided that they didn’t want the program. But great numbers of these—about 2 out of 3—began to return as time passed.”

Mr. Prentiss, I wish you great success, but I think it will be in another field of endeavor. In the meantime, you keep the people who don’t want to put any effort into their own recovery, but if anyone you come in contact with seems to want to put a little effort into their sobriety, please don’t waste them—send them our way. —Bob K., Beverly Hills

Scheer Economics?

In Terrence McNally’s article (“Robert Scheer’s Untimely Departure,” 1/06), he is laudatory in his praise of Robert Scheer. He casts blame on the Chicago Tribune, (which acquired the LA Times some two or more years ago) for the “untimely departure” of Scheer from the Times staff.

Scheer’s columns were radically tilted to the left-of-center politically, and frequently bordered on sedition. The country is moving away from the lunatic left and the Tribune realized it with the loss of circulation by the Times.
McNally attempts to create sympathy for Scheer and equates his departure with pressure from the Bush administration in the question and answer format of his article. The answer is one of simple economics. With readership and subscription dwindling, revenues from advertising follow. Michael Kinsley and Robert Scheer were too far out of mainstream America to continue with writings in support of their agendas. They will not be missed. —Frank Thomas Murphy, Glendale

Teff To Find

I am very sensitive to wheat and possibly gluten. When I read something about teff (“Are You Teff Enough?” by Leslie Cerier, 7/05) I became interested. I purchased brown teff flour (grain not available) and with the addition of one cup of brown rice, leftover cereal, baking powder, two organic eggs and lots of blueberries, cooked on a buttered cast iron pan and served with warm maple syrup. What joy. I created a recipe with teff! I’m so excited. Do you have sources for fresh grains and flours?
—Rosalie Spinelli, Milford, Ct.

Ed reply: Writer Leslie Cerier reports that both brown and ivory teff grain and flour can be ordered directly from The Teff Company, PO Box A, Caldwell, ID, 83606. Call 888.822.2221 or go to teffco.com. Cerier’s new cookbook, Going Wild in the Kitchen (Square One Publishers), includes plenty of recipes with teff grain and teff flour as well as a mail order section.

Darrell Clarke’s Dream Could be a Nightmare for Some

I am part of a group that filed Environmental Injustice charges against MTA in connection with the proposed Expo Light Rail project (“Darrell Clarke: Father of the West Side’s Light Rail Dream” by Richard Nemec, 12/05). Our charges include the fact that the trains would travel within less than 50 feet of four schools—and one soon to be built—within the Mid-Corridor section of the Light Rail.

Because there is not enough money to construct the project properly, MTA plans to cross major traffic areas within the Mid Corridor at grade thereby causing further traffic problems for north and south-bound drivers. The train will end at an obscure location in Culver City because they could not cross a major intersection there at Washington and National which would have enabled the train to end at Venice and Robertson. Presently there seems to be a stalemate with USC in that they don’t want a train traveling through the Exposition Park area at grade.

Also residents living along Jefferson Blvd. between La Cienega and La Brea could lose their on-street parking spaces. The proposed mitigation is to have 75 spaces allocated in the proposed La Cienega station parking structure, causing residents to have to park several blocks from their residences and walk back to their homes. According to the LAPD, just north of this area is known gang activity. In some areas within the Mid Corridor the trains will travel less than 20 feet from the backyards of some residents, not to mention those who will lose portions of their property due to Light Rail.

Is Darrell Clarke’s dream for the good of the whole? In my mind, I don’t think so. —Carol Tucker, President, Baldwin Neighborhood Homeowners Association

Pet Smarts

"The Secret Life of Pets” (Rebecca Clarren, 1/06) starts an intriguing conversation on the likelihood of greater intelligence in dogs and other animals than we give them credit for.

But another writer, British scientist Rupert Sheldrake, in his Seven Experiments that Could Change the World: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Revolutionary Science (Park Street Press), takes the subject a bit further, which it deserves.

He says that describing dog intelligence in merely human terms doesn’t give dogs enough credit. Dogs and other animals have senses humans can only dream about. In fact, he suggests we can learn from dogs to develop our own sense abilities. The abilities of dogs, he says, prove humans have a long way to go to develop what we would call the sixth and seven senses.

For examples, Sheldrake points to the ability of dogs to recognize when they are nearing home while being driven in a car, or their uncanny ability to recognize when a human is staring at them, as tests which “prove” that canines have an intelligence we can’t calculate with our insights.

If nothing else, if humans began recognizing that animals may be smarter than we think, we’d have a more peaceful planet not only towards our doggie friends but all of our animal neighbors. —Andrew Kay Liberman, Santa Monica

Tested Advice For an Easy Childbirth

As a doula and childbirth educator, I appreciate any article which portrays pregnancy and birth as empowering and positive events ("Power Through Your Pregnancy” by Lisa Maria, 12/05). Yoga is an ancient and revered practice and I wholeheartedly acknowledge its role in the maintenance of a healthy body and positive state of mind. However, I felt deep concern about several aspects of this recent piece.

Dr. Christine Anderson is quoted as stating that “yoga during pregnancy can help women keep their weight gain down to a minimum, give them an improved attitude, help with shorter, easier labors and decrease medical intervention—like Cesareans and forceps—which also means less likelihood of fetal distress and a faster recovery after birth.” She adds that “women who do yoga tend to give birth on or before their due dates” and that prenatal yoga helps you to “get out of your head and let the labor process unfold.”

While I don’t dispute that prenatal yoga has its share of benefits, this article misleads people about the necessary requirements for a healthy birth. No research has shown prenatal yoga to decrease interventions in childbirth. The cesarean section rate in America is almost 30 percent. As a recent study in the British Medical Journal pointed out, the evidence-based way to decrease the likelihood of interventions and unnecessary surgery is to birth your baby outside of the hospital with a midwife who protects the space of the laboring mother and lets the labor process unfold in an atmosphere of peace and calm. The “monkey mind,” as referenced in this article, runs rampant in a hospital environment where fear and self-defense must take the forefront while perfect strangers treat you like you’re a disaster waiting to happen.

None of my clients who did prenatal yoga gave birth on or before their due dates. And many of them, due to their continued participation in obstetrical care, continued to receive the same pressure as any other obstetrical participant to induce labor if it didn’t begin shortly after the due date. Again, birthing outside of this medical charade would make this issue of due dates a moot point, unless, of course, the mother and baby actually were experiencing any sort of negative health issue.

Dr. Anderson implies that weight gain is somehow negative during pregnancy. Healthy weight gain is an essential component to a healthy, full-term pregnancy and studies have shown that an adequate intake of protein, a balanced diet and adequate salt and water greatly diminished the likelihood of pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy-related conditions. Don’t worry too much about what the scale says, as long as you’re eating a balanced diet filled with whole foods and at least 75 grams a day of protein.

Finally, I must point out the irony that this article begins and ends with an anecdote of a mother who spent 10 weeks on bed rest prior to giving birth to twins via cesarean section in spite of her prenatal yoga. Midwives who work with twins rarely see their clients give birth prematurely because they emphasize excellent nutrition and minimal medical intervention. I myself gave birth to 8 pound twins after 40 weeks of pregnancy and an 80 pound weight gain on a vegan diet. I birthed them at home with no one but my husband present. During the birth of my footling breech daughter, I remember thinking to myself, “I’m sure glad I’m not getting surgery right now.” No amount of prenatal yoga might have saved me from the fate of surgery—short of locking myself in the hospital bathroom during their births—had I not chosen to give birth at home. This was the key factor.

Environment is everything during childbirth. —Mindy Goorchenko, Anchorage, Alaska

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