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Mrs. A. Van Horn writes from Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

The Rev. Dale L. Van Meter writes from Medfield, Massachusetts. He was working on a Masters degree in Social Work from Boston College at the time of writing to Merton.

Dom Hubert Van Zeller was a Benedictine monk of Downside Abbey in England and scholar on the monastic life. He authored a number of books and articles on the contemplative life, the scriptures and monasticism.

Fr. Lambert Vandermeulen was a monk of St. Benedictus-Abdij, a Cistercian monastery in Achel, Belgium.

Fr. Joseph Vann was a Franciscan friar and one of the founding fathers of St. Bernardine of Siena College in Loudonville, New York, an extension of St. Bonaventure College.

Maria de Varela was a professor at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Argentina.

Msgr. Béla Varga was Chairman of the Amnesty for Political Prisoners in Hungary Action Committee in New York. He was a Papal Prelate and former President of the Hungarian Parliament from 1946-1947.

James G. Vargiu writes while on vacation in Italy, but permanently resided in Palo Alto, California.

Fr. Venard was a Carmelite priest from a monastery in Austria.

Sr. M. Verenice was a Sister of St. Joseph from Nazareth, Michigan.

Fr. Roman J. Verostko was Staff Editor for Art for «The New Catholic Encyclopedia» and writes from Washington, D.C.

Elisabeth Vester was Secretary of Der Christ in der Welt and writes from Vienna, Austria.

Fr. P.M. Vidal, was a priest and member of the Third Order of Dominicans of the Couvent des Dominicaines de Béthanie at Saint-Morillon, Gironde, France.

Madeleine Viénot writes from Paris, France.

Fr. Joachim Viens was a Trappist monk of St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.

Alejandro Vignati was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the time of writing to Merton, he was in Lima, Peru. He was a poet, critic and co-authored a Peruvian screenplay. He wrote a study on author Henry Miller as well.

Germaine Vignolle writes from Marseille, France.

Virginia Vigrass was a volunteer teacher at the Quakers' Friends Girls School in Ramallah, Jordan (currently in the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories). She was originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and had been in Ramallah for a year.

Marjorie Villiers was one of the founders, in 1946, of the Harvill Press with Manya Harari. She writes from London, England.

Sr. Joana Villon-Bras writes from the Abadia de Nossa Senhora das Graças in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Fr. Vincent Mary was a Passionist priest. He writes from St. Bernard's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, where he was going to conduct a retreat for the nuns.

Fr. Vincent was a Trappist monk writing from Notre Dame de Sept-Fons Abbey in France.

Sr. Vera Marie of Christ the High Priest (Sr. Vera Lea Virant) was a Carmelite nun from a monastery in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Cintio Vitier is a poet, anthologist and literary critic from Havana, Cuba. His early poetry was influenced by the Spanish Nobel laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez. In the late 1950's and 1960's, the Cuban Revolution changed his style. Vitier later credited Merton with giving him spiritual and political guidance during the 1960's. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 235.)

Fr. Urban Voll was a Dominican priest and an editor for the «Catholic Theological Encyclopedia». He writes from Washington, D.C.

Vladimír Vyhlídka was was from Czechoslovakia. He studied for the priesthood in Rome, returned to Czechoslovakia, and later was made a monsignor. He died in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2011.

Fr. Chrysogonus Waddell is a Trappist monk of Gethsemani Abbey who was studying in Rome at the time of this correspondence.

James O. Wade was an editor for the MacMillan Company in New York.

Dom Eusebius Wagner was Abbot of New Clairvaux Abbey in Vina, California.

C. Anthony has served as president and a corporate director of a number of companies after beginning a career in advertising. He is also a board member of many charities. Having studied journalism in college, he continues to writes books, articles and recurring columns.

Countess Waldstein writes from Munich, West Germany.

Fr. V. Walgrave was a Dominican priest from Ghent, Belgium. He often traveled to the United States to preach at retreats and was at the Dominican Motherhouse of St. Mary of the Springs in Columbus, Ohio, at the time of writing to Merton.

Gerald Walker writes from New York.

Susan E. Walker was secretary to Dr. J. Edward Dirks of Yale University Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut.

Dom Aelred Wall was the founder of Christ in the Desert Monastery in Abiquiu, New Mexico, and was its first superior.

Martha J. van de Walle writes from Belgium.

Fr. Benedict Wallis was a Carthusian monk of Le Grande Chartreuse in France.

Tony Walsh was the founder of the Benedict Labre House in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was born in Paris, France, to Irish parents and was raise in England and Scotland. After some military service in France during and after World War I, he came to Canada and worked with Native American schools. He worked with the Legion War Services from 1942-1946. After some time of travel and study, he returned to found the Labre House. The members of the house serve the needs of the urban poor. Many early members had experience in the Catholic Worker Movement, and like that group, published a newspaper. The Labre House called theirs «Unity». In 1990, Walsh received Canada's highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada. (Source: "The Teacher: Anthony Walsh." 2004. Website of the Osoyoos Museum. Accessed at the Bellarmine University Library 28 Aug. 2006. ‹http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Inkameep/english/teacher/›.)

