My Name Is Dale

This semi-autobiographical memoir by Dale A recounts his forty-one year flying career, his descent into alcohol addiction and most importantly, his thirty-two years in recovery. It is directed primarily towards individuals recovering from alcoholism, particularly newcomers to the AA 12 Step Program and those who are struggling with, or questioning the program's efficacy. The book will also be of interest to those with other addictions, family and friends of alcoholics and other addicts, family physicians, counsellors and the many other helping professions attempting to address the epidemic of addictions in our society today. Dale has been a volunteer for over thirty years within the Canadian airline industry's alcohol rehabilitation program, at one time assuming responsibility for the oversight and management of his pilot association's (CALPA) participation in that program. During those three decades, he has worked with a number of addiction specialists in Canada who incorporated the airline program's methodology into their practice. The knowledge gained from his relationships with those professionals, his responsibilities at the pilot association and his thirty-two years of experience within the AA recovering community provided Dale with a unique knowledge base to write this book. He explains his personal insights into the disease of alcoholism (addiction) and thoroughly examines the AA recovery program, believing they are poorly understood by the general public and even many health care professionals. Most current recovery modalities are expensive and proving to be less than effective. The one program that has withstood the test of time for over eighty years, AA, is still largely misunderstood and marginalized by the 'industry' around addiction recovery. Dale addresses those misunderstandings from his perspective and hopes this book will not only assist alcoholics in their recovery, but also raise the public's knowledge and awareness of the disease.