there is A Way Out By An Alcoholic - 1957

There Is a Way Out – By An Alcoholic (1957, Vernie L. Teel)

Published by The Suggestion Company, Lanett, Alabama

This scarce and historically important booklet, There Is a Way Out, was written under the pseudonym “An Alcoholic” and privately published in 1957 by Vernie L. Teel through The Suggestion Company in Lanett, Alabama. While reflecting the influence of Alcoholics Anonymous during the 1950s, it was not an official AA World Services publication. Instead, it circulated regionally, making surviving examples extraordinarily rare and highly desirable to collectors of recovery literature.

Book Details

• Title: There Is a Way Out
• Author: By An Alcoholic (Vernie L. Teel, under pseudonym)
• Copyright: 1957, Vernie L. Teel
• Publisher: The Suggestion Company, Lanett, Alabama
• Format: Softcover booklet, original red illustrated wraps with printed $1.00 price
• Condition: Very good. Interior pages are clean and intact; cover presents strongly with minimal wear.

Content Overview

The text blends personal testimony, spiritual guidance, and practical advice for alcoholics and their families. Notable chapters include:

• I Am an Alcoholic
• Alcoholism and Russian Roulette
• The Third Drink Illusion
• The Great Destroyer – Alcoholism as a Disease
• What I Found in Alcoholics Anonymous
• A Personal Message to Alcoholics

The booklet also features a striking illustrated diagram, “How We Get There in Six Easy (Hic!) Stages,” mapping the progression of alcoholism toward addiction, insanity, or death.

About the Author: Vernie L. Teel (1910–1988)

Archival sources from Yale University’s Alumni News (1959) provide important insight into Teel’s contributions to the field of alcohol education:

• A 1958 graduate of the Yale Summer School of Alcohol Studies, Teel became one of the most active alumni in Alabama.
• He developed a “one-man” educational program on alcoholism in eastern Alabama, speaking before church, civic, and industrial groups, as well as editors, legislators, doctors, and law enforcement officials.
• Teel authored a series of 14 articles on alcoholism—Understanding the Problem—published in various Alabama newspapers.
• He played an influential role in the early development of the Alabama Commission on Alcoholism (established 1957).
• Recognized as a dedicated advocate for recovery education, Teel’s work combined scholarship from Yale with grassroots community outreach.

This booklet thus stands not only as a personal testimony of recovery but also as part of Teel’s broader effort to expand public awareness and understanding of alcoholism in mid-20th-century America.

Historical Significance

Unlike official AA literature broadly distributed by the New York General Service Office, There Is a Way Out was issued privately and regionally. Its limited distribution, combined with Teel’s unique role as both an AA participant and independent advocate, gives this work unusual provenance.

It embodies the intersection of grassroots recovery culture, early alcoholism research at Yale, and faith-driven personal narrative. Few, if any, copies are documented in institutional or private collections today.

Collectibility

This volume is a rare survival of mid-century recovery history, significant for:

• Its non-conference-approved AA-inspired content;
• Its author’s connection to Yale and Alabama recovery advocacy;
• Its scarcity, having been distributed in small numbers to those seeking help. 

A key addition for collectors of Alcoholics Anonymous history, addiction studies, and recovery ephemera.