- Bill W.
William Griffith Wilson (26 November 1895-24 January 1971) (also known as Bill Wilson or Bill W.), was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a fellowship of self-help groups dedicated to helping alcoholics recover from their addiction. According to the AA tradition of anonymity, Wilson was and still is commonly known as "Bill W." In 1934, in the course of his struggle with alcoholism, … - Stanton Peele
Stanton Peele, Ph. D., J.D., (born January 8, 1946) is a licensed psychologist, attorney, practicing psychotherapist and the author of numerous books and articles on the subject of alcoholism, addiction and treatment. His contribution to the field of alcoholism has won him several awards including the 1994 Alfred R. Lindesmith Award for achievement in the Field of Scholarship, from the Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, … - Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac (pronounced) (March 12 1922 - October 21 1969) was an American novelist, writer, poet, and artist. He is perhaps the best known of a group of writers and friends who came to be known as the Beat Generation, a term he himself created. Kerouac enjoyed some degree of popular appeal but little critical acclaim during his lifetime. Today, however, he is considered an important and influential author. - Kevin Kennedy
Kevin Kennedy (born 4 September, 1961, in Manchester) is a British actor, singer and guitarist. He played bottle-lensed Norman 'Curly' Watts in ITV's long running soap opera, Coronation Street between 1983 and 2003. Before this, Kennedy was in the band Paris Valentinos which also contained Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke who later played in The Smiths, although he never mentions it. After a short break from acting - recovering from a battle with alcoholism, in May 2000, … - George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 - 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish football player best known for his years with Manchester United. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders. In 1968, his "annus mirabilis", he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year. When fit, he was an automatic choice for the Northern Ireland team, … - John Bradshaw
John Elliot Bradshaw (born June 29, 1933 in Houston, Texas) is an American educator, counselor, motivational speaker and author best known for his PBS television programs on topics such as addiction, recovery, codependency and spirituality. Bradshaw is active in the self-help movement, and is credited with popularizing such ideas as the "wounded inner child" and the dysfunctional family. His books are mainly works of popular psychology. - Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an Academy Award-nominated American singer-songwriter and musician. His primary instrument was the guitar, but he was also proficient at piano, clarinet, bass, harmonica and drums. Smith had a distinctive vocal style characterized by his "whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery", and use of multi-tracking to create vocal harmonies. Although Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and died in Los Angeles, California, … - Anne Lamott
In partnership with Whitworth College and the SCC Hagan Center Foundation for the Humanities, SCC's President's Speakers Series was honored to present Anne Lamott Saturday, May 12, at 7:30 p.m. This event was held in the Cowles Memorial Auditorium on the campus of Whitworth College , and is free and open to the public . Anne Lamott is the best-selling author of Bird by Bird , Operating Instructions , and Traveling Mercies . - Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was an influential American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also an expert chess player and a champion fencer. Leiber married Jonquil Stephens on January 16, 1936, and their son Justin Fritz Leiber was born in 1938. Jonquil's death in 1969 precipitated a three-year bout of alcoholism, but he then returned to his original form with a fantasy novel set in modern-day San Francisco, … - Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs was a U.S. protest singer (or, as he preferred, a "topical singer"), songwriter, musician and recording artist who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and released eight LP record albums in his lifetime. He performed at many political events, anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies, student events, … - Caroline Knapp
Caroline Knapp (November 8, 1959-June 4, 2002) was an American writer and columnist whose candid best-selling memoir "Drinking: A Love Story" recounted her 20-year battle with alcoholism. Knapp grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and graduated from Brown University. From 1988-95, she was a columnist for the Boston Phoenix, where her column "Out There" often featured the fictional "Alice K." In 1994, those columns were collected in her first book, … - Larry Eustachy
Larry Eustachy (born December 1, 1955 in Alameda, California) is the current head coach of The University of Southern Mississippi's men's basketball team. He was hired as head coach on March 25, 2004. He had previously been head coach of the men's basketball teams at the University of Idaho (1990-1993), Utah State (1993-1998) and Iowa State (1998-2003). Eustachy won the AP National Coach of the Year after leading Iowa State to the Elite Eight in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. - Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (born Michael James Dick) (June 3, 1946 - December 19, 1993), was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the 1960s rock music group The Byrds from 1964 to 1968. He died in 1993, at age 47, from liver failure due to more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption. - Vin Baker
