Keating was the founder of «Ramparts» magazine in 1962 and published many articles about civil rights and the Vietnam War, as well as authoring books of these issues. (Source: Reed, Christopher. "Edward Keating" [obituary], The Guardian, ‹http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,948633,00.html›, May 3, 2003.)
Chester P. Keefe writes to ask Merton about the daily activities of a monk and the layout of Gethsemani Abbey for a senior class design project at the Rhode Island School of Design. They had decided to design a Trappist monastery.
Fred Keefe was an editor for «The New Yorker» magazine and agreed to put Merton in touch with Nat Hentoff, who wrote a piece on Lenny Bruce and Bud Powell.
Fr. J. M. Kelly was a Basilian priest and President of St. Michael's College in Toronto.
Mary Lu Kelly was project assistant to Dr. Robert F. Roeming, a French and Italian professor at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Julie Kernan was an editor for P. J. Kenedy and Sons in New York. Merton wrote an introduction for a book they were publishing, Raïssa Maritain's «Notes on the Our Father».
Fr. Kevin Bracken was a Trappist monk from Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey in Portglenone, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Edward Kikama writes from Japan.
Francis Kim writes from Taegu [Daegu], South Korea.
Brs. Harold Kohl, Brian Palmer and Erasmo Leiva were Trappists novices from the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia.
Andrew Kormos writes from Santa Ana, California.
Sr. Mary Norbert Körte was a Dominican from San Francisco, California.
Robert J. Kreyche wrote about philosophy and mysticism. He attempts to contact Merton after having spent some time with John Howard Griffin. He writes from Shawnee Mission, Kansas.
Br. Benedict Kunz was a Trappist monk from Gethsemani Abbey.
Fr. Gregory Lambing (at that time Br. Gregory) was a monk of Gethsemani Abbey.
Chanterelle Lanza del Vasto was the wife of Joseph Jean Lanza del Vasto, the founder of the Communautés de l'Arche in France.
Fr. Ernest Larkin was a Carmelite priest from Whitefirars Hall in Washington, D.C.
Fr. Benedict Lauvant was a Dominican priest writing from Toulouse, France.
Sr. Penelope Lawson was from the Anglican Community of St. Mary the Virgin in Wantage, England. She spent most of her time there as librarian at St. Mary's Convent and authored a number of books. She is also well-known for translations of early and medieval Christian writers. It was through translation of writings of Isaac of Stella that she was first in contact with Merton. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 477-478.)
Mother M. Patricia was superior of the Monastery of the Poor Clares (Mosteiro das Pobres Clarrisas) in Paraiba, Brazil.
John Pauker was a poet, playwright, editor, and translator. He and his wife, Shoo-Shoo, ran an art gallery called the Fun House in Washington, D.C., where he displayed some of Merton's art in 1967. Pauker edited the quarterly «Furioso» from 1947-1953. He was later the American editor of «The Lugano Review». He published books of poetry, a Broadway play called "Moonbirds", and translated the Hungarian novel by Lajos Zilahy, «The Dukays», which was a nationwide bestseller.
Paul Peachey is a Mennonite scholar and Executive Secretary of the Church Peace Mission. He began this work shortly after the retirement of A. J. Muste and took over much of the group's coordination until it disbanded in 1967. Peachey was the author and editor of a number of books about Christianity and social justice. The Church Peace Mission was headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Poet Simon Perchik was an attorney living in Staten Island, New York, at the time of writing to Merton. He was born in New Jersey and now resides in East Hampton, New York. As a young man, he worked as a milkman and served as a bomber pilot during the Second World War. Merton includes him in the first volume of «Monks Pond». In the November 15, 2000 «Library Journal», Perchik was described as "the most widely published unknown poet in America..." (Source: "Simon Perchik Poetry Page". Perchik's website. 2 Feb. 2006. ‹http://www.geocities.com/simonthepoet/›)
Barbara Pickett was a reference librarian at the Louisville Free Public Library in Kentucky. Merton contributes a piece to their staff newsletter, «Staff Log», entitled, "My Visits to the Secular Bookhouse".
Mara Ann Pinto was a high school student from South Euclid, Ohio, who had recently read «The Seven Storey Mountain». She mentions her initial "aversion to reading books by priests and nuns"; however, she was glad to have read the book and mentions its profound effect on her.
