The 3rd World Literature Conference (WLC), and work that followed to print and mail the Memphis Review Form (also known as the Gray Review Form), could be characterized as an all-out endurance event. Bo S., Chair of the World Service Conference Literature Committee (WSC-LC), articulated the high hopes that the Narcotics Anonymous book would be ready for approval at the World Service Conference in May 1981, with publication of a hardback book in June.1 To make this happen, a 4th WLC was scheduled where the Memphis Review Form input could be reviewed and turned into the finished manuscript.
The 4th WLC was planned for Santa Monica, CA, to occur prior to the 1981 World Service Conference (WSC). The 4th WLC was planned as a five-day conference, held Sunday, April 26th through Thursday, April 30th at the Retail Clerks Union Hall (1410 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA). The WLC ended up concluding on May 1st, the same day that the 6th WSC began at Los Angeles Valley College.
The Hazards of Service Work
In The Story of the Basic Text (1990), Bo S. writes:
“Few have known this story of the Basic Text. Many lost jobs, families and suffered financial disaster. There was no way to pay people for the work. It had to be done by those whose motivation was for the wellbeing and future. It was a matter that fit into the category of what can we do today. They did the work before them and let God take care of the outcomes.”2
While recounting the tremendous sacrifice and service of those who birthed Narcotics Anonymous (Basic Text), these hazards are sometimes overlooked. Bo recalls returning from the 3rd WLC to an empty house.
“The utilities had been cut off and his wife had moved into her parents with the children…The marriage was irretrievably broken. One too many pretty girls had run up to him for hugs that went a little beyond Fellowship affection.”3
Linda M. recalled it took 10 years to pay back her college loans, which she drew upon to fund her travel to the WLC. She described the effort to write the book as being “all consuming.”4
William L. White shares an adage in his memoir Recovery Rising: A Retrospective of Addiction Treatment and Recovery Advocacy:
“One must be careful in carrying light to the community to not leave one’s own home in darkness.”5
In documenting, preserving, and sharing the history of this monumental effort in NA’s history, cautionary tales like these should be shared. Not as a judgment of the service and sacrifice of those who recognized the urgency of writing a book, but as acknowledgment that recovering individuals will frequently find a tension between honoring the gift of recovery through service to others and the obligations to oneself and family.
The World Literature Committee meets the California Fellowship
The current effort to write a book was well underway by the time a WLC was held in California. Three WLCs had already been held, with the first one occurring 18 months earlier. WLC minutes from Wichita, KS, Lincoln, NE, and Memphis, TN included the names of 133 different attendees. Of those, only 7 (5%) came from California (Bob B., Buddy K., Dean G., Henry, Nolan W., Nona, and Richard B.) and only 1 had attended more than one WLC (Dean G. attended WLC 1 and WLC 2).
By 1981, 1 in every 5 NA meetings in the world were held in California (October 1981 reported 212 meetings in California and 1,038 meetings worldwide).6 The reasons for the low rate of participation from the California fellowship are not fully known. Some factors may have included:
- The distance to travel to the first three WLCs.
- Travel and accommodation were covered by the attendees and/or with support from the local fellowship.
- The Chair of the WSC Literature Committee was based in Marrietta, GA.
But one contributing factor may have been the availability of NA. The lack of NA outside of California may have contributed to a sense of desperation for those working on the book. Support for this is found in reflections of a member who attended their first WLC in Santa Monica. Nickie lived in Bellflower, CA. She attended the 4th WLC with the direction of her Area to vote “for them to not be writing the book.”7 However, the opening session was to have a profound impact upon Nickie’s assumptions about the availability of Narcotics Anonymous and her understanding of the urgency for the creation of a book. Nickie recalled:
“…when I got there I was surprised to see how many people were there and how many people I didn’t know. So, I’m sitting there, and I’m half way directly opposite Bo, and as each person talked about their area and the state they came from and the area they came from and how there was no…how they didn’t have meetings and how they didn’t have a book, and how they didn’t have something to take to the newcomer who was brand new…
…and sometimes, they would drive 200 miles to a meeting, Mississippi to Louisiana, different places like that. And I was so used to California, where, even though we were starting meetings, in a half an hour, I could be somewhere. And then, eventually, towards that time, I could be at a meeting every single day and not have to drive that far.
…And so, for me, it was a shock to hear that there weren’t meetings like that everywhere else. I thought that it was the same everywhere. And to hear each one of these people talk, by the time they got to me, I was in tears, ’cause I realized that addicts were dying and that we needed to carry the message better. And the only way to do that would be the way that the forefathers of the other program had done it, and to write a book that could be sent anywhere and could be read by that new addict at three o’clock in the morning when he or she didn’t wanna call someone.”8
Another contributing factor may have been “contempt prior to investigation,” a concept popularized in “Appendix II: Spiritual Experience” of Alcoholics Anonymous.9 Sally E. got clean in Southern California on September 1, 1969. She was a member of the Board of Trustees during the writing of the Basic Text. At the 11th World Convention of Narcotics Anonymous (WCNA), held in September 1981, Sally recounted:
“In May of this year, they held, the end of April this year, they held a literature conference in Santa Monica. And I had seen a copy of the Gray Book that came out of Memphis. And I didn’t like it. And I have some real strong opinions. Because I’m very opinionated about that.
