Jimmy Kinnon facts for kids

James Patrick Kinnon (5 April 1911 – 9 July 1985), commonly known as Jimmy Kinnon or "Jimmy K.", was one of the primary founders of Narcotics Anonymous (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.

Early life

Kinnon was born in Paisley, Scotland on 5 April 1911, the first of seven children born to James Kinnon, of Irish Catholic descent, and Elizabeth Carrick.

When Kinnon was 7, he befriended a local alcoholic whom he referred to as Mr. Crookshank. 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.

Jimmy Kinnon and his family emigrated to the United States on August 8th, 1923. His family living in Philadelphia, he attended a Catholic seminary in nearby Germantown section of Philadelphia and had plans, or his parents had plans for him, of entering the priesthood, which meant six rigorous years of training. He eventually became a roofer and painter. He met his future first wife Agnes Cragin and married her in Philadelphia in 1934. They had five children together in California where they moved in the early 1940s.

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 to 1982 hundreds of Narcotics Anonymous members 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. 9.3 million copies of The Basic Text have been published since 1982, in 31 languages.

Death

Jimmy Kinnon, who had fought a battle against tuberculosis from the late fifties 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".

See also

• Narcotics Anonymous
• Twelve Steps
• Twelve Traditions