Gary Snyder was a poet associated with the Beat Generation in the San Francisco of the 1950's. He was the protagonist in Jack Kerouac's «The Dharma Bums». His writing interests have included ecology and the myths of Japan, China, and of the Native Americans. He knew Merton's poet friend, Cid Corman, and Merton's friend in publishing, James Laughlin. At this time, Snyder was spending some time in the Sierra Nevada mountains between living in Japan and studying Zen. (Source: "Snyder, Gary". Biography from Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Biography . 2000. Online. Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 9 May 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Gary A. Solbue was activities adviser for San Diego State College in California.
Luis Somoza Debayle was President of Nicaragua from 1956-1963. The eldest son of the former dictator, Anastasio Somoza Garcia, he was a nationalist and a supporter of some liberal social reforms. At the same time, he was anti-communist and supported the United States in their Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. Somoza resided in the capital of Managua, Nicaragua.
R. W. Southern was a medievalist and professor from England teaching at Oxford University. Merton may have been familiar with his books, including «St Anselm and His Biographer» and «Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages».
Dr. Benjamin Spock, the pediatrician who wrote the "Bible" of childrearing for the post-World War II generation, was also a peace activist. Beginning in 1962, he protested nuclear arms and waste. Later in the 1960's, he protested the Vietnam War. (Source: "Spock, Benjamin" Obituary from Current Biography. 1998. Online. Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 23 May 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Rafael Squirru was, at the time of writing, Director of Cultural Affairs for the Organization of American States (OAS). He was a poet and critic and founding Director of the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Charles Stanton writes from New York.
Br. Nivard Stanton is a monk of Gethsemani Abbey.
Dorothy Steere was married to Douglas Steere, Merton's friend, who was a peace advocate and Quaker. Dorothy helped in arranging retreats at Pendle Hill. She had met Martin Luther King, Jr., and was active in the Civil Rights Movement and peace movement. She wrote from Union Theological Seminary in New York. She and Douglas were Quaker Observer-Delegates for the Second Vatican Council.
Fr. Benjamin J. Stein was a Benedictine priest and long-time head librarian for St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Mother Mary Stephen was abbess of Christ the King Monastery in Delray Beach, Florida.
Robert Stock was a San Francisco poet who sends Merton a contribution for the fourth volume of «Monks Pond».
Sr. Judith Stoughton was art editor of «The New Catholic Encyclopedia» and writes from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Roger Straus was a publisher from Farrar, Straus and Giroux in New York.
Thelma Straw was headmistress of Saint Mary's Preparatory School for Girls at the Anglican convent of Saint Mary's-on-the-Mountain in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Dom Jean-Marie Struyven was a Trappist monk from Belgium and former superior of the Abbey of Our Lady of Consolation. The community was originally founded in the late 19th century in a remote area of China, north of the Great Wall. The community suffered persecution in 1947 and moved to Beijing. At this time, Struyven came to lead the community until he was expelled from China in 1953. He returned to the Abbey of Scourmont near Chimay, Belgium, and there he writes to Merton.
Jim Stuber writes from Brownsville, Texas for some spiritual advice. Later, he writes from Ford City, Pennsylvania, where he was spending time with his mother after his father's death.
John C. Sullivan writes from Leaside, Ontario, Canada.
Jean Sulzberger writes on behalf of Time-Life Books in New York and asks for a copy of Thomas Merton's literary magazine, Monks Pond.
Fr. Francis W. Sweeney was a Jesuit priest who was a writing and literature professor at Boston College from 1951-1998. Merton first came into contact with him after Sweeney sent him some poems during his seminary years at Weston College in the late 1940's. Sweeney later headed Boston College's Humanities Lecture Series. Merton and Sweeney corresponded intermittently throughout the rest of Merton's life.
Fr. Sylvester was a Trappist monk who went to Gethsemani's new foundation, the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, in Huntsville, Utah.
Tadashi Kudo writes while on retreat at a Trappist monastery in Hokkaido, Japan.
Br. Francis Taparra was a Trappist monk from the monastery on Lantao Island near Hong Kong.
Brenda Taylor was Speakers Chairman for the University of Oklahoma's Conference on Religion. She writes from Norman, Oklahoma.
Dame M. Teresa was a Benedictine nun of St. Scholastica Abbey in Teignmouth, Devon, England.
Sr. M. Teresa was Prioress of the Carmelite Monastery of the Holy Family in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Sr. Thérèse de l'Enfant Jesus et de l'Immaculée was a Carmelite nun from France.
Mother Mary Therese was superior of a Carmelite monastery in Plainfield, New Hampshire.
Fr. Thomas was a Trappist monk of the Abbey of the Genesee in Piffard, New York.
Mother Mary Thomas was of the Order of St. Clare and served as superior of the Monastery of St. Clare in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Erling A. Thunberg was Coordinating Director for the International Center for Integrative Studies (ICIS). He writes from New York.
