Jimmy Kinnon (5 April 1911 – 9 July 1985), commonly known as Jimmy Kinnon or "Jimmy K.", was one of the primary founders of
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step model developed for people with varied subst ...
(NA), a worldwide fellowship of recovering 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 a founder of NA, although the record clearly shows that he played a founding role.
Mr. Crookshank
When Kinnon was seven years old he befriended a local
alcoholic
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
whom he referred to as Mr. Crookshank. Kinnon would often find him drunk and beaten. One day he found Crookshank badly beaten up and unresponsive. Kinnon ran for help. Over the following weeks Kinnon did not see Mr. Crookshank and, after numerous inquiries, his mother took him to see him. They went to an institution of which Mr. Crookshank was now a resident. He was incoherent and using a wheelchair. Upon leaving the facility, Kinnon told his mother that when he grew up he was going to help people like Mr. Crookshank.
Early life
Kinnon was born in
Paisley, Scotland
Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...
on 5 April 1911, the first of five children born to James Kinnon, of Irish catholic descent, and Elizabeth Carrick. Jimmy's father moved to America in 1921 and the rest of the family in 1923. On arrival his sister was hospitalised and his mother stayed by her side while Jimmy was left with his three brothers on
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...
for three and a half days. His family living in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, he attended a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
in nearby
Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
United States
* Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County
* Ger ...
and had plans, or his parents had plans for him, of entering the
priesthood, which meant six rigorous years of training. But he was progressively using
paregoric
Paregoric, or camphorated tincture of opium, also known as ''tinctura opii camphorata'', is a traditional patent medicine known for its antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic properties.
According to Goodman and Gilman's 1965 edition, "Par ...
, alcohol and
codeine
Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...
pills from late childhood until he got clean in
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
in 1950. He eventually became a roofer and painter. He met his future first wife Agnes in Philadelphia. They had six children together in California where they moved in the early 1940s.
Getting clean
Kinnon stopped using all mood and mind-altering substances on 2 February 1950. He began attending
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
, a
twelve-step program
Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its members ...
. While in Alcoholics Anonymous he met other members who had struggled with addiction to substances other than alcohol, Alcoholics Anonymous often discouraged members from talking about addictions other than alcohol.
Kinnon attended meetings of another group called Habit-forming Drugs but was disappointed with it.
na12.org
He also saw the need to recover from more than the symptom, i.e. substance used (alcohol, pills, etc.), by addressing the addict's thinking and attitudes before, during and after using. This is why later on, for NA, he and the other founders would change the language of Step One of the Twelve Steps of AA from "We admitted we were powerless over ALCOHOL, that our lives had become unmanageable" to "We admitted we were powerless over OUR ADDICTION, that our lives had become unmanageable ".
Formation of Narcotics Anonymous
In the summer of 1953 Jimmy Kinnon and other members of Alcoholics Anonymous began holding their own separate meetings, which they called Narcotics Anonymous. They were given permission from Alcoholics Anonymous to adapt the AA Twelve Steps, and to change Step One from "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol..." to "We admitted we were powerless over our addiction..." as stated before. This was a significant change of focus from the AA program, because NA is then focused on recovery from the ''disease of addiction'' rather than from any particular substance use. Kinnon saw the substance use as a symptom of a deeper core issue, (i.e. the
Fixation (psychology), obsessive thinking and
compulsive behavior
Compulsive behavior is defined as performing an action persistently and repetitively. Compulsive behaviors could be an attempt to make obsessions go away. The act is usually a small, restricted and repetitive behavior, yet not disturbing in a pa ...
) from which the substances are used to gain a temporary relief. Narcotics Anonymous was officially founded in July 1953 in
Sun Valley, California
Sun Valley is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California in the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood is known for its overall youthful population and moderate racial diversity. There are three recreation centers in Sun Valley, one of which ...
.
There was at the time a different organization also called Narcotics Anonymous that was previously founded in the 1940s by a recovering addict named Danny Carlsen in New York City, but it was more of a social-services organization than a Twelve Step Fellowship and it did not follow the
Twelve Traditions
The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose ar ...
. It was never connected to the Narcotics Anonymous Kinnon and his mates started in Sun Valley and died out in the mid-1960s.
Literature
Most of Narcotics Anonymous early literature was written by Jimmy Kinnon and is still used worldwide today in over 70,000 NA meetings. He was the main contributor to the ''Yellow Booklet'' and ''Little White Booklet'' that were used throughout the 1960s and 1970s. From 1953 to 1977 Narcotics Anonymous had only a set of pamphlets and booklets as literature. From 1979-1982 hundreds of Narcotics Anonymous members from the "new" generation of drug users of the sixties and seventies expanded on this literature and created ''The Basic Text''. Kinnon also designed ''the NA logo'', ''The Group Logo'', ''The Service Symbol'' and wrote the ''Gratitude Prayer'' and ''Fruit of the Harvest'' statement found in the beginning of ''The Basic Text''. This book was the first ever known that was written by recovering addicts for recovering addicts. It was first published in 1982.
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step model developed for people with varied subst ...
wikipedia.org
9.3 million copies of ''The Basic Text'' have been published since 1982, in 31 languages.
Death
James Kinnon, who had fought a battle against tuberculosis from the late sixties on, died of lung cancer on 9 July 1985, in California. Prior to his death he said, "if he ever had a headstone it would read, "All we did was sow some seeds and work and wrought to make this work, so that we and others could live. In Peace, in Freedom and in Love".
[Cathie Kinnon Linder and Rob Roehm. Every Addicts Friend Jimmy K. Reflections of a Daughter. Linder and Roehm, 2010. P.135] He was clean for thirty five years at the time of his death.
See also
*
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step model developed for people with varied subst ...
*
Twelve Steps
Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its members ...
*
Twelve Traditions
The Twelve Traditions of twelve-step programs provide guidelines for relationships between the twelve-step groups, members, other groups, the global fellowship, and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations, and purpose ar ...
References
Further reading
*''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.,
* ''Miracles Happen: The Birth of Narcotics Anonymous in Words and Pictures'', Revised, 2011, Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
External links
Narcotics Anonymous History (.MP3, RealAudio and Windows Media formats)Panel on Jimmy Kinnon, 3 October 2003, Nashville History Conference, .MP3 formatPanel on Jimmy Kinnon, 3 October 2003, Nashville History Conference, mp3 formatA personal recollection of Jimmy Kinnon, Nashville History Conference, October 2003, .MP3 formatOfficial Narcotics Anonymous website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinnon, Jimmy
1911 births
1985 deaths
People from Paisley, Renfrewshire
People from the San Fernando Valley