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It is unclear from the correspondence, but it seems Emily Schossberger may have worked for the publishing firm of New Directions.

Webster Schott was Editorial Director of Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri.

James Schulte was a senior at Saint Louis University at the time of correspondence with Merton. He writes from St. Louis, Missouri.

Clarence W. Schultz worked at the News Publishing Company of Tell City, Indiana.

David H. Scott was Religious Book Editor of the Trade Book Department of McGraw-Hill Book Company. He writes from New York.

Sr. Helen Jean Seidel was the Mistress of Novices for the Sisters of Loretto at their motherhouse in Nerinx, Kentucky, at the time of writing.

Fr. Léon Seiller writes from France.

David R. Semon was a 27-year-old college sophomore at Borromeo Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio.

Fr. Brocard Sewell (baptized Michael Sewell - Brocard being his religious name) was a Carmelite friar and editor of «The Aylesford Review» at his home at Aylesford Priory in Kent, England. Though born into an Anglican family, his father was involved in the Oxford Movement and Sewell became a Catholic while still a youth. Throughout his life, he maintained an interest in Anglican-Catholic dialogue. While a young man, he became involved with G. K. Chesterton's distributist movement and «G. K.'s Weekly». Similar to Merton and the Franciscans, Sewell was rejected from the Dominicans. Also like Merton, he attempted joining a contemplative order. His first attempt to enter the Carmelites failed in 1937. Though he was a pacifist, or essentially so, he served as a map specialist during the Second World War for the British. In 1952, he applied for entry with the Carmelites at Aylesford and was, this time, allowed to join. It is from Aylesford that Sewell writes Merton. Merton contributed to «The Aylesford Review». Sewell would later live in various other Carmelite monasteries. (Source: McGreal, Wilfred. "Obituary of Fr. Brocard Sewell, 0.Carm." Website of the British Province of Carmelites. Accessed 2006 April 24. ‹http://www.carmelite.org/obit/bs_obituary.html›.)

H. J. Shandrewsmith writes from Pittsburgh. He sends poems to Merton by Oscar Gibson, his brother-in-law.

Wilfred Sheed was Book Review Editor for «The Commonweal» and writes from New York. He was the son of Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward (Sheed and Ward publishers). He developed a style of prose influenced by his trans-Atlantic upbringing, born in London and spending much time in New York. After work at such Catholic publications as «The Commonweal» and «Jubilee», he became an essayist, novelist and short story writer. (Source: "Sheed, Wilfrid" Biography from Current Biography. 1981. Online. Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 2006/04/25. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Jane M. Sheets writes from Princeton, New Jersey and later from Haverford, Pennsylvania. She did a study of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa and thanks Merton for his translations and commentary on Pessoa.

Maynard Shelly was editor of «The Mennonite», the weekly publication of the General Conference Mennonite Church. He published Merton's poem, "Chant to Be Used in Processions around a Site with Furnaces," in the November 21, 1961 issue of «The Mennonite». Maynard visited Merton at Gethsemani in August of 1962 and wrote an editorial in «The Mennonite» about his visit.

Fr. James Shine was from a monastery (Camaldolese?) at New Boston, New Hampshire.

Ludovico Silva was a poet, philosopher, essayist, literary critic, and professor at the Universidad Central in Caracas, Venezuela. He authored over thirty books and was one of the founders of the magazine «Papeles». In the 1970's and 1980's, his writing turned to ideas of alienation, socialism, and Marxism. It was Silva who asked Merton about a typical day at the hermitage which prompted Merton to write one of his most famous pieces, "Day of a Stranger". Merton also wrote a prologue for Silva's poem and book, «Boom!!!». (Source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 223.)

Elbert R. (Bert) Sisson writes from Bryans Road, Maryland. After retiring from active duty in the army in 1945, he worked for the federal government until 1972. He was a political activist and liberal democrat, once running for public office in 1974, but withdrawing when his wife took ill. He was opposed to the Vietnam War and wrote a book under the pen name Rory McCormick, entitled «Americans against Man» (New York and Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1970). (Source: Sisson, Maura A. Obituary of Elbert Sisson. Genealogical website. Accessed 3 May 2006. ‹http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dasisson/richard/aqwg203.htm›.)

Edward Skillin was the long-time editor of the Catholic magazine, «The Commonweal», and wrote to Merton from New York. In 1967, he shifted from sole editor to publisher, a position he held until his retirement in 1998.

Charles Smith was Chairman of Chicago CORE and writes from Chicago, Illinois.

At the time of writing, John Hunt was Senior Editor of «The Saturday Evening Post».

Luis M. Iglesias Ortega was a Dominican priest and author writing from Villava in the north of Spain.

Born William Archibald McGirt, Jr., Will Inman wrote under his mothers maiden name and the name it was legally changed to in 1973, Inman. Inman was a poet, essayist and activist for causes such as civil rights, gay rights, and opposition to the Vietnam War.

