Jim W. was born in 1930 and first walked into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in 1957. He has not had a drink since. At that time, Jim was barely able to read, but he believed there was wisdom to be found in books. The first book he ever read was the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, an experience that opened a door he never expected and set him on a lifelong path of recovery and service.
Over the decades that followed, Jim dedicated himself to sharing what was freely given to him. Whether meeting with another alcoholic one-on-one, writing recovery materials, or guiding groups through Twelve Step workshops, his approach has always been the same: honest, gentle, and rooted in spiritual principles rather than personal opinion.
Jim still attends the same home group he joined at his very first meeting, a place that continues to ground him and remind him where his journey began. His writing, including the Al Kohallek series and the workbooks collected on this site, reflects a lifetime of lived experience and a deep desire to help others slow down, reflect, and engage more fully with the Twelve Steps through reading and written response.
These materials are offered in the same spirit in which they were written: freely, without expectation, and with the hope that they may be useful to anyone seeking clarity, freedom, and joy in sobriety.
Sobriety date February 6, 1957.