Jimmy Kinnon

James Patrick Kinnon (5 April, 1911 - 9 July 1985, commonly known as Jimmy Kinnon or "Jimmy K.") was the founder of Narcotics Anonymous (NA), an international association of recovering drug addicts. During his lifetime, he was usually referred to as "Jimmy K." due to NA's principle of "personal anonymity" on the public level. He never referred to himself as the "founder" of NA, although the record clearly shows that he played a founding role.

From the very start, unlike many other attempts to form self-help groups for drug addicts, Narcotics Anonymous was based on both the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions devised by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and adapted to the specific needs of NA. While there is no official biography of Jimmy Kinnon, a certain amount of pertinent information can be found on the web and in print (see links and resources below).

Kinnon was born on 5 April, 1911 in Paisley, Scotland to James Patrick Kinnon, Sr. and Elizabeth Carrick. On 8 August, 1923, he arrived with his family on Ellis Island, New York. He worked as a roofer, struggling with his drug addiction until he achieved permanent and complete abstinence from all drugs in Alcoholics Anonymous on Groundhog Day, February 2, 1950.

He and a few other drug addicts who had met in AA started holding a series of independent meetings for drug addicts, beginning 17 August 1953. The first documented recovery meeting of Narcotics Anonymous was held on 5 October 1953 in Southern California. Today, members of Narcotics Anonymous hold more than 30,000 weekly meetings in over 100 countries worldwide.

Kinnon is a key figure in the history of Narcotics Anonymous for several reasons. He wrote several portions of the "Little White Booklet", which formed the basis for NA's basic text, published in 1983 under the title "Narcotics Anonymous" (ISBN 0-912075-02-3). This book also contains his anonymous biography, titled "We Do Recover". Kinnon also designed the NA logo and served as the volunteer office manager of NA's "World Service Office" from the time it began to 1983.

Kinnon died on 9 July 1985 in Los Angeles, having spent the last 35 years of his life in recovery as a "clean" member of Narcotics Anonymous.

External links

* [http://members.aol.com/tribute2jimmyk/Jimmy_Kinnon_photographs.htm Jimmy Kinnon photographs]
* [http://members.aol.com/tribute2jimmyk/jimmyk20th_edited.htm Transcript of Kinnon's 20th Anniversary of NA speech on August 18, 1973]
* [http://www.carrythemessage.com/static/wedorecoverondemand.htm Narcotics Anonymous History (Real Audio and Windows Media formats)]
** [http://www.carrythemessage.com/audio/nashville/ram/28PanelOnJimmyK.ram Panel on Jimmy Kinnon, 3 October 2003, Nashville History Conference, Real Audio format]
** [http://narchive.gotdns.org/Speakers/Nashville_History_Conference/cd3/28%20Jimmy%20K%20panel.mp3 Panel on Jimmy Kinnon, 3 October 2003, Nashville History Conference, mp3 format]
** [http://www.carrythemessage.com/audio/nashville/ram/19FawnF1of2.ram A personal recollection of Jimmy Kinnon, Nashville History Conference, October 2003, Real Audio format]
* [http://www.na12.org/History/jimmy_kinnon_founder1.htm Jimmy Kinnon on na12.org]
* [http://www.na.org Official Narcotics Anonymous website]

Further reading

*"Miracles Happen: The Birth of Narcotics Anonymous in Words and Pictures", Revised version, ISBN 1-55776-341-0
*"My Years With Narcotics Anonymous. A History of N.A. by Bob Stone." 1997, Hulon Pendleton Publishing, L.L.C., Joplin, MO, U.S.A., ISBN 0-9654591-0-1
*"NA Audio Archive Sampler." 2002, Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. ISBN 1-55776-469-4

ee also

*Narcotics Anonymous
*Twelve Steps
*Twelve Traditions
*Addiction

Persondata
NAME=Kinnon, Jimmy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=K., Jimmy (common referant); Kinnon, James P. (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION=founder of Narcotics Anonymous
DATE OF BIRTH=5 April, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH=Paisley, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH=9 July 1985
PLACE OF DEATH=Los Angeles, California, United States