Who We  Are

The Ann Brierly Story
1963–1981

Out of Tragedy Can Come Positive Action

In the quiet moments, the sounds return—tires screeching, metal colliding, screams, then silence. Sirens cut through the night as headlights reveal three teenagers scattered across an intersection. One girl is dead. Another is dying. A boy lies motionless with a broken neck. From a second car, a nineteen-year-old stumbles out, his arm broken, swearing and incoherent—terribly drunk after running a red light at high speed and broadsiding a Toyota.

The girl who died was my daughter, Ann Brierly—just three weeks past her eighteenth birthday and one week past her high school graduation. She was bright and funny, a gifted artist and musician, and had enrolled at the University of Wisconsin on an art scholarship just two days before the crash.

In June 1981, Ann and her friend Lilich Shazar, a foreign student and only child, were killed in Antioch, Illinois. At the time, the common response was, “How awful—but these things happen.” They were happening far too often. Along the Illinois–Wisconsin border—grimly known as the “Blood Border”—more than 65 drunk-driving deaths occurred in less than three years. Wisconsin’s legal drinking age was 18; Illinois’ was 21. Underage drinkers crossed state lines, then drove home with devastating consequences.

This wasn’t isolated to the border. Across Illinois, roughly half of all traffic deaths were alcohol-related, and the state’s response to drunk driving ranked among the worst in the nation. Media attention surrounding Ann’s case led to a pivotal phone call from Glenn Kalin, a Lake Forest schoolteacher mourning the death of his brother, Robert, killed by a drunk driver. “Let’s do something about this,” Glenn said—and we did.

In April 1982, we convened a meeting at Glenn’s school and invited those who shared our concern: families who had lost loved ones; paramedics, police officers, and coroners exhausted by the cycle of tragedy followed by minimal accountability in court. From that room, Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) was born.

Bound by loss but driven by resolve, we defined a clear mission: raise awareness that drunk driving is a crime—not an “accident”; strengthen laws and penalties; ensure courts imposed those penalties upon conviction; work with Wisconsin to establish a 21-year-old legal drinking age; and provide emotional, legal, and sometimes financial support to victims.

In 1982, there were no other drunk-driving organizations in Illinois. AAIM became the first citizens’ group to take on the issue, finding legislative champions in Governor Jim Edgar and Secretary of State George Ryan. Governor Edgar created a citizens’ task force to develop a coordinated response.

More than four decades later, AAIM continues to work to keep impaired drivers off the roads and to raise awareness about the dangers of underage drinking. The toll of intoxicated and irresponsible driving remains too high. This work is not finished—and may never be. We do it in remembrance of those we lost and in the hope that no one you love will ever suffer an impaired-driving crash.

— Carol Brierly Golin
AAIM

 

The Robert Kalin Story

Robert Kalin was nineteen years old—a sophomore at Arizona State University who loved racquetball, skiing, and campus life. He helped form a nighttime escort organization to protect fellow students after a friend was assaulted. Robert chose ASU so he could be near our sister, Shelley, who lived in the Phoenix area. The two were close, spending much of their time together while Robert worked at Shelley’s Cutlery World store.

On January 13, 1982, a middle-of-the-night phone call changed everything. Robert had been killed in a car crash. Shelley’s life was shattered.
After the funeral, I took Shelley to the Arizona State Capitol. Having prior political experience, I felt compelled to act—and to show her that citizens can make change. We visited key members of the Arizona House and Senate. Shelley carried that experience forward, founding the first chapter of MADD in Arizona.

I returned to Illinois where, through a letter to the editor, I connected with Carol Golin, who had been researching drunk-driving issues since her daughter Ann was killed the previous June. We agreed: it was time for action in Illinois.

As we researched, we discovered there was no MADD chapter in the state. We considered joining MADD and convened a meeting of interested citizens in May 1982. After several discussions, we concluded that forming a new organization would allow us greater independence and impact—local control of funds and policies shaped by Illinois communities.

That decision led to the creation of AAIM—the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists. Early members such as Dave Osborn, Louie Greenwald, and Jeff Lyons helped guide its beginnings. Critical partners—including Secretary of State Jim Edgar, Lake County State’s Attorney Fred Foreman (now a judge), and Deputy Secretary of State Wayne Anderson (now a federal judge)—joined in the effort. Through the dedication of these leaders and countless supporters, AAIM has continued to save lives.

— Glenn Kalin
AAIM Co-founder