Daniel Walsh was a life-long educator and one of the most influential professors on Merton's life. After earning a doctorate at University of Toronto alongside Étienne Gilson, Walsh became professor at Manhattanville College in New York from 1934-1960. In addition, he was a visiting professor of philosophy at Columbia from 1936-1955, and afterward serving as an adjunct professor at Columbia. In 1939, Merton had Walsh for a course on St. Thomas Aquinas. At the bar of the Biltmore Hotel in New York in 1939, Merton told Walsh of his interest in religious life. After mentioning difference orders, including that he was impressed by the Trappists at Gethsemani Abbey, Walsh recommended the Franciscans. Merton would later be rejected by the Franciscans, but remember Walsh's praise of the Trappists. Later, Walsh would join Merton at Gethsemani Abbey in 1960 as a advisor and new professor for the abbey's philosophy program. He soon became a visiting professor at Bellarmine College in Louisville. Archbishop John Floersh offered to ordain the sixty-year-old Walsh a priest in 1967. A surprised but delighted Walsh was ordained at St. Thomas Seminary, a ceremony attended by Merton. Walsh died in 1975 and is buried near the monastic enclosure at Gethsemani Abbey. (Source: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, pp. 515-516.)

Richard J. Walsh was Director of Television for the National Council of Catholic Men in New York.

Fr. Walter was a Dominican priest from Australia.

Arthur Wang writes from New York and was a publisher from Hill and Wang.

Sr. Mary Albert Ward (later going by Sr. Marilyn Ward), is a Religious Sister of Mercy, who was writing from St. Joseph's Convent in Penfield, New York, at the time of correspondence with Merton.

Pamela Ward was secretary to James O. Wade, an editor at the Macmillan Company in New York.

Fr. Gregory Waring was a Cistercian monk writing from Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Charnwood Forest, near Coalville, Leicestershire, England.

Sr. Anita (Ann) Wasserman was a nun from the Carmelite Convent of Cleveland, Ohio. She had written to Merton before entering the Carmelites in 1952. She died in April of 2015 at 82. Her brother, Edmund, had entered Gethsemani Abbey and was a good friend of Merton's. His name in religion was Fr. John of the Cross, whom Merton referred to by the nicknames "Cap" or "Cappy". The Wasserman family met with Merton when coming to Gethsemani, "adopting" him into the family. (Source: «Witness to Freedom», p. 177.)

Edmund Wasserman, nicknamed "Cap" or "Cappy" by Merton, was a former Gethsemani monk known as Fr. John of the Cross. He entered the monastery in 1948 and studied under Merton. He was a close friend of Merton, but left in late 1962. Merton became close to Wasserman's family, becoming like an adopted son to his parents. Merton wrote extensively to Wasserman's sister, Ann, who joined the Carmelites in Cleveland, taking the name of Sr. Anita of Jesus. (Source: "John of the Cross Wasserman." «International Thomas Merton Society Newsletter», Vol. 16, No. 1. [Louisville, KY: International Thomas Merton Society, 2009], p. 3.)

Edmund Wasserman (Senior) was married to Margaret (Peg) Wasserman. They were the parents of Merton's friends, Sr. Anita (Ann) and Edmund (Junior, whom Merton called "Cappy" or "Cap"). Edmund (Junior) was at Gethsemani Abbey with Merton for many years before leaving in 1963 and was known there as Fr. John of the Cross. Edmund Wasserman (Senior) died in 1962.

Margaret (Peg) Wasserman was married to Edmund Wasserman (Senior). They were the parents of Merton's friends, Sr. Anita (Ann) and Edmund (Junior, whom Merton called "Cappy" or "Cap"). Edmund (Junior) was at Gethsemani Abbey with Merton for many years before leaving in 1963 and was known there as Fr. John of the Cross.

E. I. Watkin was an Oxford-educated scholar, philosopher, prolific writer, linguist and translator who was proficient in French, Italian, Spanish and German. He was born a Protestant, moved to the Anglo-Catholics in his teenage years, and became Roman Catholic in 1908. He was concerned about the rise of secularism, but believed in taking Catholicism beyond its surface teachings to profound philosophical and mystical ends. He sometimes ran into trouble with church authority in his approach.

Will Watkins writes from San Francisco, California.

Robert B. Watson wrote to Merton from New York. He was a doctor who had spent nearly ten years in Brazil and responds to Merton's writings in the «Sewanee Review» on Brazilian poetry.

Fr. Youree Watson writes from the Jesuit House of Studies in Mobile, Alabama.

