EDITOR'S NOTE: The following commentary was submitted by a Rochester man who is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. His name has been withheld in keeping with the organization's policy of not identifying its members.

At one time, I was employed in upper-level management in the corporate world of Chicago. I lost my career, my family -- everything I held dear to my heart.

In my defeat came my greatest victory. Today, I look in the mirror, and truthfully say "I have met the enemy, and he is us."

Before permanent sobriety, I was always blaming someone or something for my deficiencies, or defects. For too long, non-alcoholics have been telling alcoholics what our problem is. But we already know.

Never has this been more evidenced than by Jane Brody's recent article in the Post-Bulletin's Health section. Her news article was choked in falsehoods, misconceptions, and distortions of truth.

First, there is a great difference between alcohol abuse and alcoholism. We both abuse alcohol, but the difference involves freedom of choice.

Due to a skewed up chemical imbalance, alcoholics must abuse alcohol. The American Medical Association in 1956 recognized alcoholism as a disease. For alcoholism to be considered a disease it must be progressive.

Alcoholism is easily broken into three stages -- early, middle, and late. It always gets worse, never better. Indeed, 95 percent of all alcoholics die from it. It on average slices 29.2 years off one's life. To imply that we play the "blame" game in Alcoholics Anonymous is grossly inaccurate, and displays an ignorance of AA principles.

Alcoholism has often been called a merry-go-round called denial. I have spent thousands of hours in the study of alcoholism, and no one versed in this field will refute any of what this dissertation says. Only I knew the truth. I was drinking, and did not want to. If one cannot quit when they sincerely want to, and if when drinking they have little or no control over the amount they drink, they are in the late stages of alcoholism.

If one has an enormous capacity for alcohol, that is a sure sign of early alcoholism. Another clue is that if one cannot remember things done while drinking that is a sure signal. On one of my last drunks I stopped for one or two drinks. When I came out of my blackout I was 175 miles from home, and it was five days later. If this happened to a normal person, they would be scared. We alcoholics think nothing of it.

Jane Brody states some quit on their own. If one has not progressed to the latter stage, this is entirely possible. In Stage 3 alcoholism, the final of three stages, we have lost control.

Brody says it is a myth that we have to admit to being an alcoholic to recover. If one's drinking is not causing a problem, then one probably is not alcoholic. If one has a drinking problem, then the problem has to be identified before a solution and action can be implemented.

AA started in 1935 and it is true that at first it was thought one had to be a last gasper to accept AA's tenets. This conclusion proved to be in error and millions of people in stages 1 and 2 have recovered. The bottom had been raised. AA has more than 3 million members in North America alone, and is active in at least 153 countries.

To state, as Brody did, that only 10 percent of members are still in AA after one year is in error and could not possibly be substantiated.

I have never met an alcoholic who at one time did not attempt to prove that he or she could drink in moderation. All have failed, including me. Many pursue this fantasy to an early death. The truth is that we have failed this experiment, or we would not be in AA.

Brody implies that in AA we do not accept responsibility for our drinking. That is a blatant falsehood. In AA, we learn that we have to conquer ourselves for us to win. Brody also states it is a myth that AA's philosophy is "one day at a time." The true meaning of this is, "Don't let your negative past ruin your beautiful future."

It is OK to plan for the future -- just don't project the results. I sobered up literally one minute at a time, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, lying in my own vomit and blood and too sick to even crawl, hoping for death, sobbing "I hate you" over and over. The people in AA literally picked me up and, in effect, have said, "He ain't heavy, Father, he's our brother." From this wretched beginning, my life started anew.

In the ensuing years, my self-respect was restored -- tenfold, and then some. When it was time to leave Illinois and return to Minnesota, I asked, "How can I ever pay you back?" Their answer was: "Pass it on." That is the reason for this dissertation. We who have survived alcoholic torture are in AA for one reason -- to give to the newcomer what so freely has been given us.

AA is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem, and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for membership. We are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organizations or institution. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.