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Br. Zachary Amps was a monk of Gethsemani Abbey and, among his responsibilities, was to mail complementary copies of Merton's books to various people.

Fr. Kevin Anderson was a Trappist monk of St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts.

Wife of, and co-author with, Edward Deming Andrews in many books about the Shakers.

Former monk of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. Previously listed under Fr. Anselm, O.C.S.O. (updated 2016).

Merton notes on copy of letter that Fr. Antoine is a Canadian Trappist.

Sr. Mary Antonella is was an administrator of the St. Joseph Infirmary in Louisville at the time of writing.

Br. Antoninus, who later went back to his birth name of William Everson, was a Californian poet associated with the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movements, publishing under both his secular and religious names. He joined the Dominican Order in 1951 after a second failed marriage and remained a religious brother through his correspondence with Merton. In 1969, he left the Dominicans to enter a third marriage. He founded Lime Kiln Press and taught at University of California, Santa Cruz, which not only allowed him to continue his poetry, but also made him known as a master printer. (Sources: Nelson, Cary [ed]. An Online Journal and Multimedia Companion to the «Anthology of Modern American Poetry». Oxford University Press, 2000. ‹http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/everson/about.htm›.)

Sr. Marie Augustin is writing from a Trappistine monastery in Laval, France.

Fr. Pierre Babin, O.M.I. is writing as director of "Monde et Foi: Collection Internationale de Catéchèse pour Jeunes".

Betsi Baeten was in eighth grade from West de Pere, Wisconsin, when she wrote to Merton. She was seeking some words for him on civil rights as she was serving as moderator for a group presenting this issue at a P.T.A. (Parent Teacher Association) meeting.

Sr. Mary Julian Baird is writing as a staff editor of the New Catholic Encyclopedia in Washington, D.C.

Ernest Barr was an author writing to Merton from Toronto.

This is likely the same Marion Barry who would later become a long-time mayor of Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Bartelme was a publishing agent for Macmillan. She seemed to know some acquaintances of Merton's, such as Philip and Dan Berrigan and Ed Rice, and keep him informed of what was happening with them.

María Luisa Bastos is writing on behalf of the Argentinean magazine «Sur» ("the South"), founded by Victoria Ocampo.

Fr. R. J. Batten was a Dominican priest writing from Wahroonga, New South Wales.

Dorothy Beck was the author of some Zen stories and poems that Merton published in «Monks Pond». At the time of writing, she was working the in the Archives Department at Dartmouth College.

Iris Weiss Bennett was the widow of Merton's guardian in England, Dr. Tom Izod Bennett. Communication between the Bennett's and Merton was few and far between after Merton left Cambridge.

Philip Berrigan was a social activist and writer whose acts of civil disobedience during the Vietnam War made him a household name in the peace movement. Younger brother of Daniel Berrigan, he became a priest like his brother, but with the Josephites instead of the Jesuits. He would later marry and would be excommunicated. Throughout his life, he continued to protest nuclear proliferation in the United States and was often imprisoned for his actions.

Wendell Berry is a farmer and writer of poetry, novels, prose, and essays. He writes to Merton from Port Royal, Kentucky. Themes in his writings include concern for the land, environmental conservation, the value of work, and the culture of agricultural communities.x000D
Merton began a correspondence with Berry as he began to come of his own as a poet and author. Berry had returned to a family farm in his native Kentucky and was a professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Merton could appreciate Berry's simple life of nature and solitude on a farm and employing traditional agricultural means, both critical of the effects of modern farm machinery on rural life. Though Berry claimed that his poems could only loosely be considered haiku, Merton referred to them as such and included some in his magazine «Monks Pond». Berry shared Merton's opposition to Vietnam and knew many of Merton's friends from Lexington.

John Biram was originally from England and moved to the United States around 1960. A couple of years later, he would quit his job as a scientist and focus on writing. He wrote poems and includes one called "A Cocktail Party" with this letter to Merton. He also writes about the negative effects of technology in a book called «Teknosis», which would be published until 11 years after this correspondence (1978).

Genowefa Bogatynska writes from Poland.

Mrs. A. Boodoosingh was Foreign Rights Secretary for Darton, Longman and Todd Limited in London.

Cameron Borton is writing as Pastor of the North Congregational Church in Winchendon, Massachusetts.

Boucher was a former Carmelite.

Abbot Louis Boutoute was Vicar of Saint-Flour Cathedral in Cantal, France.

Br. Charles Brandt was writing from the Trappist monastery of Our Lady of New Melleray in Dubuque, Iowa. After leaving the Trappists he became a priest and hermit on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Theodore Brenson was writing from New York.

Alan Brilliant was founder of Unicorn Press in Santa Barbara, California and was its Director at the time of writing. He was also married to Teo Savory, who both wrote for and assisted in the editing operations of Unicorn Press.

John B. Brown was a student at Union Theological Seminary in New York at the time of his writing to Merton (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 369).

Fr. Gerard Bryan, a monk of Gethsemani, was completing a doctoral dissertation in Rome on St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Teilhard de Chardin. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 303).

Christoper Burke was the son of Merton's friend, Professor Herbert Burke.

Edwin Burtt was a professor at Cornell University at this time. He wrote books about the influence of philosophy and metaphysics on science. He had an influence on Aldous Huxley, and like Huxley, started writing more about eastern religions, especially Buddhism, in his later years.

