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Mery-Lú Sananes was a student in the Facultad de Humanidades y Educación at the Universidad Central in Caracas, Venezuela, as were the others that signed his initial letter to Merton: Jaime López-Sanz, Irene Flores, and Ramón Montiel. They write to inform Merton that LAM, a student literary group, translated his poem "Original Child Bomb" into Spanish (as "Niña Bomba Original"). Sananes and López-Sanz did the translation.

Ira Sandperl was a friend and mentor of Joan Baez and came with her to visit Merton in December of 1966. Sandperl was an authority on Gandhi and co-founded a peace institute with Joan Baez.

Miguel de Sanmiguel was chief editor of Ediciones Guadarrama publishers in Madrid, Spain.

Ruth Fuller Sasaki was a Zen practitioner and author on Zen from Kyoto, Japan. She began Zen practice in 1941 at the Nanzen-ji Monastery in Kyoto under Nanshinken Roshi and later Goto Zuigan Roshi (with some interim interruptions causing her to move to New York to study under Sokei-an Roshi). She writes to express interest in Merton's «Mystics and Zen Masters» and to introduce Merton to her books «The Zen Koan» and «Zen Dust». She questions Merton on some statements he makes about "do-it-yourself" Zen and the question of practicing Zen without the guidance of a Zen master.

George L. Saunders, Jr. was co-director of the Law Enforcement Task Force of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence in Washington, D.C.

Sr. Anne Saword was a Trappistine nun from Chimay, Belgium.

John Nevin Sayre was a pacifist and leader in the Peace Movement of the 20th century. He served in leadership positions in the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and the United States national office of FOR. He writes from Nyack, New York.

Br. Aloysius Scanlan was a Cistercian monk writing from Caldey Abbey in the south of Wales.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was a scholar on mystical aspects of Judaism. He was born in Poland in 1924 and grew up in Vienna. Later, in France, he was sent to a prison camp by the Vichy government. He was able to escape to the United States in 1941. He studies at the Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn and was ordained a rabbi in 1947. He received a Master of Arts in psychology from Boston University in 1953. He taught religion at University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, from 1956-1957, and was later Chair of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. He completed a doctorate at the University of Cincinnati in 1968. While in Cincinnati, he made a number of visits to see Merton.

Phillip Scharper seems to have worked with Frank Sheed at the publisher Sheed and Ward.

William J. Schickel was the architect and liturgical consultant for the renovation of Gethsemani Abbey's church and cloister. Schickel was living in Loveland, Ohio, at the time of this correspondence.

The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph E. Schieder was Director of the Youth Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. He writes from Washington, D.C.

Fr. Mario Schierano writes to Merton from the Sacra Paenitentiaria Apostolica, Officium de Indulgentiis, in Italy. It seems to be granting Merton some sort of indulgence. Schierano was a priest of Turin, Italy, who in 1971 became the archbishop of Italy's military.

William G. Schlecht writes from the Washington Friends of Buddhism in Washington, D.C.

Bruno P. Schlesinger was a professor at St. Mary's College in Indiana. Born in Austria, Schlesinger was a Jewish convert to Catholicism who came to Indiana in the late 1930's and earned a doctorate from Notre Dame. He began at Saint Mary's in 1945. Schlesinger helped found the Christian Culture Program, based on concepts by historian Christopher Dawson, to study unifying principles in the liberal arts through the lens of Christian humanism and the development of Western culture through Christianity's historical roots. Saint Mary's is a women's college, and Merton writes that "women are perhaps capable of salvaging something of humanity in our world today. Certainly they have a better chance of grasping and understanding and preserving a sense of Christian culture" (Merton, Thomas. Letter to Bruno Schlesinger. December, 13, 1961.) An informational booklet for the program quoted Merton's comments. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 541.)

Br. Richard Schmidlen was a Trappist monk of Gethsemani Abbey.

Mary Ann Schmidt was a typist for Merton living in Washington, D.C.

Fr. Hilarion Schmock was a Trappist priest from Gethsemani Abbey.

The Rev. Dr. Howard Schomer was a Congregationalist minister and President of Chicago Theological Seminary. He was a Delegated Observer of the Second Vatican Council, representing the International Congregational Council. He was an anti-war activist and took part in some of the Civil Rights Movement's demonstrations with Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is unclear from the correspondence, but it seems Emily Schossberger may have worked for the publishing firm of New Directions.

Webster Schott was Editorial Director of Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri.

August Schou was President of the Nobel Prize Committee at the time of this correspondence.

