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

Fr. Michael D. Meilach was a Franciscan priest and Assistant Editor of «The Cord», "a spiritual Franciscan review". He writes from St. Bonaventure, New York.

Ernesto Mejía Sánchez was born in Nicaragua and lived his later life as a poet, essayist, literary critic, anthologist, and diplomat in Mexico. He can be placed with the "Generación del 40" and noted alongside other Nicaraguan poets, like Merton's friend Ernesto Cardenal and José Coronel Urtecho.

Carmen de Mello translated some of Merton's poems into Portuguese from "Poesias" by Ernesto Cardenal. The work was entitled «Vinho do silencio (Poesias)», and is an equivalent of «Selected Poems» in Portuguese. Carmen de Mello writes from Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Gianni Menarini was Editor of «Il Tarocco», an Italian magazine of literature and art. He asks Merton for a poem and a statement on the relationship between religion and poetry.

Robert Menchin was working on a project involving career change and asks Merton's input on the subject. While the decision to go to a monastery is somewhat different, Merton describes his vocation to the monastic life and the thoughts he went through as an aspiring writer who may have had to give up that life.

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).

Frederick Merida writes from the Corner Shop and Gallery in Anchorage, Kentucky. He asks if Merton would like to exhibit some of his artwork at his gallery.

Agnes Gertrude Stonehewer Merton, Thomas Merton's Aunt "Kit", was Owen Merton's sister, and she lived in New Zealand. Thomas Merton met her twice: once coming with her mother Gertrude Hannah Merton to Flushing, New York, in 1919; and once visiting him at Gethsemani in 1961. She suffered a tragic death aboard the ferry «Wahine», which sank between New Zealand's largest islands. (Source: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, p. 293).

Beatrice Katherine Merton was Owen Merton's sister and Tom's Aunt "Ka". She was a nurse in Christchurch, New Zealand. She visited Tom Merton once in 1922 in Douglaston, New York. (Source: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, p. 293).

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.)

Owen Merton was Thomas Merton's father. He was born in New Zealand, studied art in Paris, and traveled in Europe, Bermuda, the United States, and northern Africa to make a living as a landscape painter.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. His writings include such classics as The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite. Merton is the author of more than seventy books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism, and writings on peace, justice, and ecumenism.

Vladimir Mertsalov was Director of the Institut zur Erforschung der UdSSRe.V. in Munich, Germany.

Paul Cuthbert Metcalf was a novelist associated with the Black Mountain school of the 1950's. He was the great-grandson of Herbert Melville. Brought up in the northeast, he went to Harvard for college but dropped out. His first attempt at writing after this was a failure. According to Metcalf, "[a]round 1940 or so I spent a summer living and studying (and drinking) with the poet Conrad Aiken." He held a number of small jobs after this until in 1945, he contacted tuberculosis. In his recovery in the mountains of northern Georgia, he read voraciously. Soon after, he wrote his first published book, «Will West». He began his association with Black Mountain College with a connection he had gained earlier in life. Charles Olsen had visited Metcalf's family while doing Melville research when Metcalf was 14. Through Olsen, Metcalf met poet Jonathan Williams of the Jargon Society, who became Metcalf's first publisher. It was through Williams that Metcalf was put in touch with Merton about writing for «Monks Pond». Another of Merton's friends, Guy Davenport, became a fan of Metcalf's work. At the time of writing to Merton, Metcalf was selling real estate in Chester, Massachusetts. He express a desire to Merton to get out of this and pursue writing full time. He was able to do this in the late sixties after receiving the inheritance from the death of his parents. By the end of his life, he had published over 20 books. Merton uses a section of his book «Patagoni» about Pre-Columbian South America. (Source: "Metcalf, Paul" World Authors." 1999. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 16 Dec. 2005. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Dr. R. Meulet was part of a faculty of medicine in radiology in Bordeaux, France.

Catherine Meyer was an editor for «Harper's Magazine» and writes from New York.

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?).

Richard Meyers would later become a significant figure in punk rock under the name Richard Hell.

Mother Michael of Christ the King was a nun of the Carmel of Our Lady of the Mountains in Reno, Nevada.

Michael "of Melrose" writes from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

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

Sr. Mildred was a Benedictine sister of Regina Laudis monastery in Bethlehem, Connecticut.

Donna Mae Miller was the Editor of «Quest», a scholarly publication that was sponsored by two associations of physical therapy on college campuses. Miller writes from the University of Arizona.

Frank Miller was an editorial cartoonist for the «Des Moines Register and Tribune» in Iowa. Inspired by «The Seven Storey Mountain», he was taking instructions as a Catholic. From his recommendation, the editorial page at his newspaper ran quotes from «Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander» with his illustrations, originals of which he sends as thanks to Merton.

