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At the time of writing to Merton, Sr. Mary James Power, SSND, was principal and a teacher at Girls Catholic High School in Malden, Massachusetts. She also served as secondary schools supervisor for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, New England Province. She wrote two books, «Poets at Prayer» (1938) and «In the Name of the Bee: The significance of Emily Dickinson» (1943), as well as making important contributions to scholarly publications. (Biographical information courtesy of research conducted by John Collins.)

J. F. Powers (who signs Jim Powers in his letters to Merton) was an novelist and author of short stories. He was from St. Cloud, Minnesota. The Midwest and Catholicism are a common backdrop for his stories, often telling tales of priests caught between idealism and the realities of parish life. From the 1950's to the mid-1970's, he and his family lived part time in Wicklow, Ireland. (Source: "Powers, J. F." Obituary from Current Biography. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine Library, Louisville, KY. 10 Feb. 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Samuel Prager writes from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in a scathing reply to Merton's "Apologies to an Unbeliever" from the November 1966 edition of «Harper's Magazine».

Eugene J. Prakapas was vice president and senior editor for Simon and Schuster in New York.

Fr. Neil Predovich was a Jesuit priest and Director of Novices for the Detroit province. He writes from Colombiere College in Clarkston, Michigan. He wrote a small book called «The Changing Religious», which he sends to Merton.

Raymond H. Prince was a professor of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He was the editor of the R. M. Bucke Memorial Society Newsletter, which discussed the intersection of religion and psychiatry and trends of the time such as psychotropic, "mind-expanding", drugs and the similarities and differences between these "trips" and mystical religious experience. He became Director of the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry and editor of «Transcultural Psychiatry Research Review». They first came into contact through Linda Parsons (now Linda Sabbath). (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 492-493.)

Rod Prince writes from «Peace News» from London, England.

Sr. Prisca was a Benedictine nun of Regina Laudis Abbey in Bethlehem, Connecticut, but was not bound to the enclosure at the time of writing. She and another sister visited the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community in New Gloucester, Maine.

Adele Pullman writes from Mayfield, Pennsylvania.

Ron Punnett (who went under the pen name of Ronald Anthony Punnét), was a black poet born in Trinidad. He was a British citizen but was serving in the United States army and was stationed at Fr. Benning, Georgia. He had been writing poetry for about five years and had, previous to military service, served as poetry editor to the «Ninth Circle» in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He wrote at the suggestion of Keith Wilson, and Merton published some of his poems in the second volume of «Monks Pond». Carlos Reyes published some of his poetry under his Wine Press, a small press from Portland, Oregon, along with poets Richard Morris, Kenneth Brewer, Halvard Johnson, Peter Wild, and David Tammer.

Br. Thomas Qualey writes from the Christian Brothers' Scholasticate in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

David Quartley was a classmate of Merton's at Oakham School in England. He was visiting the United States in 1968, and wanted to know whether he could visit Merton en route between Chicago, Illinois, and Charlotte, North Carolina, in September. Quartley worked for the Industrial Products Division of the Singer Sewing Machine Company in London, England. There is no reply; however, Merton would have been gone on his journey to the West coast by this time.

Italian poet Salvatore Quasimodo writes from Milan, Italy. His lyrical poetry earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1959.

Br. Paul Quenon is a Trappist monk of Gethsemani. He composed some hymns and music for the Liturgy of the Hours, which he shared with Merton. In his years at the monastery, he has publish some of his poetry and photographs.

Fr. John J. Quinn was a Jesuit priest and advisor for the student literary magazine, «Esprit», from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.

Patrick Quinn was an associate professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.

Sandy Rabeck writes from the Contract and Copyright Department of Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishers from New York.

Fr. Gantana Raciti was a monk of the Trappist monastery of Our Lady of Orval in Belgium.

Fr. Denys Rackley was a Carthusian monk of La Grande Chartreuse in southern France.

Fr. Radbert was a Benedictine monk of Maria Laach Abbey in Germany.

Raymonde Rae was a sixteen-year-old student from Dublin, Ireland. He writes in praise of Merton and James Joyce.

Henry Rago was editor of «Poetry» magazine. He writes from Chicago, Illinois.

