Update on Glenn C.'s View of A.A. History "Lovers"

The owner of aabibliography--an excellent AA history resource--endeavored to post a notice that I did not promulgate, hear of, of authorize. It mentioned that I was giving away free over 350 cases of my books that have been in storage and that have been replaced by our new print-on-demand and electronic book program.

Not only was the owner greeted with a rebuff. He was the recipient of a diatribe about Dick B. And, as Mark Twain often said, I don't care what they write as long as they spell my name correctly. But I do care when someone posts insulting or libelous remarks. And here is what aabibliography posted in objection to the censorship effort:

Does that mean that Dick is going into a nursing home or
some place else like that where there will be no
room to store all those books?

It looks like Dick's son Ken is taking over most of the running o
the operation now, and seems to want to get rid of most
of the stock of Dick's books which they have stored on their shelves.

And/or, Dick's son Ken (who is a pastor who is not a
recovering alcoholic himself) wants to start
putting more emphasis on Christian recovery
as a church-oriented endeavor with less AA involvement.

I don't know. Do you know more?

[Dick B. comment: Glenn C. hasn't a clue about the remarks he made. And their falsity is obvious to anyone who knows the 44 titles, over 1100 articles, YouTube programs, Christian Recovery Radio programs, newsletters, blogs, Tweets, and Facebook information posts that have been emanating from Kihei, Maui, Hawaii for many years, and will continue to be produced so that AAs, Twelve-Step people, Christians, and those who want God's help will get straight, factual information on the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible have played in the origins, history, founding, original AA Christian Fellowship founded in Akron in 1935, and its successes.

The canards about nursing homes, someone taking over my "operation," and an alleged status as a "church-oriented endeavor with less AA involvement are exactly that: vicious lies. Yes. Lies. And any litigating drunk would simply file suite again such material for its intentional interference with a business. But litigating against Glenn C. would be about as useful as looking for an egg in the middle of the ocean.

Glenn C. has never apologized to aabibliography or to me. Yet that is what our Tenth Step is all about. It is also what Matthew 7:1-5 of the Sermon on the Mount is talking about. It is OK to lie, cheat, and steal when you are drinking, I suppose; but it is clearly appropriate in sobriety for an AA to concede: "When were were wrong, we promptly admitted it." But I'm not holding my breach, and I'm far too busy to crawl into a nursing home.]

[Glenn C. continues his response to aabibliography as follows:]

If we posted this in the AAHistoryLovers, we
would get a really furious protest from some of
our members, accompanied by serious threats to
quit the group themselves.

It seems best, doesn't it, to assume that those
who are Dick's fans will already be on his internet
mailing list, or will know people who are?
It wouldn't help anything at all to tear the
AAHistoryLovers apart and destroy it, just in
order to post one announcement which those who are
interested will have probably already received anyway.

Glenn Chesnut[Then came aabibliography's response:]
My response
Group members give serious threats to
quit the group themselves

LET THEM QUIT THE GROUP!!

Banning someone because their scholarship is different is counterproductive.
Banning someone because they submitted a message about an AA historian's book give away is INSANE AND DOWNRIGHT WRONG. Where are your morals Glenn C?? are you really practicing
the Principles of AA

I Challenge Glenn Chesnut
to address these issues
within The AA History Lovers Group

(1) I Demand an apology and retraction.
(2) I Demand reinstatement as a member.
(3) I Demand reinstatement of Dick B as a member
(4) I Call for his (Glenn C) resignation for conduct unbecoming of a
moderator and unauthorized actions by his self/group
which are deeply damaging to a member. (5) I call for new non biased
non internet
and non publishing
connected moderator

I Was a participating member for many years.

I did absolutely nothing that was in any way abusive, incorrect, or promotional.

I was banned by one man, Glenn Chesnut,
in an arbitrary, insulting, abrupt way—without any reasonable justification.

All should desire to see
Glenn Chestnut Moderator Yahoo AA History Lovers as Moderator Emeritus

Read Dick B's Response

Someone who purports to be the moderator of A forum posting site and someone else who uses the name AWUH decided to write insolent replies to my post. Their problem is that they didn't take the time to learn the facts before they wrote.
The Big Book calls this "contempt prior to investigation."
(Editor LDP: I am not sure to which site or post Dick B is Referring to here
in this first paragraph)

If I post, I can expect contempt now and then.
Contempt prior to investigation is another matter entirely.

Here are the facts:

The owner of http://www.aabibliography.com has been a long and consistent contributor to all kinds of history about A.A. And for many years.

I have no connection whatever with his website or him although he has posted a number of items about me - as well as other historians like Mel Barger, Ernest Kurtz, and many others. He has also gathered and posted a large number of books and articles germane to A.A. history.

However, apparently he decided--when he learned that I was distributing free cases of A.A. history books (350 cases)--to tell aa history lovers about the opportunity. He didn't notify me in advance or ask my permission or receive any request from me.

Instead, he was told by the owner of that site - Glenn Chesnut - that I was headed for a nursing home, was turning my 20 years of research over to one of my sons, and was trying to "Christianize" A.A.

Then Chesnut banned the contributor from his website and told him members would be "furious" if he listed anything pertaining to Dick B.

I have no connection whatever with A.A. history lovers. I don't surf it. I don't use it. I don't like one or two of the members because of their close-mindedness, but I know and like dozens of the others. And I have never met Glenn Chesnut.

I have protested this affront to the owner of aabibliography because I oppose censorship of A.A. history, and Glenn Chesnut has claimed he has most of the leading historians connected with his site. If he does, I am not surprised that several of them--who are my friends--have written me regretting Glenn's intemperate and arbitrary acts.

To close the matter, live and let live. Onward to the history lovers. Onward to aabibliography. And let the dead bury their dead.

I’m glad to see your revised announcement about A.A. History Lovers. Chesnut deserves every statement you made because your
statements are truthful and his attitude is vicious and harmful to AAs.

God bless,

Dick B.

[And now for the update: A.A. itself does not conduct research. It does not pretend to gather or report new A.A. history findings. And no  one person in A.A. or writing about A.A. can claim to know or to have published an accurate, truthful, or comprehensive history. The suppression of writings--something many "AA history lovers" have complained about--contributes nothing to the cause of truth. It simply enrages, diminishes, and censors those who get caught in the cross-fire of the antipathy of a few souls who believe that a closed-door policy will turn on the lights]