Well one of the things I really learned in freshman English composition was that committees can’t write books. And I really, and I believed that. But anyway, I have some opinions that they needed some professional writers. A professional writer. A professional editor. A professional proofreader.
And I did a lot of bitching and griping about it. My friend Bob told me, ‘You better go down and tell them.’ And I wasn’t anxious to do that, but. We were at a regional service meeting and Bob says, ‘I’m going to the Lit Conference, why don’t you come tell them what you’ve got to tell them.’ I said, ‘Ok.’
So, we got down there and I got inside. And I was looking around for who to tell. I wasn’t quite sure who to approach with these pearls of wisdom. And somebody said, ‘Do you type?’ And I said, ‘Look at my fingernails, I don’t type.’ And they said, ‘Well, can you read?’
So, I ended up sitting on a proof reading, on an input form reading committee where input from all over the country had been sent in regarding the book. And I found out that there were a lot of people that really love that book. And I tend to nitpick something to death. And I took a little look at that. And then I became involved in the process. And I was working like, I was working a forty-hour week that week. And I would go to work and I would watch the clock til’ 5 o’clock. I would get off and go down to Santa Monica and work til’ 2 and 3 in the morning.
Something happened for me at that lit conference and I really know, I know today that committees cannot write books, but God can working through them.”10
Both Nickie and Sally had formed opinions about the Memphis Review Form based on their exposure to the draft that had been circulated. Both experienced radical changes in their opinions after exposure, not to the draft, but to the people who had been working on it.
Participation from the California fellowship was to change because of the 4th WLC. Bob Stone wrote:
“Perhaps the most important factor was that the California membership was now taking this project for real. With all the progress that had been achieved, key California members began to support the effort and participate. Trustees Chuck and Sally were clearly committed to participation and attended as much as they could.”11
Preparing for the Fourth World Literature Conference
Prior to the 4th WLC, Bo wrote a letter stating this conference would be used to review and incorporate input received from the Memphis Review Form. The letter outlines the criteria for completion of the book.
- “It contains all the things we do to get clean, stay clean and help others;
- This material is accurate in terms of the written and spoken traditions of N.A. recovery;
- There has been Fellowship wide: review-for input over enough time for sincere N.A. members to respond
- It is found to be free from plagiarism.
- Readability and literary style will never be completeto everyone’s satisfaction”12
The other important expectation conveyed was that the Fellowship would review the draft, submit input by April 15, 1981, and the draft would be approved at the World Service Conference in May with publication in June.13
The Conference
The 4th WLC was held at the Retail Clerk’s Union Hall in Santa Monica, CA.14 Nolan W. from Venice, CA was the chair. He had attended his first WLC in Memphis. He was a member with considerable experience, celebrating 10 years clean during the conference.15 Two members hitchhiked to Santa Monica. One of these members, Tom McT. From Smyrna, GA, earned the nickname “Tom the Red” after showing up with a horrible sunburn after getting stranded in the desert.16 The WLC would later decide to fund the travel home for these two members.17
Day 1 of the Conference was spent with introductions and reasons for attending this literature conference, feedback from “area representatives” about how their group “critiqued the N.A. book,” and a plan for how to “move the work through the literature conference.” The proposed approach utilized a repetitive cycle of evaluation and refinement, where input from the Memphis Review Form was systematically improvised, typed, and proofread, with each version being funneled back through successive editing workshops to undergo multiple drafting stages until a final, corrected review is achieved.
As chapters were run through this process, there was also a focus on personal stories. Groups of three were established and instructed to read stories aloud. An outline for story reading and evaluation was developed that included identification, the turning point, recovery, and the quality of the writing. Stories were categorized for the purpose of assuring representative diversity. On day 3, a request was made to “include a story from a combat veteran” and a “gay addict.”18 Discussion occurred about with how to deal with references to A.A. in personal stories.19 This would continue all the way through the 7th WLC. By the end of the 4th WLC, 28 stories had been reviewed and approved. Releases were obtained for 19 of the stories.20
Professionalism emerged in Santa Monica, in contrast to the non-professional, grassroots approach that characterized the literature movement to date. Calls came for an editor “of the highest caliber” to be hired. Another member suggested hiring an attorney “regarding libel or slander possibilities” with regards to use of pharmaceutical trade names (i.e., Quaaludes).