Fr. Karl Rahner was a Jesuit priest and one of the most prominent Catholic theologians of the 20th century. He was a professor of dogmatic theology and the philosophy of religion at a number of different Jesuit universities in West Germany and Austria. (Source: (Source: "Rahner, Karl." Obituary from Current Biography. 30 March 1984. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 13 Feb. 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

The Rev. Dr. William H. Ralston was an Episcopal priest who taught at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, at the time of writing to Merton. He was on the editorial board of the literary magazine, «The Sewanee Review». He had a love of the «Book of Common Prayer» and helped found the society to preserve its usage. He went on to become the rector of St. John's, Savannah.

Robert Rambusch was a Liturgical Design Consultant, who having trained with Frank Kacmarcik, later consulted for numerous cathedral designs and renovations. In his younger life, after the Second World War, Rambusch got involved in Catholic Action groups. He later studied liturgy and attended the Center for Sacred Art in Paris. Rambusch and his friend Frank Kacmarcik and his friend visit Gethsemani in October of 1960. Merton notes in his personal journal of being "a little suspicious of the intense activation and restlessness of some of these liturgical enthusiasts", although noting he has "[n]othing against liturgy" (personal journals, 1960/10/16).

«Ramparts» was a literary and political magazine running from 1962-1975, originally a Catholic literary quarterly, that took liberal positions on many issues of the day, such as opposing the Vietnam War.

Born in New York, Margaret Randall spent much of her youth in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After a year at the University of New Mexico, she spent time in Spain and in New York. During those years she married for the first time and had a son. In 1960, she moved to Mexico City and from 1962-1969 co-edited «El Corno Emplumado» (the feathered horn). "«Corno»" was a bi-lingual literary journal bridging the cultures of North America and Latin America. Randall married one of her co-editors, Sergio Mondragón. The couple had two daughters and Randall became a Mexican citizen. She divorced Mondragón in 1969 and had a daughter with another co-editor of «Corno», Robert Cohen. With Robert Cohen, the family moved to Cuba where Randall remained until 1980. After working for the Cuban Book Institute for a number of years, she began work as a free-lance journalist, photographer, and oral historian, specializing in the struggles of women in Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru and Vietnam. In 1980, she continued this work while living in Nicaragua with her youngest two daughters. In 1984, Randall moved back to Albuquerque and married poet Floyce Alexander, where she taught Women's Studies and American Studies at the University of New Mexico. The INS denied Randall permanent residence in the United States in 1985 citing the McCarran-Walter Act, which denied citizenship to those thought to be subversive and could charge individuals who had either been members of the Communist Party or even those who were deemed supporters of communism. After a long legal fight with the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights, the INS decided in 1989 that she had not relinquished her citizenship while in Mexico, and therefore, was still a citizen of the United States. Having resolved the case, she felt free to become public as a lesbian, addressing what that means in our culture in her writings. She also had written and lectured on being an incest survivor. She continues a prolific legacy of books, poetry and essays, while continuing to lecture. (Sources: Biography from "Inventory of the Margaret Randall Papers, 1954-2000". Center for Southwest Research, Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico. Accessed 15 Feb. 2006. ‹http://elibrary.unm.edu/oanm/NmU/nmu1%23mss663bc/nmu1%23mss663bc_m4.html›; with biographical information from the prior website excerpted from: "Contemporary Lesbian Writers of the United States". Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1993. Randall biography by Trisha Franzen.)

A. Philip Randolph was in the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans, a socialist and union leader fighting for workers writes and equality. Born in Florida, he moved to Harlem in 1911 to get into theater. Enrolling at the City College of New York, he changed life plans and majored in politics and economics. Together with Columbia University student Chandler Owen, he founded the radical magazine, The Messenger, in 1917. He organized a union called the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925, the Pullman Company being a major employer of African Americans. He was a supporter of non-violent means of protest and generally anti-war, fighting discrimination in the armed forces during the 1940's. During the 1950's and 1960's, he served as vice president of the AFL-CIO unions. Along with Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King, Jr., he helped organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. The following year, he was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Source: "A. Philip Randolph." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Feb 2006, 04:34 UTC. 15 Feb 2006, ‹http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A._Philip_Randolph&oldid=38873488›.)