Fr. Paul Bussard was Editor-in-Chief of «The Catholic Digest» and was writing from St. Paul, Minnesota.

Victor Butterfield was the Chairman of Board of Selection for the E. Harris Harbison Award for Distinguished Teaching. He writes from St. Louis, Missouri.

Marie Beuzeville Byles was one of the pioneer Buddhist scholars in Australia, publishing the book, «Footprints of Gautama the Buddha». During their correspondence, she was assaulted and severely injured by an unknown assailant, leaving her with a long period of recovery.

Bobby Byrd was a poet writing from Memphis, Tennessee. Some of his poems appear in «Monks Pond». At the time of writing, he was an out of work teacher. He spent over 40 years later in life in El Paso, Texas.

D. J. Cahill is writing from the Editorial Department of Burns and Oates publishers from London.

P. Campbell was a missionary on leave from Senegal. He writes from Kent, England.

Fr. Philip Caraman was a Jesuit priest and editor of «The Month», a magazine published by the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) in London. The sub-editor was Fr. Deryck Hanshell, another correspondent of Merton's.

Catherine B. Carlson, daughter of Merton correspondent Dorris Carlson, wrote to Ping Ferry in 1991, sending him a copy of a Merton letter to her mother.

Dorris Carlson was a Zen scholar and married to the founder of the Xerox Corporation, Chester F. Carlson, who died later in 1968.

Bruce L. Carriker writes from Prescott College in Arizona.

Hayden Carruth is owner and operator of Crow's Mark Press in Johnson, Vermont, and has won numerous awards for poetry.

At the time of writing, John R. Peterson was an assistant professor in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University.

Robert A. Peterson writes from Chicago, Illinois.

Fr. Ian Petit was a Benedictine monk from the Saint Louis Priory in St. Louis, Missouri.

Marianne Peyre translated Merton's essay "Blessed are the Meek" into French for publication in «Cahiers de la Réconciliation», a publication related to the International Movement of Reconciliation (M.I.R.) / International Fellowship of Reconcilation (I.F.O.R.).

Andrea Pfeiffenberger writes from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. After graduation, she continued studies at the University of York in England. Merton publishes a couple of her poems in the third volume of «Monks Pond».

Bernard S. Phillips was a professor in the Department of Religion at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the time of writing.

Julián Urgoiti was head of Editorial Sudamericana publishers in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rachel Carson was a writer on ecology and a naturalist poet. She is best known for «Silent Spring», a book that raised awareness about the harmful use of pesticides like DDT.

Frances Cavanaugh writes from Hempstead, New York. She describes herself as "one of the nuns in modern garb teaching on university campuses."

Fr. Augustine Chlest was writing from St. Joseph Church in Carpinteria, California.

Sr. M. Chrysantha was a Franciscan sister at the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois.

Fr. Chrysostom was a Trappist monk at Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

Fr. Clement was a priest at a Passionist monastery in Fukuoka-Shi, Japan.

Mother Coakley was a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Master of Novices of the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Albany, New York.

Ann Cockrill was entering the Carmelites and writing from Memphis, Tennessee.

Rienzo Colla was Editor of «La Locusta», a publication for young Catholics published from Vincenza, Italy.

Maria Columba was writing from St. Petersburg, Florida.

Fr. Tarcisius Conner was a monk of Gethsemani assigned to the Vatican at the beginning of their correspondence. He writes to Merton from Rome, Paris, and Mont des Cats Abbey in Northern France.

Cid Corman was a poet who went to Japan in 1951 and founded a literary magazine and press by the name of Origin. Besides writing his own poetry, he translated the works of a number of French and Japanese poets (source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 246). Cid Corman writes to Merton from Kyoto, Japan.

Known as "El Poeta Loco" of Nicaragua, Merton had a profound respect for his works and metaphysical insights. Christine Bochen states that "[i]n a brief essay introducing his translations of poems by Cortés, Merton recalls Ernesto Cardenal's account of seeing Cortés chained to a beam in Rubén Dario's house, where he is said to have gone insane on February 18, 1927 (source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 176).

Norman Cousins was Editor of the «Saturday Review» and an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War.

Charles J. Crail was District Forester for the Commonwealth of Kentucky Division of Forestry in Elizabethtown.

Dr. Robert Crane was a Research Associate with the Center for Strategic Studies and was later with the Hudson Institute for National Security and International Order in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. He was involved in Republican Party functions and conservative-leaning think-tanks on national and international security and outer space security.

William Crotty was part of the Faculty Association of the Baldwinsville Academy and Central Schools in Baldwinsville, New York.

Fr. M. Jacques was a monk of the Trappist Abbey of Cîteaux in France.

Fr. Nivard Kinsella was a Trappist monk of Mount Saint Joseph Abbey in Roscrea (Ros Cré), Ireland. (Previously filed under "Nivard, Br., O.C.S.O." and moved in 2022.)

According to James A. Ward, the author of a biography of Merton's friend W. H. Ferry, Robert McVeigh was as a young activist at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California, where Ferry was Vice-President during the 1960's. Ward states that he became "a chiropractor and teacher of earth sciences" who "shared with Ping [W. H. Ferry] a common affection and respect for Thomas Merton and his ideas." (Ward, James A. «Ferrytale: The Career of W. H. "Ping" Ferry». CA, Stanford University Press, 2001: pp. 189-190.)

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

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

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