Vincent (Vin) Lamont Baker (born November 23 1971, in Lake Wales, Florida) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA, currently a free agent. He appeared in four consecutive All-Star Games before his career was troubled by alcoholism. After a college career at the University of Hartford, not far from where he grew up in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, Baker was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 8th pick of the 1993 NBA Draft. - Doug Thorburn
Doug Thorburn is a researcher who became romantically involved with an alcohol and other-drug addict, survived, and vowed "never again." To protect himself, he decided he'd better learn something about the disease. Stumbling upon open AA meetings, he decided that was an excellent place to start. At these recovery meetings, he observed, interacted, spoke with and in the end, … - Dana Plato
Dana Michelle Plato (November 1, 1963 - May 8, 1999) was an American actress who became famous playing the role of Kimberly Drummond in the U.S. television sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes". Plato's career declined after her departure from the show, with appearances in low-budget films, including some softcore pornography. She had chronic drug problems and committed suicide on May 8, 1999. - Ebby Thacher
Edwin Throckmorton Thacher (29 April 1896-21 March 1966) (commonly known as Ebby Thacher or Ebby T.), was an old drinking friend of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson. He is credited with introducing Wilson to the initial principles that AA would soon develop, such as "one alcoholic talking to another," and the Jungian thesis which was passed along to Rowland Hazard and, in turn, … - Brennan Manning
Brennan Manning (christened Richard Francis Xavier Manning) is an author, monk, priest, contemplative and speaker. Born and raised in Depression-era New York City, Manning finished high school and enlisted in the US Marine Corps, where he fought in the Korean War. When Manning returned to the states, he enrolled at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. Upon his graduation from the seminary in 1963, Manning was ordained to the Franciscan priesthood. - Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory Guerrero (October 9 1967 – November 13 2005) better known by his ring name Eddie Guerrero, was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into a legendary Mexican wrestling family. Through the 1990s, he had a distinguished career, working for every major professional wrestling promotion in the United States during that period: Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). - John O'Brien
John O'Brien was an American author. His first novel "Leaving Las Vegas" was published in 1990 by Watermark Press and made into a film of the same name in 1995. - Mark Elliot
Mark Elliot (born ca. 1953 is the professional name of Nils Johanson, a late night talk radio host on radio station CFRB 1010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and an addictions counselor in private practice. From 2003 to February 2007 he hosted the general interest talk show "The Nightside", as of 2005 the highest-rated late night radio show in Canada. Since February 2007 he hosts "People Helping People", … - Claude Steiner
Claude Steiner was born January 6, 1935 in Paris, France. His parents were Austrian, his mother Jewish and his father Christian. The family left France in 1939 ahead of the impending Nazi invasion. Eventually the family settled in Mexico. In 1952, Steiner went to the United States to study engineering. In 1957 he met and became a follower of Eric Berne, psychiatrist and founder of the transactional analysis school of psychotherapy. - Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake (14 November 1922 - 7 July 1973) was a popular American film actress and pin-up model who enjoyed both popular and critical acclaim, especially for her femme fatale roles in "film noir" with Alan Ladd during the 1940s. Described by Bette Davis as "the most beautiful person who ever came to Hollywood," her success was fleeting. Following a string of broken marriages and long struggles with mental illness and alcoholism, she died almost destitute. - Ali Macgraw
Alice MacGraw (born April 1, 1938 in Pound Ridge, Westchester County, New York) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe award winning American actress. - Jean Rhys
Jean Rhys, originally Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams, was a Caribbean novelist who wrote in the mid 20th century. Her first four novels were published during the 1920s and 1930s, but it was not until the publication of "Wide Sargasso Sea" in 1966 that she emerged as a significant literary figure. A "prequel" to Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre", "Wide Sargasso Sea" won a prestigious WH Smith Literary Award in 1967. - Lorenz Hart
Lorenz "Larry" Hart (May 2, 1895 - November 22, 1943) was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. His most memorable lyrics include, "Blue Moon", "Isn't It Romantic?", "The Lady is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", and "My Funny Valentine". Hart was born in Harlem to Jewish immigrant parents. He attended Columbia University, where a friend introduced him to Rodgers, … - William Duncan Silkworth