Dom Clemente José Carlos Isnard was a Benedictine monk who became Bishop of the Diocese of Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sadhu Ittyavirah was a Catholic author from India who sent Merton some of his books, including «The Witness», «1+1=1» and «We Are One».

Dr. Lalla Iverson was Director of the Association for Rural Aid in Medicine (ARAM). She writes from Rockville, Maryland.

Fr. Thomas W. Jackson was Catholic Chaplain for the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh.

H. L. Jacobson was Director of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) International Trade Centre, publishers of «International Trade FORUM». He writes from Geneva, Switzerland.

Stephen James was founder and President of the Peace Hostage Exchange Foundation, headquartered in New York. The idea was to send delegations from the United States to strategic targets in the Soviet Union and vice versa. The hope was to get some prominent individuals, like Merton or Robert Kennedy, to go over and to get Premier Krushchev's family and others to come here in exchange.

Harold Brewster Jenkins was Merton's uncle on his mother's side. He married Elsie Hauck Holahan in 1938. (See "Jenkins, Elsie" for a more complete description).

George Johnson was on the Catholic Worker staff. He visited Gethsemani in late February 1962 with Jim Forest and others. Merton mentions this meeting in his journal entry of March 2, 1962.

Poet Halvard Johnson was born in Newburgh, New York, and spent his boyhood in both in small Hudson Valley towns and New York. He spent his years after college in Ohio hitchhiking around the United States in the late 1950's. After graduate study in English at University of Chicago, he began teaching at the University of Texas, El Paso for four years. Near the end of his time in Texas, he sent Merton some poems for «Monks Pond». After this, he taught in Puerto Rico, traveled Europe, and now has returned to his native New York where he writes and teaches at the New School. A number of his books of poetry have been published. (Source: Monks Pond, pp. 109 and 207.)

At the time of this correspondence, William Jovanovich was writing from New York as President of Harcourt, Brace and World.

L. Lauffmann writes from Bruay en Artois, France.

Fr. Thomas Keller was a Benedictine monk writing from Hauterive Abbey, Switzerland.

William Melvin Kelley was born and raised in New York. He went to Harvard with the intention of becoming a lawyer, but experienced a life-changing desire to become a writer after attending a prose fiction class of John Hawkes. He began writing an did not finish at Harvard. His novels and short stories reflect mythic takes on the frustration of the African American experience of racism in the United States. He first writes to Merton in response to a review Merton wrote for Kelley's first novel, «A Different Drummer», thanking him more that he "got it" than for liking it. The following year, he writes Merton after having read some of his writings. He expresses that he is not a Christian and harbors both happy and bitter memories of his mother's Catholicism. He expresses feeling more affirmed in Catholic Italy, though, than Protestant America. He would later move to Paris, a move to further distance himself from United States culture. He would later seek to rediscover some of the oral history tradition of Africa. Some of his other books include «A Drop of Patience» and «Dəm». (Source: "Kelley, William Melvin". World Authors. 1970. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 2005/05/12. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Mona Kelly writes from Amherstburg, Ontario. She was the mother of Fr. Timothy Kelly, who was later to be the eighth abbot of Gethsemani, serving from 1973-2000.

Wallace Kendrick was with the Catholic Worker movement.

Ethel Kennedy is the widow of Robert F. Kennedy and daughter of George and Ann Skakel (see "Skakel, Ann Brannack" file).

Catherine Kent was a 23-year-old teacher from Dorchester, Massachusetts, at the time of writing.

Walter Kerell writes from the Catholic Worker in New York.

Gabriel Khouri-Sarkis was editor of L'Orient Syrien and a West Syrian Rite Catholic priest. He writes from Paris, France.

Sr. Agnes Jae Soon Kim was from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Seoul, South Korea.

Coretta Scott King, an advocate of civil rights and racial equality, is the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. Merton writes to her after Martin's assassination. She telegrammed Gethsemani following Merton's death.

Simon King was Director of Burns and Oates publishers and writes from London.

Winston L. King was a professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He and Merton discuss Zen and the visit of Shibayama Roshi to Nashville.

Fr. David Kirk was a peace activist and member of the secular institute of the Company of St. Paul. He was studying in Rome in the early letters and later comes back to the United States to help found Emmaus House in New York.

Bonaventure Knaebel was a Benedictine Archabbot at the Archabbey of St. Meinrad at the time of writing.

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.

Fr. Bede Kok was a Brazilian Trappist monk.

Gerald Landry was living in Glen Garden, New Jersey, at the time of Merton's letter to him.

Kathleen Landy was writing on behalf of the Bureau of Information of the United States Catholic Conference in Washington, D.C.

Rogelius Lardé was writing on behalf of «The Second Coming» magazine and writes from New York, declining two of Merton's poems.