Fr. Luke Schreffer was an Augustinian priest from St. Augustine Monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Mother M. L. Schroen was a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Manhattanville and writes from the General Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

James Schulte was a senior at Saint Louis University at the time of correspondence with Merton. He writes from St. Louis, Missouri.

Clarence W. Schultz worked at the News Publishing Company of Tell City, Indiana.

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.

Donna Scolastica seems to have been a Camaldolese abbess.

David H. Scott was Religious Book Editor of the Trade Book Department of McGraw-Hill Book Company. He writes from New York.

The Rev. John Whitman Sears was a psychologist and Universalist minister. He was born in Lawrence, Kansas, but moved with his family to California. He returned to the University of Kansas for college and was afterward ordained a minister. His ministry led him to North Carolina and back to Kansas where he left the ministry for social work. During the Great Depression, he moved with his family to San Carlos, California, studying psychology. He later moved to San Mateo where he joined his brother in a business of counseling and psychology, and from there he writes to Merton. (Source: "In Memoriam: Unitarian Universalist Ministers 2000-2001." Website of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Accessed 21 April 2006. ‹http://www.uua.org/programs/ministry/news/obituaries2001.html›.)

Fr. Sebastian was the editor of «Elias» magazine. He writes from Stella Maris Monastery in Haifa, Israel.

Ernesto Seguny writes on behalf of the Conferencia Episcopal Argentina in Buenos Aires.

Sr. Helen Jean Seidel was the Mistress of Novices for the Sisters of Loretto at their motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky, at the time of writing.

Fr. Léon Seiller writes from France.

Ron Seitz is a poet, author and essayist and a former professor of creative writing at University of Louisville and Bellarmine University. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but traveled extensively as a young man and took a variety of different jobs before returning to Louisville.

David R. Semon was a 27-year-old college sophomore at Borromeo Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio.

Sr. Seraphim of the Holy Spirit was a Carmelite nun and prioress of the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Joseph in Louisville, Kentucky.

Fr. Seraphim was a Trappist monk from Tilburg Abbey in the Netherlands.

Fr. Brocard Sewell (baptized Michael Sewell - Brocard being his religious name) was a Carmelite friar and editor of «The Aylesford Review» at his home at Aylesford Priory in Kent, England. Though born into an Anglican family, his father was involved in the Oxford Movement and Sewell became a Catholic while still a youth. Throughout his life, he maintained an interest in Anglican-Catholic dialogue. While a young man, he became involved with G. K. Chesterton's distributist movement and «G. K.'s Weekly». Similar to Merton and the Franciscans, Sewell was rejected from the Dominicans. Also like Merton, he attempted joining a contemplative order. His first attempt to enter the Carmelites failed in 1937. Though he was a pacifist, or essentially so, he served as a map specialist during the Second World War for the British. In 1952, he applied for entry with the Carmelites at Aylesford and was, this time, allowed to join. It is from Aylesford that Sewell writes Merton. Merton contributed to «The Aylesford Review». Sewell would later live in various other Carmelite monasteries. (Source: McGreal, Wilfred. "Obituary of Fr. Brocard Sewell, 0.Carm." Website of the British Province of Carmelites. Accessed 2006 April 24. ‹http://www.carmelite.org/obit/bs_obituary.html›.)

Fr. Dismas Sexton was a Franciscan writing first from the novitiate and later from Saint Joseph Seminary in Teutopolis, Illinois.

H. J. Shandrewsmith writes from Pittsburgh. He sends poems to Merton by Oscar Gibson, his brother-in-law.

Robert D. Sharp served in a number of missions in the military in the Second World War. He sends his mission card to Merton, detailing 35 missions from 1944-1945. He read Merton's letter in the April 2, 1965 issue of «Commonweal» and said that he "wept over the part I played in that war."

Clifford Shaw was a composer living in Louisville, Kentucky. He discussed setting some of Thomas Merton's poems to music.

In 1962, Dan Shay was a 34-year-old carpenter's apprentice, a member of a number of Catholic organizations, and a conscientious objector from St. Louis, Missouri.

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›.)

Wilfred Sheed was Book Review Editor for «The Commonweal» and writes from New York. He was the son of Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward (Sheed and Ward publishers). He developed a style of prose influenced by his trans-Atlantic upbringing, born in London and spending much time in New York. After work at such Catholic publications as «The Commonweal» and «Jubilee», he became an essayist, novelist and short story writer. (Source: "Sheed, Wilfrid" 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.