By the last day of the 4th WLC, chapters one and three were in final form. Chapter Two was 15 minutes from completion. Chapters four and five were in various stages of first and second edits. Chapters six and seven had gone through second editing. Chapters eight, nine, and ten needed to go through a first edit.21 While not appearing in the minutes to the 4th WLC, both Bo and Bob Stone report that at some point during the conference that material left in the typing area one night was lost. Bob Stone describes it as being “stolen,” while Bo later wrote that it was either “lost or stolen.”22 Jim M. offers a different explanation, writing that nobody really knows how the files were lost. He states “Roger traveled around for a month or so on the west coast with a couple of other members, during which time the draft files were stored here and there, and later they were shipped to me.”23 Whatever the truth, this was a significant blow to those involved in the painstaking effort of writing the book.
One significant change was announced on day six of the WLC; Bo shared that he was resigning as Chair of the World Service Conference Literature Committee. Despite his hopes that the book would be approved at the WSC, he recognized that that there would be a need for another WLC. He worried that the Committee was “hanging onto the book” and that “we’ll never get it perfect.”24 As the World Service Conference was getting underway in Van Nuys, CA, Jim M. was making arrangements for Warren, OH to host the 5th WLC.25
For More Information
To commemorate the 45th anniversary of the 4th WLC, Boyd, Francis, Mason, and I have recorded a deep dive into the Santa Monica conference. The presentation can be viewed here (https://youtu.be/-_EdohqoMVQ), on the Preserving the Message YouTube channel.
As with previous topics, The Living Clean Podcast has recorded a very special episode to complement this presentation. We hope that you will check them both out.
- World Service Conference Literature Committee (1981). Narcotics Anonymous Unpublished Literary Work For Review Only. ↩︎
- S. Bo (1990). The Story of the Basic Text. ↩︎
- S. Bo (1990). The Story of the Basic Text. ↩︎
- (2026). 45th Anniversary of the 3rd World Literature Conference. The Living Clean Podcast (January 31, 2026). ↩︎
- White, W. L. (2017). Recovery Rising: A Retrospective of Addiction Treatment and Recovery Advocacy. ↩︎
- Stone, B. (1997). My years with Narcotics Anonymous. Joplin, Missouri: Hulon Pendleton Publishing. ↩︎
- Nickie J. (2021). Interview of Nickie J. by Chris Budnick and Francis C., January 23, 2021. ↩︎
- Nickie J. (2021). Interview of Nickie J. by Chris Budnick and Francis C., January 23, 2021. ↩︎
- Alcoholics Anonymous [Big Book] (2001) (4th ed.). New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. ↩︎
- Sally E. (1981). Saturday Night Speaker. World Convention of Narcotics Anonymous 11, September 12, 1981, Miami, Florida. ↩︎
- Stone, B. (1997). My years with Narcotics Anonymous. Joplin, Missouri: Hulon Pendleton Publishing. ↩︎
- Bo S. (1981). Letter to fellow members regarding Memphis Literature Conference and WLC 4, April 1981. ↩︎
- World Service Conference Literature Committee (1981). Narcotics Anonymous Unpublished Literary Work For Review Only, no page number, but appears on the first page after the cover; Bo S. (1981). Letter to fellow members regarding Memphis Literature Conference, April 1981. ↩︎
- S. Bo (1990). The Story of the Basic Text. ↩︎
- World Service Conference Literature Conference (1981). Minutes from Day 5 of the 4th World Literature Conference, April 30, 1981, Banquet Summary. ↩︎
- S. Bo (1990). The Story of the Basic Text. ↩︎
- World Service Conference Literature Conference (1981). Minutes from Day 3 of the 4th World Literature Conference, April 28, 1981, p. 29. ↩︎
- World Service Conference Literature Conference (1981). Minutes from Day 3 of the 4th World Literature Conference, April 28, 1981, p. 21, 26. ↩︎
- World Service Conference Literature Conference (1981). Minutes from Day 3 of the 4th World Literature Conference, April 28, 1981, p. 26. ↩︎
- World Service Conference Literature Conference (1981). Minutes from Days 5 and 6 of the 4th World Literature Conference, April 30 and May 1, 1981. ↩︎
- World Service Conference Literature Conference (1981). Minutes from Day 6 of the 4th World Literature Conference, May 1, 1981. ↩︎
- Stone, B. (1997). My years with Narcotics Anonymous. Joplin, Missouri: Hulon Pendleton Publishing; S. Bo (1990). The Story of the Basic Text. ↩︎
- Anonymi (2004). A Matter of Principle: A Story of how Narcotics Anonymous came of age. ↩︎
- World Service Conference Literature Conference (1981). Minutes from Day 6 of the 4th World Literature Conference, May 1, 1981. ↩︎
- Stone, B. (1997). My years with Narcotics Anonymous. Joplin, Missouri: Hulon Pendleton Publishing. ↩︎