D. Grafton Gwynn was the author of poetry, novels and an autobiography that he was trying to publish at the time of correspondence with Merton. Merton provides Gwynn with some feedback on his poems. Gwynn writes from Baltimore, Maryland.
Foster Hailey was a «New York Times» correspondent who spent much of the 1950's on assignment in the Middle East. It seems the two men were acquainted and corresponded prior to this 1961 letter and had last been in touch in the late 1950's.
Alfred B. Hailparn was a friend of Merton's while at Columbia University. Hailparn's father was a liquor distributor in Yonkers, to which Merton makes reference in the second letter. In 1936, Merton was the editor-in-chief of the Columbia yearbook, «Columbian», and Hailparn was managing editor. They were working on the yearbook for May of 1937. (Source: «Witness to Freedom», p. 156.)
Fr. Amédée Hallier was a Trappist monk of the Abbay of Notre-Dame de Grâce in Bricquebec, Normany, France. He wrote «Un éducateur monastique», a book about St. Aelred of Rievaulx. Merton wrote an introduction which was published in the English language edition. The book was published in English as «The Monastic Tehology of Aelred of Rievaulx».
Fr. Columba Halsey was a Benedictine monk of St. Maur's Priory in South Union, Kentucky. The monastery was unique in the United States as having been established as a racially integrated community when it was founded in 1947 on the grounds of a Shaker village.
The Honorable Shinzo Hamai was Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan.
Alfred Starr Hamilton was a poet and contributor to «Monks Pond». In his biographical statement from «Monks Pond», he states that he had lived through the depression and spent a year in the army; since then, he became a socialist and lived on very little money as a poet.
Fr. Hamman was a Franciscan writing from Notre Dame des Buis in Besançon, France.
Carolyn Reading married Victor Hammer in 1955. The Hammers became good friends of Merton, who received permission to visit them in Lexington. Merton would later write to Carolyn to obtain books because of her position at the King Library at University of Kentucky. This was a bond that help University of Kentucky establish a small collection of Merton's papers.
Veronica (Moni) Hammer was a daughter of Victor Hammer and writes from Vienna, Austria.
Victor Hammer was an artist and typographer originally from Vienna. He moved to the United States as Hitler rose to power and took a position at Wells College in New York. In 1948, he retired from Wells College and became artist-in-residence at Transylvania College in Lexington, Kentucky. He brought a hand press he had used in Italy to Lexington and printed under his Italian imprint of Stamperia del Santuccio. The letters do not tell when the two first met, but by the first letter from Hammer in 1955, he states that he had been to Gethsemani and exchanged ideas with Merton already and was friends with Br. Giles. Merton also received permission to visit Victor and Carolyn Hammer in Lexington. On one trip in 1959, Merton saw a triptych painted by Victor. Hammer had intended to paint a Madonna and child but it did not turn out right. In the center panel, a woman crowns a child. Merton declared her to be "Hagia Sophia", the Holy Wisdom of God, which prompted Merton to write his poem "Hagia Sophia". (Source: «Witness to Freedom», p. 3.)
Jim Hampton writes from the Bluegrass Bureau in Lexington, Kentucky, of the Louisville newspaper «The Courier-Journal».
Herman Hanekamp was born in Oldenburg, Germany in 1884. After immigration to the United States in 1904, not much is known other than a couple of years he spent as a cowboy in Texas before riding a horse to Gethsemani when he entered in 1912 (account by Raymond DeSutter [formerly Fr. M. Robert in religious life during his time at Gethsemani]. Hanekamp had taken simple vows but was dismissed in 1917. After leaving vowed religious life, he contnued to live near the monastery. Whether Hanekamp was officially given land that was later reaquired by the abbey is uncertain. He had a small dwelling and raised crops, goats, and pigs. He died in 1958.
Monsignor James J. Hammon was Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Natchez, Mississippi.
Charles Hansel was Director of Religious Life at Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky.
