Sarah Lansdell was an art critic for the Louisville Courier Journal. She wrote an article in November of 1964 concerning the drawings Merton was exhibiting at Spalding College.
Chanterelle Lanza del Vasto was the wife of Joseph Jean Lanza del Vasto, the founder of the Communautés de l'Arche in France.
Joseph Jean Lanza del Vasto was a Christian disciple of Gandhi who founded the Ark communities (Communautés de l'Arche) in France in the 1940's. They were committed to peace, non-violence and living a self-sustaining lifestyle that was not damaging to the environment or exploitative of other people.
Rogelius Lardé was writing on behalf of «The Second Coming» magazine and writes from New York, declining two of Merton's poems.
Fr. Ernest Larkin was a Carmelite priest from Whitefirars Hall in Washington, D.C.
Archbishop (later elevated to Cardinal) Arcadio Larraona was a head of the Sacred Congregation for Religious at the Vatican. He wrote the prologue to the Italian translation of «The Ascent to Truth».
The poet and Catholic convert born Raymond Edward Francis Larsson would write under the pen name Raymond Ellsworth Larsson.
Pasteur Jean Lasserre was a traveling secretary of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and worked with Jean Goss (see the "Goss-Mayr, Hildegard" file). He writes from Lyon, France. In France, IFOR was called the Mouvement International de la Réconciliation (MIR). He was the author of a number of books on a Christian responsibility for peace and non-violence.
Irving Laucks writes from Santa Barbara, California.
James Laughlin and Merton first came to known each other through Merton's former professor at Columbia University, poet Mark Van Doren. Van Doren recommended some of Merton's poems to Laughlin for his publishing house, New Directions. These poems became Merton's first published book, Thirty Poems. Laughlin, having been born into a wealthy steel-producing family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, decided he would rather enter the literary world. He attended Harvard and, during his years there, went to Europe and met Ezra Pound, who encouraged Laughlin to get into publishing. While still a student at Harvard, Laughlin began New Directions in Norfolk, Connecticut, publishing a young generation of modern poets. Through correspondence and visits to Gethsemani, Merton and Laughlin forged an intimate friendship, entrusting Laughlin with some of his most private confidences.
Sr. Mary Laurence writes from Holy Cross Abbey in the United Kingdom.
Lou Lauth, Jr. was Editor of the «Blue Book of Magazine Writers» and worked for the National Research Bureau, Inc., Chicago, Illinois.
Fr. Benedict Lauvant was a Dominican priest writing from Toulouse, France.
Maurice Lavanoux was an architect with Gustave E. Steinback in New York and Maginnis and Walsh in Boston. He founded the Liturgical Arts Society in 1928 and was editor of «Liturgical Arts» from 1931 to 1972.
Hernán Lavín Cerda is a poet who was born in Chile in 1939. Merton first contacts him in 1965, regarding some help he sought in regard to the translation of some poems. Lavín Cerda had to flee Chile after the military coup of 1973 and settled in Mexico City as a professor. He continued to write poetry and published a number of volumes. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 204.)
Justus George Lawler was an editor with Herder and Herder. He lived near Chicago and edited the journal «Continuum». He has since written books on Church history, ethics, and Catholic literature and art.
John Lawrence was Editor of «Frontier», a literary journal from London.
Sr. Marie Lawrence was a Religious Sister of Mercy from Albany, New York.
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.)
Robert Lax was a minimalist poet and Merton's closest friend from his Columbia University days. Bob Lax was born in Olean, New York, into a Jewish family. His family later moved to New York. At Columbia, he met Merton through mutual involvement in the university's humorous magazine, «The Columbia Jester». Lax's spirituality influenced Merton's acceptance of religion and conversion to Catholicism in 1938, Lax having later been influenced by Merton and converting to Catholicism in 1943. The two friends stayed in contact after graduating from Columbia and spent time together with Ed Rice at a cottage in Olean after Merton finished his Masters degree in 1939. Lax attended Merton's ordination to the priesthood in 1949. Lax wrote for and edited such magazines as «Pax» and «Jubilee» and was on staff at «The New Yorker». In 1962, he went into self-imposed exile from the United States and lived much of his life until his later years on the Greek islands of Patmos, Lesvos and Kalymnos. He returned to Olean, New York, in the summer of 2000, where he died in his sleep on September 26. (Sources: «The Road to Joy», p. 142; and The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, p. 249.)