Br. M. Placid was a Trappist monk of the Southern Star Abbey in Kopua, New Zealand. He asks Merton some questions regarding monastic formation, solitude, Dechanet's book on yoga, and the "Prayer of Jesus.
Allen Planz and Carl Larsen were editing an anthology of poems concerning race and civil rights in the United States. They ask for Merton's contributions. Allen Planz writes from New York.
Fr. Thomas Plassmann was a Franciscan priest and President of St. Bonaventure College in New York.
Joseph Polansky writes from St. Anthony's Church in Pollansbee, West Virginia.
Arabel J. Porter was senior editor of the New American Library (NAL), publishers of the various Signet series among others. He writes from New York. Merton send them his manuscript for «Faith and Violence».
The poet Clarence Poulin wrote to Merton from Penacook, New Hampshire.
Raymond H. Prince was a professor of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He was the editor of the R. M. Bucke Memorial Society Newsletter, which discussed the intersection of religion and psychiatry and trends of the time such as psychotropic, "mind-expanding", drugs and the similarities and differences between these "trips" and mystical religious experience. He became Director of the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry and editor of «Transcultural Psychiatry Research Review». They first came into contact through Linda Parsons (now Linda Sabbath). (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 492-493.)
Ron Punnett (who went under the pen name of Ronald Anthony Punnét), was a black poet born in Trinidad. He was a British citizen but was serving in the United States army and was stationed at Fr. Benning, Georgia. He had been writing poetry for about five years and had, previous to military service, served as poetry editor to the «Ninth Circle» in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He wrote at the suggestion of Keith Wilson, and Merton published some of his poems in the second volume of «Monks Pond». Carlos Reyes published some of his poetry under his Wine Press, a small press from Portland, Oregon, along with poets Richard Morris, Kenneth Brewer, Halvard Johnson, Peter Wild, and David Tammer.
David Quartley was a classmate of Merton's at Oakham School in England. He was visiting the United States in 1968, and wanted to know whether he could visit Merton en route between Chicago, Illinois, and Charlotte, North Carolina, in September. Quartley worked for the Industrial Products Division of the Singer Sewing Machine Company in London, England. There is no reply; however, Merton would have been gone on his journey to the West coast by this time.
Fr. Gantana Raciti was a monk of the Trappist monastery of Our Lady of Orval in Belgium.
Raymonde Rae was a sixteen-year-old student from Dublin, Ireland. He writes in praise of Merton and James Joyce.
Henry Rago was editor of «Poetry» magazine. He writes from Chicago, Illinois.
The Rev. Dr. William H. Ralston was an Episcopal priest who taught at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, at the time of writing to Merton. He was on the editorial board of the literary magazine, «The Sewanee Review». He had a love of the «Book of Common Prayer» and helped found the society to preserve its usage. He went on to become the rector of St. John's, Savannah.
«Ramparts» was a literary and political magazine running from 1962-1975, originally a Catholic literary quarterly, that took liberal positions on many issues of the day, such as opposing the Vietnam War.
Norman Ravitch was associate professor of history and chairman for the Committee on Lectures on Religion at the Riverside Campus of the University of California.
Edward Reed was Director of Publications for the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California.
Mañuela M. de Reyes writes from Mexico.
Br. Victor Richert was a Trappist monk of Gethsemani Abbey.
Thomas Francis Ritt was the Director of the Catholic Council on Civil Liberties, headquartered in Lawndale, California. It was a nonprofit organization of Catholic laity. He did a Catholic commentary for KPFK Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles.
John-David Robinson writes from Saint Paul, Minnesota, as editor of «Sun», a magazine of "Visual Theology", discussing liturgy from the visual art standpoint and the theology invoked by visual symbols.
Sr. María de la Victorias de Sta. Teresita Rodríguez was from the Congregation of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament and writes from the Monasterio del Verbo Encarnado y del Santisimo Sacramento from Mexico City, Mexico.
Fr. Ronald Roloff was, at the time of correspondence with Merton, a Benedictine priest at St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Charles J. Ruff was a realtor from Cincinnati, Ohio. He offers Merton a field dog, an English Springer Spaniel, for his hermitage.
Fr. Carleton Michael Sage writes at first from the Theological College of the Catholic University of America and later from St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.
Archbishop Tulio Botero Salazar was a Vincentian priest who became Archbishop of Medellín, Colombia.
Phillip Scharper seems to have worked with Frank Sheed at the publisher Sheed and Ward.
