Silkworth: The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks

by Dale Mitchel

Alcoholism is an obsession of the mind that condemns one to drink and an allergy of the body that condemns one to die. In the 1930s, this statement by Dr. William Duncan Silkworth flew in the face of conventional wisdom that alcoholism was a moral failing. Risking his professional reputation, Dr. Silkworth articulated the medical observations and spiritual principles that helped to make the Alcoholics Anonymous program the success story it is today...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568387946
• ISBN13: 9781568387949
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Hazelden
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

What A Wonderful Book

I enjoyed reading every page of this book as it gives good insight into Dr. Silkworth's contribution to the early days of A.A. Don't pass it up.

A treasure house of new information on A.A.'s spiritual history

I have just published 4 new titles on various aspects of early A.A.'s Christian Fellowship and Biblical roots. This book was sent to me by Hazelden, and I read it to find that it presents history most AAs have never heard. I've used and quoted it frequently in my titles A New Way In and A New Way Out as well as The Conversion of Bill W. And here's what the author's diligent research and perception have disclosed: (1) Silkworth should not be remembered by AAs so much for his "Doctor's Opinion" in the Big Book, but rather for the very close relationship he established and the influence he brought to bear on his patient Bill Wilson. (2) Silkworth was a Christian, a member of Dr. Norman Vincent Peale's church, and later a communicant at Rev. Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Episcopal Church; and also became a close friend of these two important clergymen. (3) It is Norman Vincent Peale who tells in meticulous detail the story of "Charles", the seemingly hopeless alcoholic, who was being treated by Dr. Silkworth. Silky said he could not bring about a cure but that Jesus Christ could. The story is well told in Peale's The Postive Power of Jesus Christ and also in this author's account. And what it shows is Silkworth's persistent opinion that alcoholism could be cured by relgious conversion. (4) Silkworth had lengthy discussions with Bill Wilson at Towns Hospital; and on Bill's third visit, Silkworth explained to him about the power of the Great Physician (Jesus Christ)to cure alcoholics. This led Wilson to conclude before his final hospitalization and after his conversion at Shoemaker's Rescue Mission that he, Bill, should call on the Great Physician for help. Then Bill checked into Towns Hospital for the 4th and final time. Shortly, he repeated his statement that he should call on the Great Physician; and he cried out "If there be a God, let Him show Himself now." This was followed immediately by Wilson's "hot flash" experience where he felt the presence of God in his room and exclaimed "So this is the God of the preachers." After that, Bill never doubted the power of God, nor took a drink for the rest of his life. (5) Following the conversion experience at Towns, Bill summoned Silkworth and asked him if he felt the experience was genuine. Silkworth confirmed that it was. And the two men agreed that Bill had had a conversion experience. This was the very solution that Dr. Carl Jung had suggested to Bill's Oxford Group mentor Rowland Hazard--a conversion. That Bill's friend Ebby Thacher had passed along to Bill. And that precipitated Bill's going to the Calvary Mission as Ebby had done, and answeromg the altar call at Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Mission where Bill that night made a decision for Christ and soon remarked in writing "For sure I'd been born again." This diligent biographer is a fine writer and is one of the few who have dared to look at the evidence regarding early A.A. instead of just repeating A.A. myths. And the book is a corker for information, rea

AA's silent partner

This book is a biography of a very interesting and persistent man, Dr. William Duncan Silkworth. Dr. Silkworth was a pioneer in the treatment of alcoholism in the early 1930's. The book's author Dale Mitchel does a fabulous job of researching Dr. Silkworth's background and detailing Dr. Silkworth's contribution to the treatment of alcoholism. It was one of Dr. Silkworth's patients who went on to form the basis of the most effective treatment of alcoholism today, Alcoholics Anonymous. It was Dr. Silkworth who took the enormous gamble of allowing one of his recovered alcoholic patients, Bill Wilson, to act as a lay therapist on the alcoholism ward during the first few weeks of his sobriety. The gamble paid off and over time the concept led to the formation of AA.Dale Mitchel felt that Dr. Silkworth did not get enough credit for his pioneering work, hence he set out to write the doctor's biography. But, how? Fortunately, Mitchel found all of Dr. Silkworth's personal papers in the possession of a niece of the doctor, Adelaide Silkworth. The result is not only a tribute to a great man, but also a very interesting story worth reading.