Showing 2375 results

Authority record
Gwynn, Donald Grafton
Person

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.

Gustaw, Romuald, Fr., O.F.M.
Person

Romuald Gustaw was a Franciscan from the Library of the Catholic University in Lublin, Poland.

Gustafson, Leif
Person

Leif Gustafson was a Radio Officer for UNEF (United Nations Emergency Force to secure the troop withdrawal from Egypt and keep peace with Israel). He was originally from Sweden and a convert to Catholicism. The UNEF headquarters was Beirut, Lebanon, but Gustafson traveled throughout Palestine and writes from Gaza.

Gupta, Brijen K.
Person

Brijen K. Gupta was a visiting professor from India at the University of Cincinnati's NDEA World History Institute.

Gullick, Etta
Person

An Anglican and Oxford graduate, Etta Gullick first writes to Merton to read her edition of the «Rule of Perfection» by Benet of Canfield (1562-1610). She had hoped Merton would write a preface. Although this did not come to pass, they discussed Benet of Canfield over their long correspondence and also about other great spiritual writers, about whom Gullick lectured on at St. Stephen's House, a theological college at Oxford. She was also involved in dialogue with Orthodox Christians, founding an Anglican-Orthodox center and hostel and meeting Ecumenical Patriarch, Athenagoras, in 1962. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 340.)

Guli, Francesca
Person

Francesca Guli sends Merton the manuscript for a children's book of hers that was later published, «The Boy and the Stars: A Lyrical Tale of Dante Alighieri, the Boy».

Guénnou, Jean, Fr.
Person

Fr. Jean Guénnou writes from the Missions Étrangères in Paris.

Person

Fr. Filiberto Guala was a monk of the Cistercian abbey of Frattocchi which is near Rome. Pope Paul VI, a longtime friend of Guala, commissioned him and his Abbot, Francis Decroix, to write up a "Message of Contemplatives" to present to a Synod of Bishops. Merton and others were asked to contribute and much of Merton's addition was used. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 344.)

Grunewald, Bernard, Fr.
Person

Fr. Bernard Grunewald (Br. Bernard at the time of writing) founded the first hermits colony of Roman Catholic monks in the United States in 1966. He writes from the hermitage of Our Lady of Solitude in Leander, Texas.

Groves, Gerald
Person

Dr. Gerald Groves was a former monk of Gethsemani. He wrote the book «Up and Down Merton's Mountain».

Grossmann, Sharon
Person

Sharon Grossman writes as President of the National Federation of Catholic College Students from Washington, D.C.

Grossinger, Richard
Person

Richard Grossinger was a poet and was editor and publisher of «Io» magazine. He and his wife, Lindy Hough, were contributors to «Monks Pond». He put Merton in contact with another «Monks Pond» contributor, Nelson Richardson or Providence, Rhode Island. Grossinger writes from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Groman, Mary
Person

Maria (Mary) Groman writes from Warsaw, Poland.

Grinberg, Miguel
Person · 1937-2022

Miguel Grinberg was a poet from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who has authored a number of collections of poetry. He took over the editorship of «Eco Contemporáneo» in 1961, a publication to which Merton later subscribed. He came to Gethsemani to meet Merton in March of 1964 while traveling across the United States.

Grimes, William
Person

William Grimes spent time as a novice at Gethsemani Abbey under the name Br. Alcuin. He left in the autumn of 1964. Merton and Grimes continued to exchange letters in subsequent years.

Griffiths, Bede
Person · 1906-1993

Bede Griffiths, born Alan Richard Griffiths, was born in England in 1906. He converted to Catholicism in the early 1930's and soon after joined a Benedictine monastery, Prinknash Abbey, and took the name Bede. Having later served as a Prior of Farnborough and then Pluscardin, during which time he gained an interest in Indian thought. He first asked to go to India to set up a monastic foundation, but was denied. Later, he was sent to India by the same abbot, but he was to be under the local bishop. From 1955-1958, he joined Fr. Francis Mahieu Acharya at Kurisumala Ashram (Mountain of the Cross), where they developed a Syriac rite monastic liturgy. Griffiths took the Sanskrit name Dhayananda, meaning "bliss of prayer". In 1963, he conducted a trip to the United States in which he engaged in an East-West dialog. (Source: Coff, Pascaline, O.S.B. "Man, Monk, Mystic." website of the Bede Griffiths Trust, accessed 2004/02/17. ‹http://www.bedegriffiths.com/bio.htm›)