A. Philip Randolph was in the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans, a socialist and union leader fighting for workers writes and equality. Born in Florida, he moved to Harlem in 1911 to get into theater. Enrolling at the City College of New York, he changed life plans and majored in politics and economics. Together with Columbia University student Chandler Owen, he founded the radical magazine, «The Messenger», in 1917. He organized a union called the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925, the Pullman Company being a major employer of African Americans. He was a supporter of non-violent means of protest and generally anti-war, fighting discrimination in the armed forces during the 1940's. During the 1950's and 1960's, he served as vice president of the AFL-CIO unions. Along with Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King, Jr., he helped organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. The following year, he was given a Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Source: "A. Philip Randolph." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Feb 2006, 04:34 UTC. 15 Feb 2006, ‹http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A._Philip_Randolph&oldid=38873488›.)

Sr. Mary Raphael was a Cistercian nun of Holy Cross Abbey in Stapehill, England.

Georg Rapp was one of the directors of Rapp and Whiting publishers of London, England.

Norman Ravitch was associate professor of history and chairman for the Committee on Lectures on Religion at the Riverside Campus of the University of California.

At the time of writing Fr. Joseph Raya (later Archbishop Raya) was a priest of the Melkite Rite serving in Birmingham, Alabama. Raya was born in Zahle, Lebanon. After studying for the priesthood in Paris and Jerusalem, he spent some time in Zahle and in Cairo before coming to the United States in 1948. He spent time in New Jersey before going to Alabama, where he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Civil Rights struggle and was twice beaten by the Klu Klux Klan. Anticipating the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he celebrated the Melkite Mass in the English vernacular instead of the traditional Arabic. He later became the Melkite archbishop in Akka, Israel, in 1968. He was a strong defender of the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their land after the 1967 Six-Day War. He brought together 24,000 Christians, Jews and Muslims in a Peace March to the Knesset in August of 1972. In the 1980's, he returned to his homeland of war-torn Lebanon. He also had ties to Merton's friend Catherine Doherty, serving as the first "Associate Priest" to Madonna House in 1959. (Source: "Archbishop Joseph M. Raya has died at 88". Restoration: The Madonna House Catholic Newspaper. 13 June 2005. Website of Madonna House. Accessed 16 Feb. 2006. ‹http://www.madonnahouse.org/restoration/2005/06/archbishop_joseph_m_raya_has_.html›.)

Br. Barnabas Reardon (Fr. Patrick H. Reardon) was a Trappist monk of Gethsemani at the time and was writing from Monte Cistello in Rome, Italy, where he studied theology.

Fr. Reginald A. Redlon was a Franciscan priest who served as president of St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, New York, from 1967-1972. He writes to invite Merton to come to the university to accept an honorary degree.

Edward Reed was Director of Publications for the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California.

At the time of writing, Sammy Reese was in prison and had been on death row in Missouri (he was later re-sentenced to life in prison). Merton notes: "a prisoner [-] electric chair!" Reese was baptised in prison through contact with Merton, some nuns, and Fr. Charles Dismas Clark, known as "the Hoodlum Priest." Reese became an acomplished cartoonist and artist in prison and was at times allowed to teach other prisoners art. He was released on parole in 1976 and died in 1990.

Sr. Regina of the Immaculate Conception was a Carmelite nun from Savannah, Georgia.

Anna T. Reidy writes from Worcester, Massachusetts.

Fr. Thomas à Kempis Reilly was a Dominican priest from Blessed Sacrament Rectory in Madison, Wisconsin.

Ad Reinhardt, known as the "black monk of abstract art", graduated Columbia University not long after Merton arrived. He continued to produce art for Columbia's satirical magazine, «The Jester», which was one of the publications in which Merton was involved. Even when Reinhardt considered himself a Communist, Merton saw religious significance in his work. Later, Reinhardt's paintings were influenced by eastern philosophy and Islam. He became an increasing minimalist, using fewer colors until he used only black. Merton treasured a painting of a black on black cross that Reinhardt did for him. Reinhardt visited Gethsemani in the late fifties. (Source: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, edited by William Shannon, Christine Bochen, and Patrick O'Connell, pp. 384-385.)

Kathleen Reinhardt writes from Manhasset, New York.

Fr. H. A. Reinhold was a native of Hamburg, Germany. He was part of the Catholic resistance to Hitler and had to escape Germany because he was pursued by the Gestapo. He came to the United States and served first in Seattle and later in Pittsburgh. He laid much of the foundation for liturgical reforms that were being considered in the decades leading up to the Second Vatican Council.

John Reiser (then Fr. Hubert) was a Trappist of Gethsemani Abbey.