John W. Kneller was Provost of Oberlin College in Ohio.
Laura Knight was a high school junior at Thomas Jefferson High School in Louisville, Kentucky. She asks for Merton's help in writing a term paper on him.
Perry Knowlton was an editor and later Vice President of Curtis Brown publishers.
Brs. Harold Kohl, Brian Palmer and Erasmo Leiva were Trappists novices from the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia.
Fr. Bede Kok was a Brazilian Trappist monk.
Janina Kolendo was Chief Editor of «Pax» from the Instytut Wydawncizy of Poland, a Catholic publishing house.
Franz Cardinal König was Archbishop of Vienna, Austria.
Andrew Kormos writes from Santa Ana, California.
Sr. Mary Norbert Körte was a Dominican from San Francisco, California.
Frank Kowalski was a United States Representative for Connecticut. He writes from his office in Washington, D.C. Kowalski retired from the military as a colonel in 1958 and had served under Dwight Eisenhower in World War II. He was a Democrat and voted pro-labor and against improper utilization of the armed forces. In 1962, inspired by "Original Child Bomb", he asks Merton to write a peace prayer to be read in Congress. Later, Kowalski would serve on the Subversive Activities Control Board. (Source: "Kowalski, Frank." «New York Times» obituary. 1974. Online. Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 2005/05/24. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Bishop Rembert Casimir Kowalski was an American-born Franciscan who was later ordained a bishop of Wuchang, China.
Marcelle Kraemer-Bach and Pierre Kraemer-Raine were from the French law firm representing the Abbey of Gethsemani while Marie Tadié, a translator and agent for some of Merton's works in romance languages, was threatening a law suit concerning her role as publishing agent. Tadié decided not to file the law suit.
Robert J. Kreyche wrote about philosophy and mysticism. He attempts to contact Merton after having spent some time with John Howard Griffin. He writes from Shawnee Mission, Kansas.
Gilda Kuhlman was Production Editor for New Directions and writes from Norfolk, Connecticut.
Br. Benedict Kunz was a Trappist monk from Gethsemani Abbey.
Giorgio La Pira was an Italian politician who was twice mayor of Florence and served as deputy of the Christian Democrats. He was serious about his Catholic faith and was in the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He brought his values to his political life and campaigned for peace and against atomic weapons. He has a cause for sainthood and was declared "venerable" by Pope Francis in 2018.
Pedro Juan Labarthe was a poet originally from Latin American and a friend of Ernesto Cardenal and Cesar Vallejo. He writes from Hudson, Illinois.
Janet Labuda was a 15-year-old student from St. Joseph's High School in Brooklyn, New York. She asks Merton's help in filling in some biographical details of his life for a term paper she is writing on him.
Ripu Daman Lama was studying engineering in Cracow, Poland, but was originally from India. He developed an interest in Christianity after becoming acquainted with the Catholic Intellectuals Club and soon was introduced to Merton's writings.
Fr. Matthew Lamb was a Trappist monk of Holy Spirit Monastery in Conyers, Georgia. He was writing from Monte Cistello in Rome. He was asking Merton to send a copy of «Seeds of Destruction» to his younger brother, who was a conscientious objector.
Mr. Lamb seems to have been a curator with the Sterling Galleries in Palo Alto, California, where Merton hoped to exhibit some of his drawings.
Fr. Lambert was a Carmelite priest at St. Joseph's Pontifical Seminary-Carmelgiri in Alwaye, India.
Fr. Gregory Lambing (at that time Br. Gregory) was a monk of Gethsemani Abbey.
Aloys Landes was Director of Development for Catherine Spalding College in Louisville, Kentucky.
Gerald Landry was living in Glen Garden, New Jersey, at the time of Merton's letter to him.
Lionel Landry was Director of the Asia Society, a group found in 1956 to promote intercultural dialog between Asia and the United States. Landry writes from New York.
Kathleen Landy was writing on behalf of the Bureau of Information of the United States Catholic Conference in Washington, D.C.
Alfred H. Lane was Head of the Gift and Exchange office of Columbia University in New York.
Warren Lang was a doctoral student in the English Department at Indiana University at this time. He sent some poems to Merton, some of which appeared in «Monks Pond».
Erik Langkjaer was an editor in the Religious Literature department for Charles Scribner's Sons publishers.