Griffin, John Howard
Person · 1920-1980

John Howard Griffin was a journalist and author of a book that Merton read and found inspirational, Black Like Me, in which Griffin took medication to darken his skin and traveled throughout the racially segregated south of the late 1950's. Griffin first came to Gethsemani and met Merton in the early 1960's. Thereafter, he often visited and struck up a correspondence with Merton. He was also friends with Jacques Maritain who met with him and Merton in October of 1966 at Gethsemani. Griffin helped foster a love of photography in Merton and provided cameras, film and developing for him. Griffin was appointed Merton's official biographer, but was unable to finish his planned biography due to health troubles. Despite this, he produced a book on Merton's photography titled A Hidden Wholeness: The Visual World of Thomas Merton. Two books using materials collected while working on Merton's biography were published after Griffin's death, The Hermitage Journal: A Diary Kept While Working on the Biography of Thomas Merton and Follow the Ecstasy: Thomas Merton, the Hermitage Years 1965-1968. All letters are written from Griffin's home in Texas, unless otherwise stated. He was in Mansfield, Texas, until midway through 1966, then in Fort Worth.

Griffin, Gregory
Person · 1957-2013

Gregory Griffin was the son of John Howard Griffin. He did some photographic processing for Merton. He writes from Fort Worth, Texas.

Griffin, Dan
Person

Dan Griffin was Assistant Editor of «Ave Maria», a "national Catholic weekly... published by the Holy Cross Fathers." He writes from Notre Dame, Indiana.

Gribble, James
Person

James Gribble was Associate Director of the University of Kentucky Libraries at the time of correspondence with Thomas Merton.

Gri, Roberto
Person

Roberto Gri was an Italian student writing to Merton to ask his advice about how one should study.

Grewe, David
Person

David Grewe was a seminary student at Cardinal Glennon College in St. Louis, Missouri.

Greene, Jonathan Edward
Person · 1943-

Jonathan Greene was born in New York, but has spent most of his career living in Kentucky as a poet, author, publisher and free-lance designer. While corresponding with Merton, he was a designer for University of Kentucky Press in Lexington. He was the founder of Gnomon Press. He currently lives on a farm near Frankfort, Kentucky.

Green, Marlon D.
Person

Marlon D. Green became the first African-American to be hired as a commercial pilot for a major airline. He was an experienced Air Force pilot, and though there was a need for pilots after World War II, minorities were not being hired for pilot positions in civilian life. He protested these discriminatory practices since the late 1950's, but was not hired until the Supreme Court ruled in his favor in 1963.

Green, Julien
Person · 1900-1998

Julien Green lived in France for most of his life and was born in Paris in 1900 of American parents. Merton's «Raids on the Unspeakable» contains an essay on Green's 1961 novel «Chaque homme dans sa nuit», and Green disputes him on some of Merton's criticism.

Gramatky, Linda
Person

Linda Gramatky was writing from New York on behalf of the publishers Doubleday and Company while Naomi Burton Stone was away from the office.

Graham, Aelred, Dom, O.S.B.
Person · 1907-1984

Dom Aelred Graham was a Benedictine monk from Ampleforth Abbey in England. From 1951-1967, he served as superior of the Portsmouth Priory in Rhode Island. All letters by Graham are addressed from Portsmouth, Rhode Island, except the 1968 letters and others as noted. (Source: Obituary of Fr. Aelred Graham from the Ampleforth Abbey Library by Fr. Patrick Barry, O.S.B., ‹http://www.monlib.org.uk/obits/barry/graham_a.htm›.)

Grace, Sr., O.S.H.
Person

Sr. Grace was a Sister of St. Helena writing from a convent in Versailles, Kentucky.

Grace, Sr., I.H.M.
Person

Sr. Grace was with the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan.

Goulet, Denis A.
Person

Denis Goulet was the Visiting Associate Professor in Government and Education at Indiana University in Bloomington at the time of correspondence with Merton. Since 1979, he has served as O'Neill Professor in Education for Justice in the Department of Economics at Notre Dame University and is Faculty Fellow for both the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.

Gould, Raphael
Person

Raphael (Ray) Gould visited Merton at Gethsemani in May of 1966 along with John Heidbrink and Thich Nhat Hanh. After that visit, Gould writes Merton on behalf of the International Committee of Conscience on Vietnam of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). In 1967, he is listed as Director of Development of the FOR. He writes from the FOR headquarters in Nyack, New York.

Gould, James Adams
Person · 1922-

James A. Gould was Chairman of the University of South Florida Department of Philosophy. He writes from Tampa.

Gotlieb, Howard B.
Person

Howard B. Gotlieb was Chief of Reference and Special Collections at Boston University. He became director of the collection in 1963, and in 2003, the repository was named after him.

Goss-Mayr, Hildegard
Person · 1930-

Jean and Hildegard Goss-Mayr have long been advocates of non-violence and pillars of the peace movement. Hildegard was born in Vienna, and Jean was originally from France. They worked with Cardinal Ottaviani to craft documents of the Second Vatican Council in opposition to modern war. They shared with Merton an interest in Latin America and worked to bring non-violence change. In the 1980's, they promoted a peaceful end to the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. Members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Hildegard was named honorary president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). Jean and Hildegard visited Merton at Gethsemani in 1965. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 324-325.)