Jane M. Sheets writes from Princeton, New Jersey and later from Haverford, Pennsylvania. She did a study of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa and thanks Merton for his translations and commentary on Pessoa.

Lawrence Joseph Cardinal Shehan was Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland.

Maynard Shelly was editor of «The Mennonite», the weekly publication of the General Conference Mennonite Church. He published Merton's poem, "Chant to Be Used in Processions around a Site with Furnaces," in the November 21, 1961 issue of «The Mennonite». Maynard visited Merton at Gethsemani in August of 1962 and wrote an editorial in «The Mennonite» about his visit.

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.

Richard E. Sherrell was Managing Editor of «The Christian Scholar», a publication of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.

Francis Shih-hao Shieh was an assistant professor at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Fr. James Shine was from a monastery (Camaldolese?) at New Boston, New Hampshire.

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.

Paul K. T. Sih was an author of histories of China and translator of Chinese classics. Sih was born near Shanghai, China. Nominally a Buddhist from a family that did not stress religion, he was exposed to Christianity through earning a doctorate in Rome, Italy, and though a Chinese government position in Rome. Through this job, he met Merton's friend John C. H. Wu, who was Chinese ambassador to the Vatican. Wu, having bridged connections between Christianity and Taoism, was a factor in Sih's conversion to Catholicism. In 1959, Sih became a professor of history and Director of the Center for Asian Studies at St. John's University in New York. It was here he began his correspondence with Merton. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 548-549.)

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.

Clara Silva was a poet who sends Merton an incribed copy of her book.

Ludovico Silva was a poet, philosopher, essayist, literary critic, and professor at the Universidad Central in Caracas, Venezuela. He authored over thirty books and was one of the founders of the magazine «Papeles». In the 1970's and 1980's, his writing turned to ideas of alienation, socialism, and Marxism. It was Silva who asked Merton about a typical day at the hermitage which prompted Merton to write one of his most famous pieces, "Day of a Stranger". Merton also wrote a prologue for Silva's poem and book, «Boom!!!». (Source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 223.)

Sr. Emmanuel de Souza e Silva was a Brazilian nun of the monastery of the Virgin Mary in Petropolis (whose order joined with the Benedictines during their correspondence) and long-time translator of Merton's works into Portuguese. Although born in Brazil, she had spent some of her academic studies in England and France. She was also a social worker in her home of Rio de Janeiro before religious life. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 181.)

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.

John N. Sims was a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and chairman of the Faculty Retreat Committee.

Andrew Sinclair was from Lorrimer Publishing Limited in London, England.

Elbert R. (Bert) Sisson writes from Bryans Road, Maryland. After retiring from active duty in the army in 1945, he worked for the federal government until 1972. He was a political activist and liberal democrat, once running for public office in 1974, but withdrawing when his wife took ill. He was opposed to the Vietnam War and wrote a book under the pen name Rory McCormick, entitled «Americans against Man» (New York and Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1970). (Source: Sisson, Maura A. Obituary of Elbert Sisson. Genealogical website. Accessed 3 May 2006. ‹http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dasisson/richard/aqwg203.htm›.)

The Sisters of Loretto are a Catholic community of religious sisters based in Nerinx, Kentucky, near to the Abbey of Gethsemani. Thomas Merton had many close contacts among the sisters including Sr. Mary Luke Tobin.

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.

Fr. Jean-François Six was a priest from Paris, France.

Br. John Lyons was a Salvatorian writing first from Mount St. Paul College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and later from New Holstein, Wisconsin.

Fr. Baldwin Skeehan took over from Thomas Merton as novice master at Gethsemani Abbey after Merton retired to his hermitage in 1965. He served as novice master until 1968 and was later Prior of Gethsemani. He would later leave monastic life.

Edward Skillin was the long-time editor of the Catholic magazine, «The Commonweal», and wrote to Merton from New York. In 1967, he shifted from sole editor to publisher, a position he held until his retirement in 1998.

Irene Skolnick was Managing Editor of «The Hudson Review» in New York at the time of correspondence with Merton.

John H. Slate was a classmate of Merton's at Columbia University. He was a lawyer with the firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom in New York, and specialized in aviation law. In addition, he contributed humorous pieces to «Fortune», «The Atlantic Monthly», and «The Saturday Evening Post». Merton had heard reports about Slate from other Columbia alumni friends, but had not been in direct contact for many years. Slate died of a heart attack later in that same year they were in contact concerning the literary estate.