Mario Lazo writes from Norfolk, Connecticut. He was working on a book concerning the instruction of Latin American history in public schools in the United States. He would later quote Merton in his book on Cuba, «A Dagger in the Heart».
Martha Lazure writes on behalf of Raymond H. Prince (see "Prince, Raymond" file) for permission to quote from Merton's May 22, 1965 letter to Dr. Prince for the newsletter of the R. M. Bucke Memorial Society. She writes from Montreal, Quebec.
Dom Louis de Gonzague Le Pennuen was a Trappist monk who became Abbot of Our Lady of Melleray in France from 1949-1958. Melleray is the motherhouse of Gethsemani Abbey, so the abbot of this monastery was important in decisions affecting Merton. Le Pennuen was replaced by Dom Colomban Bissey.
Richard C. Leach was President of Argus Communications in Chicago, Illinois. He asks Merton to write a homily for Easter to be included in a series written and recorded by a number of prominent Christian names from various denominations. His sermon was later published separately as the book He Is Risen.
Fr. John Leary was a Jesuit priest and President of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
Paris Leary writes from New Paltz, New York. The two letters are listed as from Paris Leary and Robert Kelly, editors at Doubleday, but are signed exclusively by Paris Leary.
Thomas W. Leavitt was Director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and asks Merton about displaying some of his art in Santa Barbara.
Dom Jean Leclercq was a Benedictine priest, prolific writer and scholar of the history of monasticism. Born in France, he joined the Abbey of Clervaux in Luxembourg. He first came into contact with Merton concerning the history of the Trappists. Later, during the changes occurring within the Catholic Church before and after the Second Vatican Council, they carry on a crucial dialog on the role and future of monasticism.
Fr. Jouis-B. Leduc was a Dominican priest writing from Kyoto, Japan.
Dom Paulinus Lee was the founder of a Trappist monastery on Lantao Island near Hong Kong. Having been born in Peking, he became a entered the Trappist Monastery of Consolation, Yang Kia Ping, in 1919. In 1941, he elected as Titular Prior at Our Lady of Joy, but had to flee Communist oppression and found a new monastery near Hong Kong in the late 1940's. (Source: website of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Archives, ‹http://archives.catholic.org.hk/memory/P-Lee.htm›; originally appearing in the 1980/08/08 edition of Hong Kong's Catholic Sunday Examiner, ‹http://sundayex.catholic.org.hk/›.)
In 1959, Richard Leeman was working on a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he lived with his wife and two children.
Hellmut Emil Lehmann-Haupt was the author of «Art Under a Dictatorship», describing the policies to censor and control art under the totalitarian regimes. Lehmann-Haupt was born in Germany but lived and was schooled in a number of different countries, including England and Turkey. After his doctoral studies, he spent time as a rare book dealer and later museum curator in Germany before moving to the United States in 1929. He spent a number of years at Columbia University as rare books curator, leaving in 1950 to pursue further research and writing. In the late nineteen forties, he advised the United States military occupation forces in Germany on matters related to art and cultural treasures, which led to the publication of «Art Under a Dictatorship» in the mid-fifties. He published a number of other books concerning rare books and art in both German and English. (Source: "Lehmann-Haupt, Hellmut." Current Biography. 1961. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University W.L. Lyons Brown Library, Louisville, KY. 19 Aug. 2005. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Harding Lemay was Vice President for Trade at Alfred A. Knopf publishers.
"Dom Gregorio Lemercier was Superior of an experimental Benedictine monastery at Cuernavaca in Mexico" at the time of these letters. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 68.)
Lillie Lenihan writes from Palo Alto, California.
George Lensing, Jr. is an English professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has served on the faculty since 1969. After earning his doctorate from Louisiana State in 1966, he spent a couple of years in the Peace Corps in Brazil, teaching at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro. While in Brazil, he sends Merton some poems of Carlos Drummond de Andrade and some of his own poems. Merton includes Lensing's translation of "Morte do Leiteiro", or "Death of the Milkman", in «Monks Pond» IV.
Sr. Thérèse Lentfoehr was a Salvatorian religious sister, who was a poet, author, lecturer and one of the foremost early Merton scholars. She was born and lived most of her life in Wisconsin. She first contacted Merton in 1939 in praise of one of his poems, and she contacted him again in 1948 to discuss Merton's review of Lentfoehr's book of Marian poems, «I Sing of a Maiden». From this time, Merton and Lentfoehr became regular correspondents until Merton's death in 1968. Merton would often send her his manuscripts, and amassed a large early Merton collection, which she donated to Columbia University. In 1967, Lentfoehr came to Gethsemani to visit Merton. (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 187.)