Henry Miller was a highly controversial author, and some of his works were censored in the United States until the 1960's. The authors respected each others works despite their vastly different lifestyles. However, Miller, like Merton, had spent years in New York and in France and was an artist as well as author. Merton expresses a desire to read Miller's «Tropics» novels, but doubts they would get past censors at the monastery.

Lawrence K. Miller was Editor of «The Berkshire Eagle» of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Miller's wife was involved in the restoration of the Shaker village of Hancock, Massachusetts. Lawrence Miller is interested in reprinting one of Merton's articles on the Shakers in his newspaper.

William J. Miller wrote a plan for the construction of a Cistercian monastery as an undergraduate thesis in architecture at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.

William Robert Miller was Managing Editor of «Fellowship» of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and later took the same role at the «United Church Herald» of the United Church of Christ. It is in this capacity in 1962 in which he writes to Merton to commend him for an article in «Jubilee». By 1964, he writes to Merton as Associate Editor of the Religious Department at Holt, Rinehart and Winston in New York. Miller wrote a number of books about peacemaking, Christian nonviolence, and other related themes.

John Mills was a painter, print-maker, and essayist of art history. He knew Merton's friend in publishing, James Laughlin, and sends Merton an autobiographical poem (not extant with letter).

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.)

Samra Hicks (later Mims) was, at the time of Merton's message to her, assistant to Sr. Anna Louise, Dean of Students of Catherine Spalding College in Louisville, Kentucky.

Dom Peter Minard was a French Benedictine monk and founder of the Holy Mother of God Monastery in Oxford, North Carolina, a contemplative Benedictine foundation that later was turned over to the Trappists.

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

Dorothy Mingolello writes from Fairfield, Connecticut. She asks Merton's assistance in writing a letter to the director of Boys Town, Msr. Nicholas H. Wegner.

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

Elsie Mitchell is a Buddhist scholar, originally from Boston, who has published books on Zen Buddhism and art. She was founder of the Ahimsa Foundation, which supports humane societies and organizations for the protection of wildlife; and she was co-founder of the Cambridge Buddhist Association. Dom Aelred Graham spent the summer of 1968 with Elsie and her husband John Mitchell. Elsie Mitchell writes from Cataumet, Massachusetts.

Gwynedd Monroe was Associate Secretary of the Department of Christian Social Relations of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church in New York.

Dale Moody was, at the time of writing to Merton, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Roger Moody writes on behalf of the West Campaigners against Factory Farming / West of England Campaign against Factory Farming (WECAFF). He writes from Edinburgh, Scotland.

Stephen Mooney was a poet and professor at the University of Tennessee, Martin. He was founder and editor of the «Tennessee Poetry Journal».

Fr. Augustine Moore was a Trappist monk from Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers, Georgia. At the time of this correspondence, he was the American Definitor in Rome. He later succeeded Robert McGann as abbot of Holy Spirit Abbey. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 56.)

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

Monsignor J. P. Moore writes from the Catholic Chapel at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. He was the priest who had instructed and baptized Merton at Corpus Christi Church in New York. He visited Gethsemani in November of 1964. Merton notes in his journals that, at the time, Moore had been serving as chaplain at the military academy at West Point for twenty-five years.

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

Dom Thomas Verner Moore was the founder of a Carthusian charterhouse, the first in the Americas, at Sky Farm (later named the Charterhouse of the Transfiguration) in southern Vermont. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1877. He joined the Paulists in 1896. In 1903, he was granted the first doctorate in psychology in the District of Columbia from Catholic University of America. He was sent to study under one of the pioneers of psychology, Wilhelm Wundt, in Germany, but returned to the United States due to health problems. During the First World War, he changed orders from the Paulists to the English Benedictines at Downside Abbey. He went on to study medicine and earned an M.D. from John Hopkins in 1915. He then opened a children's clinic and taught clinical medical classes at Catholic University, later heading the department. After he retired in 1947, at the age of 70, he became a Carthusian at the Cartuja de Miraflores, in Burgos, Spain. In 1950, he returned to the United States under orders to begin the Sky Farm foundation. (Sources: ["Carthusian Solitude." Time magazine (11 Dec. 1950). Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 5 May 2008. «http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,814099-2,00.html»]; and [Stafford, John W. "Thomas Verner Moore: 1877-1969." American Journal of Psychology: Vol. 83, No. 2 (June, 1970), pp. 286-288. JSTOR. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 5 May 2008. ‹http://www.jstor.org/stable/1421336›].)

Geoffrey Moorhouse was a journalist on the editorial staff of «The Guardian» in London, England.

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

María Angustias Moreno Olmedo writes from Granada, Spain. She has published books on the genealogy and heraldry of Granada and a catalog of the archives of the Alhambra.

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