rtd 3-18-2010 eye of the hurricane
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OPINION: | Editorials | Letters | Commentary
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 |Richmond, VA 90° Feels Like: 90° Mostly Cloudy View Warnings/AdvisoriesHome > News> Local Other
Eye of the hurricane: Screenwriter tells story of
AA founder’s wife
By Katherine Calos
Published: March 18, 2010» 0 Comments | Post a Comment
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When screenwriter Bill Borchert was in Richmond to film "My Name is Bill W.," about the founding ofAlcoholics Anonymous, he wanted to tell the story of Bill W.'s wife, too.
She's the one who founded Al-Anon, the companion organization for families affected by alcoholism.
But there wasn't time to cover it all in a single movie, and no one seemed interested in the other side of the story. So, the idea languished for 20 years until Borchert was moving to a new house in Little River,S.C. He came across his tape recordings of Lois Wilson.
His resulting book, "When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story," has been made into aHallmark Hall of Fame movie that will premiere April 25 on CBS. Instead of being filmed in Richmondit was shot in Toronto because Canada put up 40 percent of the $10 million budget.
Borchert is back in Richmond today as the keynote speaker for a town-hall meeting focusing on Alcohol
Awareness Month. The McShin Foundation, a recovery community organization, is the host.
A recovering alcoholic himself, Borchert said his wife was the one who first became friends with LoisWilson. He taped interviews with Lois while preparing to write his "Bill W." script, which wasnominated for an Emmy award.
The United States is home to about 40 million alcoholics, Borchert said. Each of those alcoholics affectsat least five other people.
If an alcoholic man is married, his wife may try to cover for him to keep him from losing his job. Thechildren may not invite friends over because they're afraid their father will be drunk.
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"It has serious mental, physical, even spiritual effects," Borchert said.
By the time Bill W. sobered up 17 years into their marriage, Lois Wilson had changed from the graciouslady of her youth into a woman who was angry, resentful and bitter.
Bill W. had former alcoholics and faith to support him in his new life, and she was alone with her
feelings. Then one day she walked outside during one of his meetings, and she saw a line of cars withother women waiting for their husbands to come out. She invited them in.
The women realized they also needed to help each other, and Al-Anon was born with its own 12-steprecovery program. Al-Anon has about 32,000 groups operating.
"It teaches them that they are powerless over . . . an alcoholic or drug addict," Borchert said, "but theycan put their life back together. They can live in the eye of the hurricane."
Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or [email protected] .
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