MANY OF YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT THE MANY IMPORTANT HISTORICAL SITES OF THE FELLOWSHIP OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS.

I PLAN TO SHARE WITH YOU PHOTOS I HAVE TAKEN OF THEM AS WELL AS PHOTOS I HAVE TAKEN OF SPECIAL MEETING LOCATIONS THAT I HAVE VISITED.





Thursday 27 August 2020

AUG 27, 20 .. MY OWN PERSONAL GOODBYE TO CLANCY ..

This may be a poor way to begin here BUT.. if you haven't heard of Clancy, you must be very new in the program.

Clancy Imislund (he always gave his name when he spoke) dated his sobriety to October 31, 1958. This past Monday the 24th of August, 2020, Clancy passed away while hospitalized with various physical conditions. I believe that while hospitalized, Clancy contacted Covid-19 which, at his age of 93 years and coupled with other serious underlying health issues, was basically a death-knell.

Clancy spoke all over the world and all over the United States and Canada. He founded the Pacific Group in Brentwood California in the Los Angeles metro area.

Below is a link that will give you much more information.

https://www.addiction-programs.net/news/pacific-group-aa-southern-california/

During my own travels I have attended meetings at the Pacific Group. Of course now, with Covid-19, the Pacific Group meets on line on zoom.us.

What a show the live and in person meetings at the Pacific Group were. Possibly 1,400 people would attend on Wednesday evenings and oh-my, you had to plan to stand in a very VERY LONG line before you entered the meetings.

In short : Clancy was a famous celebrity in A.A.

Like any human being who touches tens-of-thousands (maybe millions in Clancy's case) of people, Clancy certainly has his detractors and critics.

I myself did not agree with Clancy's one-time-position on some serious medical issues that fell outside of A.A. We in A.A. are not doctors. We in A.A. can not prescribe medications. At one time (and he finally did-change-his-position) Clancy, from the podium would say : "If anyone is taking medications such as anti-depressants and psychiatric medications, they are NOT working the A.A. program."

What happened? Some people in-the-rooms of A.A. stopped taking their medically prescribed medications and committed suicide as a result thereof !

I myself am bi-polar and experience depression and its opposite, manic behavior. All of my own first cousins successfully commited suicide. Their mother (my Aunt) was my mother's twin sister.

I had personal friends who had Clancy as their sponsor and they were taking anti-depressants. Clancy 'fired them'. One said back to him : "You can't fire me for this Clancy."

Finally A.A. came out with the below pamphlet. You may want to read it carefully.

https://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/p-11_aamembersMedDrug.pdf

O.K. 

The Time Has Come For Me To Personally Canonize Clancy.

No one can bad mouth Clancy to me without hearing the below story.

In the summer of 1998, I was living in remote, interior Alaska, some 160 or so miles West of Fairbanks.

At the time (the summer of 1998) I had heard Clancy (I got sober in California where I lived for some 33 years) speak live and in person and via tape cassettes and C.D.'s a fair number of times.

And I was puzzled by one line he often used in his talks (at least back then).

Clancy used to say : "If your problems begin after you stop drinking then you are an alcoholic of my type."

So little-ol'-me up and wrote the mighty, the famous, the world reknown celebrity, Clancy Imislund, a letter in-care-of the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles.

And?

Count with me .. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

In eight (8) days after I penned a hand-written letter to the mighty, the famous, the world reknown celebrity, Clancy Imislund, I received back from Clancy the following:

1. A two page personal hand-penned letter.

2. A cassette tape of one of his talks that Clancy said best explained what he meant when he said :  "If your problems begin after you stop drinking then you are an alcoholic of my type."

Ladies and Gentlemen. Boys and Girls. Officers and Men. Management and Union. 

No one bad mouths Clancy to me without hearing the above story.

Yes-Oh-Yes. He and I got-to-know one another to the extent such a celebrity can do so. He would always 'tear up' when I told him the above story.

I repeat : No one bad mouths Clancy to me without hearing the above story.

Yes, being a writer, I wrote Clancy fairly often.

Below is my last letter to him.

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A promise made is a debt unpaid.. Robert Service

And? I promised myself I'd write you!

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Who'da thunk we'd see year 2020? I guess we stopped-in-time.

Hi Clancy.. My wife and I are getting updates at the conclusion of the Pacific Group's zoom meeting each Wednesday. A nice benefit. I'm not your peer (you have no peers) but am in the (getting to be very) small line behind you. At age 83 (Sept 5 will make it age 84) I've a real taste of the addage : Getting old is not for sissies. And my journey down the road of (call it) sobriety commenced Saturday 5 May 1970, so no, I'm not a peer, but I've gotten mine so-to-speak. It's odd, and more than a tad disconcerting, when I fall into (call it an emotonal hole in the world of the spirit) a depression. Odd because all I've done to assist others does not come racing to the forefront of my mind to rocket me into a giddy and gloriously happy mind set. So I pray, and God reminds me that, by experiencing what I do, prepares me to fully and to totally understand my fellow mates on this road of mental challenges!

And? I politely thank God and get out and get on with helping others. To wit? Writing this note to you Clancy will suffice as one example! And? I know you clearly and you fully understand! And you applaud! Lord God, to whom I continue to give thanks, your former Ally, Gene Duffy, San Francisco, Tuesday Downtown, February 25, 1986, some 400-600 people, Grace Catherdal, Nob Hill, spoke live to me in the front row, first seat on the aisle, at my very first ever A.A. meeting. Thank God I have you to write Clancy!

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Rest In Peace Clancy.

I for one .. Love You

6 comments:

  1. Very eloquent as always, Cap. He was a treasure but not perfect. He helped so very many but not all. Our lives would have been poorer without him. My life would be poorer without you and Patti!

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    1. Thank You Kathleen. You and I know full well that some of us need outside help and assistance. Just working the steps will not solve brain chemistry inbalances. Thanks also for you kind words.

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  2. It was very important to read from you in memory of Clancy. He became more comprehensible and close to me. I was scared off by people who were presented as saints.

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    1. Thank you so very VERY much Sergey. How nice of you to comment here. I am happy you got some benefit from this post.

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  3. Thanks, Cap! Lovely tribute. I too, am wary of saints, heroes, and celebrities in the program, but I benefited so much from Clancy's talks over the years, both recorded and in person. In more recent years, he actually became my "grand-sponsor" and therefore benefited even more directly from his service to AA. At his memorial meeting last week (nearly 1,000 in attendance online) I heard so many wonderful stories about how he had helped and inspired people. He was truly an amazing guy and I may have never met someone who was more dedicated to AA's primary purpose. I am honored to have known him, even though I didn't know him well. My sponsor passes his wisdom and commitment to recovery on to me.

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  4. Thank You So Very Much Alison for your comments. I really appreciate you taking the time and going to the effort to read this post.

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