Fr. Deryck Hanshell was a Jesuit priest and sub-editor of «The Month», a magazine published by the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) in London. The editor was Fr. Philip George Caraman, another correspondent of Merton's.
Patricia Hardesty was writing a piece for the «Saturday Evening Post» on Henry Miller. She writes from Mill Valley, California.
Vincent Harding and his wife Rosemarie Freeney Harding were leaders in the Southern Freedom Movement during the Civil Rights struggle of the 1950's and 1960's. He has written a number of books, including «Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero», and served as a senior academic consultant to the highly-acclaimed Eyes on the Prize series on PBS. In 1997, he and Rosemarie Freeney Harding founded the Veterans of Hope project, which gathers the wisdom of elder pioneers in civil rights and social justice for future generations. Harding is Professor Emeritus of Religion and Social Transformation at Illiff School of Theology in Denver.
Fr. Franciscus Hardjawijata was Novice Master at the Trappist monastery at Rawaseneng, Indonesia.
Sr. Katherine T. Hargrove, also known as Mother Hargrove, was a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was editor of some books on Jewish-Christian relations. She writes from Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in Purchase, New York.
Fr. Bernard Haring writes from the Lateran Pontifical University in Rome.
Arthur Harris was the son of John Harris (see "Harris, John" file), who notes that Arthur was born in 1954 and had asked Merton for stamps in 1967. Merton sends him a couple letters and shipments of stamps from letters he had received from around the world. John Harris later notes in correspondence about his letters after Merton's death that Arthur had become a professional philatelist.
Born in London, John Harris was best known as an Francophile author and later for his broadcast about life in France for the BBC. He began his working life as schoolteacher in language, first in Devonshire and later in Cornwall. He spent much time in France and wrote about French culture. (Source: "John P. Harris." Times Online Obituary: The Times [of London]. 26 Nov. 2003. Accessed 5 Oct. 2010. Bellarmine University Library. ‹http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1026218.ece›.))
Br. Patrick Hart was Merton's last secretary. In his earlier years at the monastery, he went by the religious name Br. Simon. He continued to foster Merton's legacy through the interviews he has conducted and through editing many of the collections of Merton's essays, journals, and correspondence.
Sibyl Harton was an Anglican and an author writing from England. She had visited Gethsemani and met Merton in October of 1964.
Lucile Hasley was a convert to Catholicism who published around twelve titles through Sheed and Ward, which were quite autobiographical in nature and featured themes concerning her conversion and about the Catholic Church. She wrote to Merton from South Bend, Indiana.
Alfred Hassler was Executive Secretary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and writes from Nyack, New York.
Dorothy Hassler was Director of Membership for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and writes from Nyack, New York.
Freida "Nanny" Hauck was the mother of Elsie Hauck Holahan (later Jenkins). Elsie had moved in to the home of Merton's maternal grandparents, Samuel and "Mattie" Baldwin Jenkins, to take care of Tom and his younger brother John Paul Merton after the death of their mother Ruth Jenkins in 1921. (Elsie later married Merton's uncle, Harold Jenkins). Freida Hauck lived in Great Neck, New York.
Walter S. Hauck was a friend and distantly related in-law to Thomas and John Paul Merton. Walter Hauck's sister, Elsie, married Harold Jenkins, Thomas and John Paul Merton's uncle, in 1938. In his letter to John Paul, he refers to himself as "Unc" Walt. Thomas Merton corresponded with Walter Hauck's daughter Nancy Hauck Boettcher.
Rosemary Haughton was a Catholic theologian and author. She was born in England, but lived in many places in Europe, and once in the United States, while young and now resides in the United States. She wrote books regarding Catholic culture, feminist spirituality, marriage and sexuality, and books for children.
Claude Haussoullier was a French instructor at University of Massachusetts in Amherst and had spent some time teaching in Vietnam. She writes to thank Merton for his letter to Thich Nhât Hanh.