Winifred Tjaden writes from London, England.
Sr. Mary Luke Tobin was former Superior General of the Sisters of Loretto. She writes from the Loretto Motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky. Sr. Mary Luke was the only American woman who served as an observer to the Second Vatican Council.
João Camilo de Oliveira Torres writes from Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Gwynedd Fanny Merton Trier (Aunt Gwyn) was the oldest sister of Thomas Merton's father, Owen Merton. She married Erwin Julian Trier in 1915 and moved to England. At the time of writing to Merton in the 1960's, she was living in Fairlawn, West Horsley. Merton used to see her during his breaks from school while attending the nearby Ripley Court. (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 78.)
Tashi Tshering was a student from University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He was a Tibetan and sent Merton the book «Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa», edited by W. Y. Evans-Wentz. Tashi Tshering worked at University of Washington's Tibetan Research Project. He met Merton through a visit to Gethsemani in 1961 and later wrote a letter.
Raymond Tyner was editor of the «Green River Review» (originally to be entitled the «Kentucky Review» until duplicate title discovered). He writes from Owensboro, Kentucky.
Francisco Valle was a surrealist poet born in Nicaragua. He sends Merton an inscribed copy of one of his books.
Mrs. A. Van Horn writes from Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Fr. Venard was a Carmelite priest from a monastery in Austria.
Fr. P.M. Vidal, was a priest and member of the Third Order of Dominicans of the Couvent des Dominicaines de Béthanie at Saint-Morillon, Gironde, France.
Madeleine Viénot writes from Paris, France.
Fr. Joachim Viens was a Trappist monk of St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.
Alejandro Vignati was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the time of writing to Merton, he was in Lima, Peru. He was a poet, critic and co-authored a Peruvian screenplay. He wrote a study on author Henry Miller as well.
Cintio Vitier is a poet, anthologist and literary critic from Havana, Cuba. His early poetry was influenced by the Spanish Nobel laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez. In the late 1950's and 1960's, the Cuban Revolution changed his style. Vitier later credited Merton with giving him spiritual and political guidance during the 1960's. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 235.)
Vladimír Vyhlídka was was from Czechoslovakia. He studied for the priesthood in Rome, returned to Czechoslovakia, and later was made a monsignor. He died in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2011.
C. Anthony has served as president and a corporate director of a number of companies after beginning a career in advertising. He is also a board member of many charities. Having studied journalism in college, he continues to writes books, articles and recurring columns.
Fr. V. Walgrave was a Dominican priest from Ghent, Belgium. He often traveled to the United States to preach at retreats and was at the Dominican Motherhouse of St. Mary of the Springs in Columbus, Ohio, at the time of writing to Merton.
Gerald Walker writes from New York.
Susan E. Walker was secretary to Dr. J. Edward Dirks of Yale University Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut.
Richard J. Walsh was Director of Television for the National Council of Catholic Men in New York.
Fr. Walter was a Dominican priest from Australia.
E. I. Watkin was an Oxford-educated scholar, philosopher, prolific writer, linguist and translator who was proficient in French, Italian, Spanish and German. He was born a Protestant, moved to the Anglo-Catholics in his teenage years, and became Roman Catholic in 1908. He was concerned about the rise of secularism, but believed in taking Catholicism beyond its surface teachings to profound philosophical and mystical ends. He sometimes ran into trouble with church authority in his approach.
Fr. Joseph Raymond Watt was a former monk of Gethsemani Abbey under the religious name of Fr. Marion during the 1950's. At some point he left the monastery for parish life and spent many years in the Monterey Diocese in California. After he died, he was cremated and his ashes were returned to Gethsemani Abbey. (Source: "The Rev. Joseph Watt". Obituaries section of the Santa Cruz Sentinal Online. 16 Aug. 2002. Accessed 31 Aug. 2006 at the Bellarmine University Library. ‹http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2002/August/16/obit/obit.htm›.)
Dorothy Wayman was a journalist and author. Born in California, she came east for her higher education, graduating from the Boston School of Social Work in 1914. After travel to Japan, which became the subject of a book under the pseudonym Theodate Geoffrey, she returned to the Boston area. While corresponding with Merton she was a staff reporter for the «Boston Globe». (Source: "The American Catholic Who's Who." Volume 14: 1960-61. Grosse Pointe, MI: Walter Romig Publisher; p. 471.)
Rembert Weakland was a Benedictine monk and former Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation, starting his first term in 1967, the year before meeting Merton in Thailand. He served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 1977-2002.
Portia Webster was a postulant for Redwoods Monastery in California when Merton met her during his travels on the west coast. At the time, she was working at a JC Penney store in San Francisco. She was one of the people to help show him around San Francisco in his last days before leaving for Asia. She now lives as a lay hermit artist at a monastery in Arizona.
Ron Webster writes from Spokane, Washington.
Frances "Tootie" Wesselmann was married to Robert G. Wesselmann.