Fr. Hilarion Schmock was a Trappist priest from Gethsemani Abbey.
Fr. Luke Schreffer was an Augustinian priest from St. Augustine Monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada.
In 1958, Br. Emmanuel Schuurmans became Abbot of Maria Toevlucht (Mary's Refuge) in Zundert in the Netherlands. He brought about many reforms to his community and Merton discusses with him permission to live the eremitical life and other changes to the Trappist Order.
Rabbi Stephen Schwarzschild was a pacifist rabbi writing from Temple Beth El in Lynn, Massachusetts.
Fr. Sebastian was the editor of «Elias» magazine. He writes from Stella Maris Monastery in Haifa, Israel.
Fr. Seraphim was a Trappist monk from Tilburg Abbey in the Netherlands.
Fr. Dismas Sexton was a Franciscan writing first from the novitiate and later from Saint Joseph Seminary in Teutopolis, Illinois.
With his wife Maisie Ward, Francis Joseph Sheed founded the publishing house of Sheed and Ward in 1926. Sheed was a Roman Catholic theologian and leading apologist of the 20th Century. Born in Australia, he moved to London after his law studies and married Ward in 1926. The following year the established a Roman Catholic publishing house concerned not only with theology but broader issues of literature and culture. In 1933, they founded a New York branch of the publishing company and thenceforth Sheed spent time between the London and New York offices. (Source: "Sheed, F. J." Biography from Current Biography. 1981. Online. Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 2006/04/25. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Fr. John B. Sheerin was Paulist priest and editor of «The Catholic World». He writes from New York.
Lawrence Joseph Cardinal Shehan was Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland.
Bob Shepherd was a friend of Merton's from Lexington, Kentucky. He worked in communications and public relations offices at Transylvania College and at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Francis Shih-hao Shieh was an assistant professor at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Howard Fenimore Shipps was a professor in the Department of Church History at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Swami Shivapremananda is the rector and spiritual master of the Cento Sivananda Yoga-Vedanta in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Meg Shore was a student at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and a student of Denise Levertov.
Ambrose Siers was Promotion Manager of the Thomas More Association. He writes from Chicago, Illinois.
Rabbi Lou H. Silberman was a professor from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, who came to Gethsemani with Rabbi Zalman Schachter in mid-August 1962 to speak to the novices regarding Hebrew, the Psalms and the Dead Sea scrolls.
Poet Charles Simic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He came with his family in 1949 to the United States, and they settled in Chicago, Illinois. His college studies began at University of Chicago and then New York University. He finished his undergraduate work at NYU after two years of service in the army. After working as a proofreader for the «Chicago Sun-Times», he spent the late 1960's as an editorial assistant to the photography magazine «Aperture» in New York, where Merton corresponds with him about contributing to «Monks Pond». He would later become a professor of English at the California State College, Hayward, and at the University of New Hampshire, Durham. Since his first published work before writing to Merton, he has published a number books of poetry. (Source: "Simic, Charles" Biography from World Authors 1970-1975. 1980. Online. Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 3 May 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Sr. Lois Marie Simmons was a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary from Richmond, Virginia.
Dick Sisto is a jazz vibraphonist and is currently the music director of the Seelbach Bar at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. He shared an interest with Merton in Zen Buddhism and currently conducts meditation workshops. His wife, Penny Sisto, is a fabric artist who has created Merton-themed quilts.
Lydia Pasternak Slater was a research chemist from Russia who emigrated first to Germany and later to Great Britain after the Nazi rise to power. She wrote poetry and translated works of her brother, Boris Pasternak.
Fr. Gerard Stephen Sloyan was, at the time of writing to Merton, a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has written some texts on theology and morality.
Rev. Glenn Smiley was Associate Executive Secretary for the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, New York, at the time of writing. He was a pacifist, prominent in the Civil Rights Movement, and a friend of Martin Luther King, Jr.
E. Gene Smith writes from Seattle, Washington. He was a student of Dezhung Rinpoche, a Buddhist mystic residing in Seattle after exile from his native Tibet.
Susan Smith was a student at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri at the time of writing. Following Merton's correspondence with Barbara Ann Braveman, another member of the staff of the student publication «Free Lance» (also "Freelance"), Smith came to Gethsemani to interview Merton on March 30, 1968 with Sandy Meyer, and students named Sally and Mike (possibly Michael Castro?).
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›.)