Gosho, Louise
Person

Louise Gosho wrote to Dorothy Day and asked to pass her letter to Thomas Merton. She was from Renton, Washington.

Person

Fr. Norbert Gorrissen was a Trappist monk of the monastery of Orval in southern Belgium. He inquires about contemporary problems in monasticism. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 229.)

Gorman, James C., Fr., S.S.
Person

Fr. Jim Gorman was a Sulpician priest at St. Thomas Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Gorce, Denys
Person

Denys Gorce writes from Grenade-sur-Adour, France.

Gómez-Sicre, José
Person

José Gómez-Sicre was of the Visual Arts Section of the Organization of American States.

Gomes, Romáo, Fausto
Person

Fausto Gomes Romáo writes to Merton from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Gold, Don
Person

Don Gold writes as Assistant to the Editor of «Holiday» magazine.

Goettman, A.
Person

A. Goettman writes from Saint-Avold in France.

Godfrey, Banks O., Jr.
Person

Banks O. Godfrey, Jr. writes from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Glover, Wilbur H.
Person

Wilbur Glover writes as Director of Shaker Community, Inc. in Hancock, Massachusetts, informing Merton of the death of Edward Deming Andrews.

Glanz, David
Person

At the time of writing to Merton, David Glanz was an Editor of the Washington University student publication, «Freelance».

Gisi, Martha
Person

Martha Gisi writes from Schaffhauserrheinweg, Switzerland.

Girson, Rochelle
Person

At the time of writing, Rochelle Girson was Book Review Editor for the «Saturday Review». She writes from New York.

Girri, Alberto
Person · 1919-1991

Alberto Girri was a poet, prose writer, and literary translator from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Like Jorge Luis Borges, he used metaphysics and mysticism in his writings, but uses these as a tool of contemporary criticism. He published many volumes of poetry and was a regular contributor to Victoria Ocampo's magazine, «Sur».

Giroux, Robert
Person · 1914-2008

Robert Giroux was one of Merton's friends from his Columbia University days. While Giroux was with Harcourt, Brace publishers, he reviewed and rejected some of Merton's early novels. After seeing «The Seven Storey Mountain», he decided to take a chance on this book which turned out to be a surprise best seller and launched Merton's career as a writer. In 1955, he joined Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, which became Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1964. He later took the role as a trustee for Merton's literary estate.

Ginsberg, Robert
Person · 1937-

Robert Ginsberg is a Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University. He included Merton's essay "War and the Crisis of Language" in a book he edited, entitled «The Critique of War: Contemporary Philosophical Explorations».

Giniger, Kenneth Seeman
Person

Kenneth Seeman Giniger was head of the Layman's National Bible Committee, publisher of "The Catholic Bible in the St. Peter's Edition."

Gilson, Étienne
Person · 1884-1978

Etienne Gilson was a medieval scholar that was influential in Merton's early conversion to Catholicism while at Columbia University. Especially important to Merton was Gilson's book «The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy». Gilson was educated at the Sorbonne, taught throughout Europe and was later admitted to the Académie Française. He was instrumental in the founding of the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto, where he was at the time of his correspondence with Merton. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 30.)

Giering, Tom
Person

Tom Giering was a former student of Berea College in Kentucky who had visited Gethsemani. At the time of writing to Merton, he lived in New York.

Gibson, Jane
Person

Jane Gibson was writing on behalf of «Jubilee» magazine.

Gibney, Robert
Person

Robert Gibney was one of Merton's closest friends from Columbia University. He filed as a conscientious objector for World War II, but was drafted. He married another of Merton's friends after the war, Nancy Flagg, who was a graduate of Smith College in Boston. (Source: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, pp. 178-179.)

Giahieu, Therese
Person

Therese Giahieu writes from Montréal, Quebec, Canada.

Person

Dom Anselmo Giabbani was Prior General of the Camaldolese and writes from Italy. He served as Camaldolese Prior General from 1951-1963. He died in 2004 at the age of 96.

Ghani, Aly Abdel
Person

Aly Abdel Ghani writes from Alexandria, Egypt.

Gertrude Anne, Sr., C.S.C.
Person

Sr. Gertrude Anne was a Sister of the Holy Cross writing from St. Mary's Convent in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Gershwin, Ira
Person · 1896-1983

Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist and brother of composer George Gershwin.

George, Sandra
Person

Sandra George writes as Librarian for the Bruce Publishing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

George, Michael M.
Person

Michael M. George was Program Officer for the Council on Leaders and Specialists (CLS) and writes from Washington, D.C. He was trying to arrange for Dr. Alberto Caturelli, an Argentine philosopher, to meet Merton. Merton agreed but Dr. Caturelli later cancelled due to a heavy schedule.