Hi Essay,

I inadvertently shared the December issue of Essay today on several global WhatsApp groups of which I am an administrator. Instead of sharing the download link to sa.org/essay I automatically distributed it to over 500 people. It was pointed out to me that this was a violation of the copyright.

My feelings regarding this issue are that a large amount of the people on these WhatsApp lists do not have access to sa.org in a browser due to self-imposed sobriety restrictions.

So I am asking for explicit permission for future issues to be able to continue to do what I did and share the original PDF file as an attachment in WhatsApp to all these fellows who would benefit and might otherwise not be able to read from it.

Please let me know your thoughts and thank you for your service.

SAICO response:

Good morning Daniel,

I am writing to inform you that at its recent meeting the Board of Trustees discussed your request to share Essay broadly as you did with the December issue with global WhatsApp groups. Essay is copyright protected and permission has been extended to permit sharing of 10 copies. This limitation remains and all are asked to comply with it. The Trustees appreciate your interest in carrying the message in this way and suggest that you consider sending a message as widely as you choose stating that you have read the current issue and that others might wish to also and that they can access it at the SA.org website.

Thanks and best wishes,

Letter from SA International Committee to Costa Rica

Dear Javier,

Thank you for your message. We are glad to hear from our amigos in Costa Rica, and so happy that you will be hosting one of our longtime members. I am amazed that the fledgling San José group can finance this journey! This certainly demonstrates your generosity and your commitment to our program of sobriety. Please stay in touch and send us a report after Dave’s visit.

Letter to SA from Costa Rica

Good morning. It’s a beautiful day in Costa Rica. I am flying to Columbia this afternoon.

Dominicana was very interesting. Four people at the meeting. I guess I’m doing what I’m supposed to.

Costa Rica really is beautiful and they’ve taken very good care of me. I have a hot water shower here. And we had about eight people at the meeting. Maybe hearing something with a new voice will help them. I have spent some one-on-one time with some of the members, which is great.

In both Dominican Republic and Costa Rica my hosts have been LDS members. I have learned a lot from them and attended their services. It’s amazing how we tried to make things so different. We may try to make “them” and “us.”

Is It Time for a New Logo for S.A.?

When I first came to S.A. and saw our logo, I found it confusing. I knew from my Genetics class that this was the symbol for a hermaphrodite, an organism with both male and female sexual organs. I have also seen this symbol used to represent someone who is bisexual.

Neither of these seems to be what S.A. is about. What I don’t think of when I see the logo is that this is an organization about recovery from addiction. If we are going to have a logo, I think it might be better to have one that instantly speaks of who we are.

I am not tied to any alternative, but perhaps the letters SA in a triangle would be good. As we begin more public outreach with our videos, maybe it is time to reconsider our logo. What do you think?

Letter to Essay

Hi David, Kent,

I’m planning to send a broadcast message requesting stories from our members in Singapore. Should I broadcast your e-mail addresses to our group in Singapore, in case they have questions. (And should I tell them that you are working with Essay?)

Best,

Essay reply:

Hi, Richard — so glad you are doing this! The address to us is essay@sa.org. That comes directly to the Editor.

Yes, please tell them Kent, Kira, Kirsten, and I are the Essay editors!