About Imperfect Prophets

Imperfect Prophets is a writing and research project exploring how spiritual influence actually moves through the lives of people in recovery — often through those who are overlooked, forgotten, or deemed unsuccessful by conventional standards.

At the center of this work is Hank Parkhurst, an early member of Alcoholics Anonymous, co-founder of Works Publishing, and a significant contributor to the creation of the Big Book. Hank’s role in AA’s early history was real and consequential, yet his story faded from view as the movement matured and simplified its origin narrative. His life — marked by insight, energy, conflict, and relapse — offers a rare and honest window into how influence can outlast outcomes.

This project does not seek to diminish Alcoholics Anonymous, nor to challenge its spiritual foundations. On the contrary, it arises from a deep respect for spirituality as a lived human experience — one rooted in meaning, connection, and participation, which may or may not be expressed through formal religion. Recovery, as it is encountered in meetings and relationships, often arrives through imperfect people who carry something vital into the lives of others, even when they cannot fully realize it themselves.

Hank Parkhurst is not presented here as a hero or a cautionary tale, but as a case study — a clear example of a broader and ongoing phenomenon. From Ebby Thacher, who carried the message of spiritual recovery to Bill Wilson but struggled to sustain it, to the countless men and women who enter recovery spaces today, offer presence, hope, or identification, and then quietly disappear, Imperfect Prophets asks a simple but unsettling question: Who do we recognize as contributors, and why?

The plural “prophets” is intentional. In this work, a prophet is not a saint, theologian, or long-term success story. A prophet is someone through whom meaning passes. Their imperfection does not negate their influence; in many cases, it is precisely what allows that influence to be received.

This site serves as a companion to the book Imperfect Prophets: Hank Parkhurst and the Overlooked Influence at the Heart of Alcoholics Anonymous. Here you’ll find reflections, excerpts, historical notes, and writing that engages the living reality of recovery as it is experienced today — not only through those who remain sober, but through all who participate.

If recovery is a shared spiritual undertaking rather than a private achievement, then remembering differently may be one of its most necessary acts.