William Duncan Silkworth, M.D., (1873?-1951) was an American medical doctor and specialist in the treatment of alcoholism. He was Director of the Charles B. Towns Hospital for Drug and Alcohol Addictions in New York City in the 1930s, during which time Bill Wilson, a future co-founder of the mutual-help movement Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), was admitted on three separate occasions for alcoholism. - Wallace Beery
Wallace Beery (April 1, 1885 - April 15, 1949) was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Long John Silver in "Treasure Island" (1934) as well as more than 200 other movie roles over a 36-year span. - Alexander Godunov
Aleksandr Borisovich Godunov (Russian: Александр Борисович Годунов, 28 November, 1949, Sakhalin, USSR — 18 May, 1995, Los Angeles, California) was a Russian ballet dancer and actor, whose defection caused a diplomatic incident between the USA and the USSR. He joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1971 and rose to become premier dancer before defecting to the USA in 1979. After briefly dancing with the American Ballet Theatre, … - Joan Bauer
Joan Bauer, born July 12, 1951 in Illinois, is an award-winning author of young adult literature currently living in Brooklyn. The main characters in her books are typically teenagers who are dealing with complicated family issues, such as alcoholism, abandonment, illness, and self-esteem issues, but such issues are faced with a light touch and humor is added in to lighten it up. Before publishing her first book, Bauer worked for the Chicago Tribune, McGraw-Hill books, … - Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae (born April 22 1926) is an American actress and singer known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life", in which she appeared from 1979 until 1986. Born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky, the second of three daughters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rae attended but did not complete her studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. - Richard Street
Richard Street (born October 5 1942 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1993. Street was the first member of the Temptations to actually be a native of Detroit; all of the previous members were born and at least partially raised in the southern United States. Street was the lead singer of an early Temptations predecessor, "Otis Williams & the Distants", … - Brian Murphy
Brian Murphy (born September 25 1933 in Ventnor, Isle of Wight) is a British actor. Although a prolific actor in many films and theatre productions for almost half a century, it is as the henpecked husband George Roper in the sitcom "Man About The House" and spin-off "George and Mildred" for which he is best known. Murphy was a member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, and a jobbing actor in the 1960s and early 1970s, … - Delmore Schwartz
Delmore Schwartz (December 8, 1913 - July 11, 1966) was an American poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first published work was the short story "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities," which was published in 1937 in the "Partisan Review". This and other short stories and poems were collected and released in his first book, under the same name (1938). - Gig Young
Gig Young (November 4, 1913 - October 19, 1978) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor. - Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. Movie fans know him best for his bravura performance in the musical "Singin’ in the Rain" (1952), in which he performed the vaudeville-inspired comedy number "Make 'Em Laugh", … - Maxwell Perkins
William Maxwell Evarts Perkins, was born on September 20, 1884, in New York City; grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey; attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire; and then graduated from Harvard College in 1907. Although an economics major in college, Perkins had the good sense to also study under Charles Townsend Copeland, a famous teacher of literature who helped prepare Perkins for his calling. After working as a reporter for The New York Times, … - Jim Hall
Montague James Furlong (July 22 1868 - March 14 1913), commonly known as Jim Hall, was an Australian middleweight boxer. He won the Australian middleweight title in 1887 before moving to the United States in an attempt to capture the World title from Jack (Nonpareil) Dempsey. Described as "one of the best little fighters that ever lived" in "The Milwaukee Journal", Hall's career was affected by alcoholism, and he died of tuberculosis in 1913. - Bob Welch
Robert Lynn "Bob" Welch (born November 3, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan), is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1978-87) and Oakland Athletics (1988-94). He played in college for Eastern Michigan. He batted and threw right-handed. In a 17-year career, Welch compiled a 211-146 record with 1,969 strikeouts and a 3.47 ERA in 3,092 innings. A two-time All-Star, Welch won 14 or more games in eight years, … - Sloan Wilson
Sloan Wilson was an American author. Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, he graduated from Harvard University in 1942. He fought in World War II, serving in the United States Coast Guard, commanding a trawler on the Greenland patrol and an army supply ship in the Pacific Ocean. After the war, Wilson worked as a reporter for Time-Life. His first book, "Voyage to Somewhere", was published in 1947 and drew on his wartime experiences.
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