L. Larry Leonard was Editor of «Current Thought on Peace and War» and faculty member of the Department of Political Science at Wisconsin State University.
Denise Levertov was a English-born poet who moved to the United States in 1948 after marrying an American, Mitchell Goodman. Goodman introduced Levertov to Robert Creeley of Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. Creeley's direct style and derivation from the poetry establishment influenced Levertov's writing. Although published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and associated with the Beat writers, Levertov resisted this comparison and criticized much of what the movement stood for. She was an anti-war activist and campaigned against the Vietnam War. Levertov first writes to Merton to ask whether he would send a poem for the War Resisters' League Engagement Calendar in July of 1967. Wendell Berry brought Denise Levertov to meet Merton at his hermitage on December 10, 1967 (which is recounted on that date in his published journals). Besides Levertov's letter, there had been some correspondence from Merton to Levertov ("two brief business notes" according to the 1973 letter by Richard Edelman), which are not extant. (Source: "Levertov, Denise." World Authors. 1991. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 07 Sep. 2005. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1903, Dom Maurizio (born Jacques) Levy-Duplatt was first a member of the Benedictine monastery of Clervaux in Luxembourg before transferring to the Camaldolese hermits in Frascati, Italy at Sacro Eremo Tuscolano in 1946. Merton corresponded with him as he pondered leaving Gethsemani to join the Camaldolese. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 86.)
Francis C. Lewis writes from Saint Charles Seminary in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
John Lewis is a current member of the U.S. Congress and a leader during the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans. He was chairperson of SNCC from 1963-1966.
Fr. Thomas J. Liang was a priest of St. Leo's Church in Oakland, California. He was a refugee priest from China who came to the United States in 1951. He wrote to Merton concerning the Christian Unity Corps, which hosted international students. (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 321.)
Clara Libra writes from Montevideo, Uruguay.
Beatrice Lillie was a Canadian-born, British actress. She achieved fame in Britain after World War I and international stardom after success in the United States in 1924. She was primarily known as a brilliant comedienne, often playing in musical productions. She became Lady Peel after marriage in 1920 to the Honourable Robert Peel of Staffordshire, England. During the time Merton sent her his book, Lillie performed cabarets and benefits while hosting two series on American television. (Source: "Lillie, Beatrice." Biography from Current Biography. 1964. Online. H.W. Wilson Company. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 11 July 2007, ‹http://galenet.galegroup.com›.)
Paulo Alceu Amoroso was a Brazilian scholar, teacher, and writer of over eighty books on a variety of subjects. Among his interests, he wrote about social justice and was an early Latin American influence on Merton. He wrote prefaces and introductions to some of Merton's earlier works in Portuguese, while translating some of his later works. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 164.)
Martin Lings (also using the nom de plume, Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din) was a scholar from England who wrote many books on Sufism, Islam, and the mystical traditions. Inspired by the French Muslim René Guénon, he converted to Islam in the 1940's and spent over a decade in Cairo. After leaving Egypt due to political unrest in 1952, he spent much of his career at the British Library and the British Museum. Lings first writes at the suggestion of Marco Pallis, asking if Merton would review his book, «Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions». (Sources: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 453. / Eaton, Gai. "Obituary - Martin Lings: Islamic scholar concerned with spiritual crisis." The Guardian Unlimited online. 27 May 2005. Bellarmine College Library. Accessed 8 Sept. 2005. ‹http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1493343,00.html›.)
Juan Liscano was a poet, literary critic, essayist and editor of such literary magazines as «Zona Franca». He writes from Caracas, Venezuela.
Claire Livingston was a poet and professional violinist who taught at North Hennepin State Junior College in Osseo, Minnesota. Her husband, Ray (see "Livingston, Ray F." file), was first in contact with Merton and sent him some of Claire's poetry. Merton included a number of her poems, and their eleven year old son Ira's poems, in the fourth edition of «Monks Pond». Livingston was also on the board of editors for the literary magazine «Karamus». (Source: Monks Pond, pp. 348.)
Ray Livingston was chair of the Department of English at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Sr. Pilar Lizárraga was a Sister of the Instituto de Hermanas Esclavas del Corazón de Jesús from Rancagua, Chile, and was planning to do a thesis on Merton at the Colegio de Jesús in Salta, Argentina. Her proposed thesis was to be under the title, "Modern Man and his Search of Solitude in Thomas Merton".