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Fr. James J. Megivern was Vincentian priest from St. John's University in New York.

In 1952, Don Sergio Méndez Arceo became Bishop of Cuernavaca, México. He was know for his progressive views that sometimes got him into trouble with Rome. He fostered liturgical reform and the beginnings of what would emerge as liberation theology. He was supportive of the work of Ivan Illich at the Center for Intercultural Documentation (CIDOC).

Gertrude Merton was Thomas Merton's grandmother. Born Gertrude Hannah Grierson in 1855, she immigrated at age nine with her parents to New Zealand. She married Alfred Merton in 1882. They had six children, including Owen Heathcote Merton (Thomas' father), John Llewellyn Charles Merton (Uncle Lyn), and Beatrice Katharine (Aunt Ka), Agnes Gertrude Stonehewer (Aunt Kit), and Gwynnedd Fanny Merton Trier (Aunt Gwynn). (Source: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, pp. 293-294).

John Merton was Thomas Merton's cousin, the son of John Llewellyn Charles Merton (Uncle Lyn). At the time of writing, he was an Anglican priest and Vicar of the Parochial District of New Brighton in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Source: «The Road to Joy», pp. 86.)

John Paul Merton was Thomas Merton's younger, and only, sibling. The boys spent much time apart, Thomas traveling with his father Owen, the painter, in France and England, where he was schooled. John Paul lived with his maternal grandparents, the Jenkins, and went to schools in New York and later military academy, graduating in the last class in 1935 from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania's academy. He attended Cornell and was there first interested in Catholicism, taking up flying with the Catholic chaplain, Fr. Donald Cleary. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1941, intending to get involved in the Second World War and the United States was not yet committed. He went by the nickname "Mert". One of the correspondents in these letters, Thomas O'Brien, gave his flight training. John Paul visited Thomas Merton at Gethsemani during a leave in July of 1942. He expressed interest in becoming baptized Catholic and received expedited instructions from Thomas and Dom James Fox because he had only a week's leave. He was baptized July 26, 1942. In August 1942, John Paul was sent into action in England. While on leave in England, he met Margaret May Evans and married her in February of 1943. On April 16, 1943, he embarked in a Wellington bomber over the English Channel. For unknown reasons, the plane lost altitude and crashed. John Paul's back was broken, but he was taken aboard a dinghy with some survivors. He died the 17th, which was the Saturday of Passion Week. The others were rescued Holy Thursday, and Thomas Merton learned of his brother's death on Easter Tuesday. Thomas Merton responded with the poem, "For My Brother Reported Missing in Action, 1943", which concludes the «The Seven Storey Mountain». (Source: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, pp. 294-295.)

John L. Strong writes from Landover Hills, Maryland.

Fr. August Thompson was an African-American priest who was serving at St. Charles Church in Ferriday, Louisiana, at the time of writing to Merton. He was interviewed by John Howard Griffin for an article for «Ramparts» magazine about the experience of being a black Catholic priest and the effects of racism on the Catholic Church. He ran into some trouble with his bishop, Charles Pasquale Greco, of Alexandria, Louisiana. The bishop disputed many claims of institutional racism by Thompson, and was even angrier that the Church was given a bad image publicly on this issue. Thompson met Merton in 1963 and corresponded with him for a number of years.

Karen Apple wrote was a 16-year-old student at a Catholic high school. She writes from Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Fr. Vitus Bucher, O.S.B. (Edmund Bucher) was a Benedictine monk of St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota.

Adrian Cunningham died at age 69 in March 2012. He spent the greatest part of his professional career at the University of Lancaster, helping to found the Department of Religious Studies in 1967. Merton writes to him in London. At the time, he was a student at Cambridge. He was involved in Catholic attempts to promote non-violence and to resist nuclear arms proliferation. He later was a co-founder the controversial publication «Slant», which attempted to reconcile Marxism and Catholic thought. (Sources: «Subtext» [Lancaster, UK]: #88, 22 March 2012 ‹www.lancaster.ac.uk/subtext/archive/issue088.htm›, accessed 14 March 2014; and " Once again, farewell," «The Tablet»: 24 March 2012, p. 19 ‹archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/24th-march-2012/19/once-again-farewell, accessed 14 March 2014›.)

Cecil B. DeMille was a filmmaker best known for his biblical epic, «The Ten Commandments».

Terrell Dickey was a commercial artist from Louisville, Kentucky. The Abbey of Gethsemani hired Dickey to assist with the layout of books and pamphlets produced by the monastery on Gethsemani and the Trappist life. Merton first records in his journal a meeting with Dickey about a postulant's pamphlet on September 10, 1957. He also consults with Dickey about Merton's proposed book on art, Art and Worship, which was not published.

Anne Diekan writes to Merton from Manassas, Virginia.

Roger Hubank was a student at Cambridge University, where Merton spent his first year of college. He is a Catholic who asks about the relationship of Catholic authority and censorship in relation to authors, especially Catholic authors. He also questions some of Merton's criticism of D.H. Lawrence in «Elected Silence» and «The Sign of Jonas».

Daryl or Daryll Keene seems to be a woman from California that Merton references in some journal entries in early March of 1968. She came visiting the monastery, had a discussion with Merton, and wanted to relocate to the area and involve him in a project. Merton refused this offer and notes that she had moved on to Louisville or Dayton.

Alasdair Alpin MacGregor was a writer, photographer and poet, born in Scotland. At the time of correspondence with Merton, he was writing a biography of the artist Percyval Tudor-Hart.

