A Short Dick B. Biography
This Dick B. biography introduces the most prolific researcher of early Alcoholics Anonymous history in the world. Dick B. (J.D., CDAAC; 1925–2015) was a retired attorney and former Stanford Law Review Case Editor who became sober in A.A. in 1986 and devoted the rest of his life to documenting, from primary sources, the Christian roots of the program that saved it. Over more than 25 years he produced 45 published titles and came to be recognized as the unofficial historian of Alcoholics Anonymous.
A Legacy of Documented History
Dick B. worked from letters, journals, meeting records, and firsthand testimony rather than secondhand accounts, tracing the Bible study, prayer, and Christian fellowship at the heart of early A.A. in Akron, New York, and Cleveland. Thirty-one of his core titles are gathered in the Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set; you can also browse all of his A.A. history books. For A.A.’s own institutional history, see the official History of A.A.
Dick B. (Richard G. Burns, J.D., CDAAC, 1925–2015) was widely regarded as the “unofficial historian of Alcoholics Anonymous.” A graduate of U.C. Berkeley (Phi Beta Kappa) and Stanford Law School (Case Editor of the Stanford Law Review), Dick practiced law for 36 years before alcoholism ended his practice and he joined A.A. on April 21, 1986. In early 1990, a young Christian AA named John asked him, “Did you know that A.A. came from the Bible?”—a question that launched 25 years of research, until Dick’s death on September 12, 2015.
With 29+ years of continuous sobriety, Dick B. sponsored more than 100 men in their recovery and authored 45 published titles, 1,750+ articles, and approximately 200 recorded audio talks on the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in early A.A.’s astonishing success. His best-known title, The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible, has 200,000+ copies in circulation. His complete body of work is preserved in The Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set—31 volumes available at DickBonRecovery.com.
Explore the complete Dick B. A.A. History Reference Set — all 31 volumes documenting the Biblical roots of early A.A.’s success, available as one set.