Dick C. got sober in A.A. in 1950. In 1952, he started the weekly Chit-Chat newsletter, which continued for 23 years. In 1953, Dick and his wife Catherine opened their home to alcoholics. The Chit Chat Foundation was incorporated as a nonprofit alcoholism treatment facility in 1957 and began providing services in 1959 as Chit Chat Farms. In 1969 Chit Chat Farms expanded to treat drug addiction.
This newsletter is included in the Preserving the Message website because of references to Cy M. (Narcotics Anonymous) and Betty T. (Habit Forming Drugs Group). Separately, there is correspondence from Bill W. to Dick C. in the Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Office Archives that reveals Dick’s role in attempting to assist in a heated conflict occurring between Betty T. and Bill W. This conflict centered on whether addicts could be members of A.A. and would result in Bill W. defining the boundaries of A.A. through his Grapevine article Problems Other Than Alcohol: What Can Be Done About Them? (February 1958).
