The Basic Text, Narcotics Anonymous, was written between the years 1977 and 1982. Over this seven year period, a movement grew from a few members to include thousands of N.A.'s from the United States, Australia, Great Britain and parts of Europe.

The workers who produced the work were ordinary people except in one respect: they were all addicts who had found recovery through the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous. They found among their growing ranks whatever talents, skills and resources were required to complete the task at hand.

This story is a tribute to the perseverance, faith and recovery of all those who contributed what they had to offer to collect, compile and review the Basic Text. As is often the case with such works, the times, the methods and the miracles get lost as time goes along. Their story deserves to be told.

N.A. is a spiritual, not religious, program of recovery from the disease of addiction. Even so, it is unusual for the spiritual interworkings to surface in a visible manner so that new members and nonmembers can take a look into this remarkably simple and effective way of life. Without the bonds of selflessness and a sincere commitment to the idea that recovery ought to be available to any addict seeking recovery, the work would have been doomed from the start. As it was, the strain and tensions had all to be consistently overcome to carry the work forward to completion. Telling this story may help with future works of this nature for the benefit of those who suffer.

To introduce this work in functional terms, it may be helpful to restate obvious facts that may not be generally known. The N.A. Basic Text, Narcotics Anonymous was conceived of and written by N.A. members over a seven year period between 1977 and 1982. Since then, the Fellowship has experienced unprecedented growth. The story of how the book was written has never been told. To tell this story requires personal experience and the documentation to do an accurate and useful work. It also requires a full time effort. Our world service system is set up to address current needs of the Fellowship within the Twelve Traditions and generally accepted and approved service procedures. A work of this sort is extremely difficult or impossible to initiate or carry through to completion without interminable delays. A recent estimate to get the work on the drawing boards was ten years.

If a member is willing to do the work starting now, on a personal basis, with the well being and good of the Fellowship in mind, then putting together a pre-publication edition, going to work now, factoring in ideas, suggestions and drawing on written references, the work can begin immediately. The experience of the author suggests that this can and should be done. The benefits lie in the knowledge which can be transmitted to the reader whether they have a general interest in N.A., writing books or contemplate making anonymous contributions of their own within the Fellowship of N.A. itself.

Contempt prior to investigation is a fact of life among most people because what is not known can often not be conceived of in terms of need or application. Often, there is the feeling that knowing more will simply complicate an already complicated situation. Frequently this may be the case but where problems exist, solutions based on facts must be sought if the difficulties are to pass.

Members of N.A. will have final say as to style and content of the material. To do this without prerequisite funds and the lengthy processes that have kept works of this sort dead locked for years, a special plan has been carefully developed for the work. With fifteen thousand meetings and growing as of this writing, the need for written materials on the history of N.A. is self evident. Let it begin here.

Additional material is being sought from members who actually worked on the Book. Some might concern themselves with this effort making these members special in the sense that it might threaten their recovery in some mysterious way, this kind of projection may be the very thing that has prevented this story from coming out so far.

The members who supported, contributed material and did the work on the Basic Text are special. Their story exists in reality whether it is told or not. By, in effect, keeping their story secret, the ways in which they successfully dealt with difficulties is lost to the greater body of the membership.

All written additions and questions will be answered and considered for inclusion in subsequent versions of this work. Finalization may require a reunion of sorts to complete the work if interest and support warrant.

This material represents the second stage of writing this book. Some items have been added from the archives: the orientation sheet from May 1979 and the WLC final report. Researching files, records, minutes, tapes, correspondence and conduct personal interviews is absolutely required if the work is to be completed.

The single item of concern from those who contacted me after reading the Story of the Basic Text was confusion over who was who. This occurred among those members who have limited personal experience or some knowledge about the writing of the Basic Text. After the twentieth member complained that the effect of the technique was more to cause reader doubt than to maintain proper anonymity, the decision to use real first names and last initials was made.

To set the record straight, I was never worried about someone suing me for using their name in this book. My sole concern was that some member would come up to me at a convention somewhere and express hurt feelings. Today, I am respondent to other concerns. The material contained in this writing as it stands is the most complete and accurate record of what we did to accomplish the writing of our Book. This was done entirely by the Fellowship of N.A. with no outside help. The writing done by members is the property of the Fellowship. While elected trusted servants and special workers may act as custodians of these materials, they neither own them nor can they treat them as their property.

It is the principles that guided the work that need to be known. Their names are important mainly to themselves and a few friends. The members who did the work were at most addicts fortunate enough to have heard the message of recovery. They set aside personal differences, made sacrifices and prayed that the N.A. message might be carried to the ends of the earth. Through participation, they enhanced their personal recovery and experienced a degree an uncommon intensity of spirituality - as well as seeing the work through to completion.

I pray for your blessings. My gratitude goes out to those who have encouraged me to continue with this work.

Chapter One - San Francisco World Convention............................................ 1

Chapter Two - Early N.A............................................................................... 8

Chapter Three - Two Members ................................................................... 12

Chapter Four - Personal Experiences ........................................................... 17

Chapter Five - Houston World Convention .................................................. 24

Chapter Six - Trusting God .......................................................................... 27

Chapter Seven - 1979 World Service Conference ........................................ 33

Chapter Eight - World Literature Chair ......................................................... 38

Chapter Nine - Wichita Literature Conference ............................................... 44

Chapter Ten - 1980 World Service Conference ............................................. 50

Chapter Eleven - Lincoln Literature Conference ............................................. 57

Chapter Twelve - Getting Ready for Memphis ............................................... 62

Chapter Thirteen - Memphis Literature Conference ........................................ 69

Chapter Fourteen - Santa Monica Literature Conference ................................ 77

Chapter Fifteen - The Literature Process Deepens .......................................... 85

Chapter Sixteen - Ohio Literature Conference ................................................ 89

Chapter Seventeen - Miami Literature Conference .......................................... 94

Chapter Eighteen - Mid-South Regional Service Conference ........................... 98

Chapter Nineteen - Philadelphia Literature Conference .................................. 103

Appendices .................................................................................................. 108

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