Br. Simeon Malone was a lay brother at Gethsemani Abbey. He was originally from Wichita, Kansas, and entered Gethsemani in 1957. Br. Simeon was a secretary to Dom James Fox at Gethsemani Abbey in the 1960's.

Merton writes to Adrienne Mariani of Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

Sr. Rita Maury, who seems to have formerly used the name in religion of Sr. Frances Therese, was a Sister of St. Joseph writing from Milford, Massachusetts.

Fr. William McInnes was a Jesuit priest and, at the time of writing, president of Fairfield University, Connecticut.

Sandy Meyer 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"), Meyer came to Gethsemani to interview Merton on March 30, 1968 with Susan Smith, and students named Sally and Mike (possibly Michael Castro?).

Claude Michel writes on behalf of the Action Civique Non-Violente in St. Didier au Mont d'Or, France.

Jim Milord wrote for the «Catholic Worker» and praised Merton for his review of the «Shoshoneans» in the June 1967 issue. He writes from Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada. Later, after transferring to a new teaching post in 1968, he writes from Vegreville, Alberta.

Czeslaw Milosz was a Polish poet who among his many accolades won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1980. Milosz was part of the Polish socialist resistance to the Nazis during World War II. After the war, he sought political asylum in France, opposing the repressive regime that came to power. His work, «The Captive Mind» was the first that caught Merton's attention and motivated him to write to Milosz. In 1960, Milosz accepted a professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, and lived in the United States for the rest of his life. Merton and Milosz first met at Gethsemani in September of 1964. Later, Merton would visit Milosz in California in October of 1968. Christine Bochen notes a number of diverse themes in their correspondence: "candid critiques of each other's work; suggestions for reading; and reflections on nature and history, religion and the Church, mass media and American society." (Source: «The Courage for Truth», pp. 53-54.)

Stephano Minelli writes on behalf of Edizioni Mocelliana in Brescia, Italy.

Sr. Miriam Benedict was a Benedictine sister of Regina Laudis Monastery in Bethlehem, Connecticut. At the time of writing, she was Postulant Mistress.

Dan Tyler Moore and Drew Pearson write on behalf of the International Platform Association from Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Lee Moore worked in the subsidiary rights department of Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishers in New York.

Dr. José L. Morales from St. John’s University, in New York was a professor of mystical theology and literature.

Frederick Morgan was editor-in-chief of «The Hudson Review» and writes from New York.

Charles Moritz was the longest serving editor of «Current Biography», serving from 1958-1992.

Rev. C. F. D. Moule was an Anglican priest and professor at Clare College at Cambridge University in England. Merton submits a piece for the «Clare Association Annual».

Anne Brooks Murray writes on behalf of Farrar, Straus and Cudahy publishers in New York.

André Muzac writes on behalf of La Haute-Auvergne Societe des Lettres, Sciences et Art from Aurillac, France.

Susan Neer was a high school student from Saint Ann, Missouri. Her father tells her that statements about racism in the South by John Howard Griffin are exaggerated, and she asks Merton's opinion.

J. Robert Nelson was dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School from 1957-1960. He was later dean at Boston University School of Theology from 1965-1985.

Mary E. Newman writes from West Palm Beach, Florida, to report a miracle purported to have occurred after reading «Exile Ends in Glory» and praying to Mother Berchmans and Maria Goretti.

Thich Nhât Hanh was a Buddhist monk, originally from Vietnam. During the Vietnam war, he struggled to negotiate peace and end the conflict between the North and South in a non-partisan fashion. In so doing, he was condemned by both sides and had to flee the country. After leaving Vietnam, he lectured in the United States. In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. nominated Nhât Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize. In later years, he lived in France at a monastic community called Plum Village. (Sources: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, pp. 325-326; and the Plum Village website, ‹plumvillage.org›.)

Bishop Matthew A. Niedhammer (Matteo Aloisio Niedhammer y Yaeckle) was the Apostolic Vicariate in Bluefields, Nicaragua. Merton is inquiring about moving to Nicaragua to set up a hermitage on Corn Island.

Ilse F. Niswonger was an Oblate of St. Benedict at Regina Laudis Abbey in Bethlehem, Connecticut. She was an artist and offered her services for a statue of the Virgin Mary. This is likely the job that Merton eventually commissioned Jaime Andrade to sculpt.

Archbishop Adolph Alexander Noser was born in Belleville, Illinois. He became a priest of the Society of the Divine Word (Divine Word Missionaries). He was ordained bishop and was sent to Accra, Ghana, in 1950. Merton and Noser began contact in 1968, after Noser was appointed Archbishop of Madang, Papua New Guinea.

Barbara O'Connell was an eighth grade student from Arlington, Massachusetts. She was to write a class paper about a famous writer and chose Merton. She asks for some information about himself and his writing.

Fr. Gabriel O'Connell was a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Valley in Valley Falls, Rhode Island.

Barbara O'Grady of Framingham, Massachusetts, writes to express her joy at reading the galleys of «Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander» sent by John Delaney at Doubleday.

Jack O'Neill was an ex-novice of Gethsemani Abbey.

Valerio Ochetto writes from Radiotelevisione Italiana on behalf of Giorgio La Pira. He invites Merton to appear on an interview concerning the atomic bomb.

Griselda Ohannessian was on the editorial staff of New Directions publishers in New York. She later became president of New Directions.

John Palcewski was Editor of «Don Quixote». He wanted his friend Allen Schaaf to interview Merton for his magazine.

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.

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.