This from a post to another list/entity I belong to. 
hobie

Post begins:
I just received this from my friend Penny in California. Just FYI. I think once
one has passed on anonymity is no longer an issue. It's sad to see another
old-timer pass away.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I
just learned yesterday of the passing of Bob P. . . . I had the privilege of
sharing a podium with Bob a couple of times. Some of you may know Bob through
his story in the Third and Fourth Editions of the Big Book, "A.A. Taught Him to
Handle Sobriety." My thoughts and prayers go out to his delightful wife Betsy
and his family. Although his obit is lengthy, I am going to take the privilege
of including it here: Robert Greenlees Pearson With his wife, Betsy, children,
Brad, Wendy and Ridley, their spouses and his grandchildren by his side, Bob
Pearson died peacefully of "old age" in his home in Bellevue, Idaho, on Jan. 1,
2008. Born the only child of somewhat nomadic parents, Ridley Stilson and Agnes
Greenlees Pearson, on Feb.!
  19, 1917, Bob was not formally educated until the third grade. He took to
academics easily, skipping grades and graduating from Kansas University at 18,
where he served as editor of both the university's humor magazine and yearbook.
A skilled writer, Bob was the focus of a national scandal when a Scribner's
Magazine article, "Ghost Behind the Grade," published in 1938, revealed that he
had paid his way through college by ghostwriting hundreds of grade-specific
papers for fellow students in dozens of classes and seven universities. His
writing led him to New York City where he went to work for the Shell Oil Co. in
public relations, and later met his wife of 63 years, Betsy Dodge. With the
advent of World War II, Bob enlisted as an officer in the U.S. Navy, and was
assigned aboard a destroyer escort as the ship's gunnery officer. He
participated in numerous missions in convoys across the Atlantic. Bob wrote
speeches for the admiral of the Navy, as well as for two presidents,!
  Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. His destroyer escort was part
of the historic capture of a German U-boat, north of the Azores. It was the
first submarine ever boarded and taken prior to the destruction of any of its
hardware or its Enigma radio codes -- only days prior to D-Day, later
immortalized in the motion picture "U-571." In 1945, he was honorably
discharged, holding the rank of lieutenant commander. Following the war, Bob and
Betsy eventually settled in Riverside, Connecticut, where Bob was an avid runner
and skier and served as senior deacon in the First Congregational Church of
Greenwich. In his 38 years with Shell Oil, Bob's most notable accomplishments
involved that company's sponsoring of major sports. Working with the NBC
television network, Bob was instrumental in popularizing golf by bringing the
sport to live television for the first time in "Shell's Wonderful World of
Golf." He also participated in Shell's sponsorship of Craig Breedlove's pursuit
of the world land speed record in a jet-propelled car, on the Bonneville!
  Salt Flats in the mid-1960s. But it was Bob's personal crisis that would prove
to define his life. Beginning with his service in the Navy, Bob had grown
addicted to alcohol and, some 20 years later, nearly died of alcoholism. He was
encouraged by physicians to join a fledgling group called Alcoholics Anonymous,
in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1961. Bob P., as he was known in that
organization, found sobriety and dedicated himself to AA service, even working
on occasion with its co-founder, Bill W. He served on local and national boards
of AA, and eventually was appointed general manager of AA's World Service
Organization, where, for 10 years, 1974-1984, he oversaw the enormous
international growth and spread of AA worldwide. The organization played an
influential role in the establishment of over a hundred unrelated, so-called
12-step programs, which have resulted in millions' conquering various
addictions. Through his service to AA, Bob P., with wife Betsy (a longtime
membe!
r of Al-Anon), traveled the world, speaking to both small AA groups as
well as at its international conventions of 50,000 or more attendees. His "AA
story" was published as the closing story in "Alcoholics Anonymous," AA's "Big
Book," which remains one of the most widely published and perennially
best-selling books in the world. Bob and Betsy moved part-time to Bellevue,
Idaho, in 1980, soon making it their permanent home. Here, Bob P. continued to
serve AA, both as a speaker and contributor to its national archives. Bob's life
was defined by his dedicated service to Alcoholics Anonymous, an organization
whose members depend on one another for their survival. His family wishes to
extend their thanks to the hundreds of local AA members, and thousands of
national members, who supported Bob's sobriety, gave him a charmed life, and who
continue the great traditions of this wonderful and necessary organization. A
memorial celebrating Bob P.'s service in Alcoholics Anonymous will be held
Friday, Jan. 11, (check local flyers) in Sun Valley, Idaho; a !
public memorial for friends and family will take place at the Church of the Big
Wood, Ketchum, Idaho, at 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 12. Donations in Bob's name will
be gratefully accepted by the Sun Club, Ketchum, Idaho. (The entire Pearson
family wishes to extend their gratitude to Drs. Hall and Fairman, Hospice and
Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley, and especially Johnna Pletcher and
Gloria Clark for their loving in-home care and assistance.)