Fr. Joseph Raymond Watt was a former monk of Gethsemani Abbey under the religious name of Fr. Marion during the 1950's. At some point he left the monastery for parish life and spent many years in the Monterey Diocese in California. After he died, he was cremated and his ashes were returned to Gethsemani Abbey. (Source: "The Rev. Joseph Watt". Obituaries section of the Santa Cruz Sentinal Online. 16 Aug. 2002. Accessed 31 Aug. 2006 at the Bellarmine University Library. ‹http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2002/August/16/obit/obit.htm›.)

Peter Watts was a British sculptor from Bath, England, who sculpted many of the statues at Gethsemani Abbey.

Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), famous British author and satirist, was a convert to Catholicism in 1930 and served as a mentor to Merton in his early career as a writer.

Dorothy Wayman was a journalist and author. Born in California, she came east for her higher education, graduating from the Boston School of Social Work in 1914. After travel to Japan, which became the subject of a book under the pseudonym Theodate Geoffrey, she returned to the Boston area. While corresponding with Merton she was a staff reporter for the «Boston Globe». (Source: "The American Catholic Who's Who." Volume 14: 1960-61. Grosse Pointe, MI: Walter Romig Publisher; p. 471.)

Rembert Weakland was a Benedictine monk and former Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation, starting his first term in 1967, the year before meeting Merton in Thailand. He served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 1977-2002.

Fr. Benet Weatherhead was a Dominican priest from Blackfriars in Cambridge, England. He briefly served as editor of «Blackfriars».

Portia Webster was a postulant for Redwoods Monastery in California when Merton met her during his travels on the west coast. At the time, she was working at a JC Penney store in San Francisco. She was one of the people to help show him around San Francisco in his last days before leaving for Asia. She now lives as a lay hermit artist at a monastery in Arizona.

Ron Webster writes from Spokane, Washington.

Fr. Mark Weidner was the Novice Master of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Trappist abbey in Lafayette, Oregon.

Born in Austria in the end of the 19th Century, Vally Weigl was a composer, music therapist and music instructor. She and her husband, the composer Karl Weigl, moved to New York in 1938 because of the Nazi rise to power and their Jewish ancestry. She taught at the Institute for Avocational Music and the American Theater Wing and continued composing. She received a Master's degree in 1955 from Columbia University and pursued her interests in music therapy, writing and lecturing on the subject and teaching at New York Medical College and the New School. She writes to Merton in 1964 in her new role as chairperson of the Arts for World Unity Committee of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Their theme was World Unity through the Arts. (Source: "Weigl, Vally." Biography from the New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. 1995. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University W.L. Lyons Brown Library, Louisville, KY. 5 Sep. 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Gertrude S. Weiner writes from the Foreign Rights Department of Curtis Brown in New York.

Joel Weishaus is a poet and sculptor, who is currently resident writer at the Museu do Essencial e do Além Disso, Bibliothecadas das Marauilhas in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. He has published some of his poetry and haikus, and he wrote the introduction to «Woods, Shore Desert», Merton's journal of his trip to New Mexico, California and Alaska.

Walter A. Weisskopf was Professor Emeritus of Economics at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. He was the author of «The Psychology of Economics» (1955) and «Alienation and Economics» (1971).

Abbie Jane Wells writes from Juneau, Alaska. She would later write the book, «The Gospel According to Abbie Jane Wells: A Sampler».

Joel Wells was editor of «The Critic», published by the Thomas More Association of Chicago, Illinois. He has gone on to write many books concerning Catholicism, humor and social commentary.

Raphael Jehudah Zwi Werblowsky is a scholar of comparative religion. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1924. He taught at Manchester and Leeds Universities in England before going to Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1962.

Mrs. Robert J. Werner writes from Washington, D.C.

Jan W. Weryho was a long-time cataloguer for the library of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Frances "Tootie" Wesselmann was married to Robert G. Wesselmann.

Robert Wesselmann was a priest and Monsignor of Belleville, Illinois, who left the active ministry in 1966 to marry. That year, Wesselmann forwarded to Merton his proposal for "An Experimental Ordinariate" which would consist of priest allowed to marry and continue their ministry, but to abide by certain stipulations, including earning the income to support himself and a family, etc. He moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1967. He was a member of the Canon Law Society of America, serving in leadership positions from 1964-1968.

The Rev. Fr. Paul Wessinger was an Anglican priest of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Victor Weybright writes on behalf of the New American Library of World Literature.

Robert F. Whisler writes from Greenbelt, Maryland.

Br. Thomas Whitaker was a Benedictine monk of St. Maur's Priory in South Union, Kentucky. The monastery was unique in the United States as having been established as a racially integrated community when it was founded in 1947 on the grounds of a Shaker village.

Jo Anne White was secretary to John Ciardi, poetry editor of the «Saturday Review». She writes from New York.

Dom James R. (Samson) Wicksteed was editor of «Cistercian Studies» and writes from the Abbey, Caldey Island, in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Fred D. Wieck was an editor from Harper and Row in New York.