Jim Havel writes from Lawrence, Kansas.
Dom Columban Hawkins was the first abbot of Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey in Lafayette, Oregon.
Gerald Heard (also writing under H. F. Heard or Henry Fitzgerald Heard) was an author born in England and a close friend of Aldous Huxley. His prolific writings range from academic works on the nature of human development and comparative religion to fantasy and mystery novels.
The following year after writing to Merton, Terence Heelas began writing for «The Strategic Commentary». In this weekly periodical, he advocated that the United States could not win the Vietnam War; therefore, by simple military logic, should leave Vietnam. Heelas seems to have written Merton with some of his earlier ideas on strategic planning on November 27, 1964 (letter is not extant). Merton gives his opinion on such strategic arguments.
John Heidbrink was a Presbyterian minister and activist for civil rights and peace. He writes to Merton after having been in touch with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. It was shortly after he came to Nyack, New York, in 1960 to work as Secretary for Church Relations for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). He was a friend of Jim Forest and Daniel and Philip Berrigan, all of whom worked to found the Catholic Peace Fellowship (CPF). With Daniel Berrigan he discussed Protestant expectations for the Second Vatican Council and attended the International Peace Conference in Prague in 1964 and other Christian/Marxist seminars in Europe. Heidbrink arranged for the landmark meeting of Merton and Thich Nhât Hanh at Gethsemani in 1966. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 401.)
When first writing to Merton, Sven Heilo was a law student living in Lund, Sweden. He had been born in Illinois to Swedish-Lutheran parents in 1940 and moved with his family to Sweden seven years later. He converted to Catholicism in 1960. He was considering a religious vocation and writes about this and a trip to the United States in 1964. There are no extant letters from Heilo from this trip, but Merton makes some remarks about the culture and politics of America and the candidacy of Goldwater. In 1965, Heilo went to work for a customs port in Stockholm and later married.
Sr. Helen Marie was an exclaustrated Precious Blood Sister who, at the time of writing to Merton, had been accepted by both Kentucky religious communities of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Sisters of Loretto.
Sr. Marie Helen was a Dominican sister of Corpus Christi Monastery in Bronx, New York.
Sr. Helene was a Carmelite nun.
Dom Walter Helmstetter was abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of the Genesee in Piffard, New York from the late 1950's to the early 1960's. Later, he became a hermit and writes to Merton from Palestine, Texas.
The sculptor Marc Hénard writes to Merton from Saint-Léger-Vauban, a town in Burgundy, France, which is also the home of the Benedictine Abbey of Pierre Qui Vire. He sends Merton some photographs of his work at Pierre Qui Vire and a photograph of a tower at the monastery at the request of Dom Angélico Surchamp, O.S.B., of La Pierre-qui-Vire Abbey. The material on sacred art is for "Art and Worship," an unpublished manuscript of a book Merton planned to publish on sacred art.
Fr. Elmer J. Henderson was a Jesuit priest and Managing Editor of the quarterly review «Thought».
Fr. Laurence E. Henderson was a Jesuit priest writing from Loyola University in Chicago.
Ammon Hennacy writes as the Director of the Joseph Hill House of Hospitality and St. Joseph's Refuge. The house fed the hungry and commemorated Joe Hill, who was a labor leader accused of murder (some say framed) and executed by the state of Utah in 1915. Hennacy was a pacifist and advocate for prisoners on death row. He converted to Catholicism in 1952 and shortly after served as an associate editor in New York for the «Catholic Worker» until moving to Salt Lake City and founding Joseph Hill House in 1961. (Source: Thomas, Joan. "Ammon Hennacy: A Brief Biography". Catholic Worker Home Page: 1994. ‹http://www.catholicworker.com/ah_bio.htm›, accessed: 2005/03/25.)
Dagmar Henne was with the German Department of the publisher Agence Hoffman and writes from Munich, Germany.