Lou Lauth, Jr. was Editor of the «Blue Book of Magazine Writers» and worked for the National Research Bureau, Inc., Chicago, Illinois.

Justus George Lawler was an editor with Herder and Herder. He lived near Chicago and edited the journal «Continuum». He has since written books on Church history, ethics, and Catholic literature and art.

Mario Lazo writes from Norfolk, Connecticut. He was working on a book concerning the instruction of Latin American history in public schools in the United States. He would later quote Merton in his book on Cuba, «A Dagger in the Heart».

Martha Lazure writes on behalf of Raymond H. Prince (see "Prince, Raymond" file) for permission to quote from Merton's May 22, 1965 letter to Dr. Prince for the newsletter of the R. M. Bucke Memorial Society. She writes from Montreal, Quebec.

In 1959, Richard Leeman was working on a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he lived with his wife and two children.

George Lensing, Jr. is an English professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has served on the faculty since 1969. After earning his doctorate from Louisiana State in 1966, he spent a couple of years in the Peace Corps in Brazil, teaching at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro. While in Brazil, he sends Merton some poems of Carlos Drummond de Andrade and some of his own poems. Merton includes Lensing's translation of "Morte do Leiteiro", or "Death of the Milkman", in «Monks Pond» IV.

L. Larry Leonard was Editor of «Current Thought on Peace and War» and faculty member of the Department of Political Science at Wisconsin State University.

Born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1903, Dom Maurizio (born Jacques) Levy-Duplatt was first a member of the Benedictine monastery of Clervaux in Luxembourg before transferring to the Camaldolese hermits in Frascati, Italy at Sacro Eremo Tuscolano in 1946. Merton corresponded with him as he pondered leaving Gethsemani to join the Camaldolese. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 86.)

Sr. Pilar Lizárraga was a Sister of the Instituto de Hermanas Esclavas del Corazón de Jesús from Rancagua, Chile, and was planning to do a thesis on Merton at the Colegio de Jesús in Salta, Argentina. Her proposed thesis was to be under the title, "Modern Man and his Search of Solitude in Thomas Merton".

A. López Llausás writes from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on behalf of Editorial Sudamericana S.A.

Jan Milic Lochman was born in Nove Mesto nad Metuji, Czechoslovakia. A theologian and professor of the Reformed tradition, he was ordained a minister of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. He began a professorship in theology in Prague in 1950. In 1964, he was visiting the United States. He was due to go to Richmond, Virginia, but after a flight delay and change of plans, John Heidbrink arranged for him to come to Louisville and Gethsemani. Merton writes about Lochman in diary entries of March 6 and 19, 1964, describing a long conversation on Barth and Pope John XXIII lasting late into the night. After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Lochman came with his family to New York and taught at Union Theological Seminary. He was later involved with the World Council of Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. He was the author of a number of theological texts. (Source: Nyomi, Setri; and Milan Opocensky. "Jan Milic Lochman, 1922-2004". website of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. 1 January 2004. Accessed 12 September 2005. ‹http://warc.jalb.de/warcajsp/side.jsp?news_id=186&part_id=0&navi=6›.)

John Logan was writing on behalf of the Thomas More Association from Chicago. The association was responsible for the Thomas More Book Club, the Thomas More Book Shop, and the publication «The Critic», which published some of Merton's poems.

Sr. Marialein Lorenz was a Sinsinawa Dominican sister and teacher. She first writes from Mobile, Alabama, and later from Anaconda, Montana. While in Mobile during the 1940's and 1950's, she taught at an exclusively African-American high school. Merton and her students exchanged letters, and the students send Merton an amice, corporal, purificator and finger towel for his ordination. (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 314.)

Fr. Louis Marié was a Trappist monk of Sainte Marie-du-Desert Abbey in Bellegarde, France.

Mina Loy spent her later years in Aspen, Colorado, and Merton writes to her there. "Loy moved from Victorian England to impressionist Paris, to futurist Florence, to bohemian Greenwich Village and back to expatriate Paris during her long career. . . . Painter, poet, actress, playwright, feminist, mother, designer, conceptual artist - her range of skills and experience make it difficult to place her too squarely in any one artistic category." (Source: Hanscombe, Gillian and Virginia L. Smyers, "Mina Loy's Life" on the website of Modern American Poetry at Illinois University. Accessed 11 March 2009. ‹http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/loy/bio.htm›.)

Pierre Lucas writes from the Collège Sainte-Barbe in Paris, France.

Sr. Lurana was a Missionary Sister of the Blessed Sacrament from New Orleans, Louisiana. At the time of correspondence, she was Exhibits Director for an art Xavier University and arranged to have Merton's art displayed there.

Fr. Thomas MacMaster was a Trappist priest from the Abbey of Notre-Dame-des-Prairies in St. Norbert, Manitoba, Canada.

Una Maguire was a psychologist writing to thank Merton for his article "Notes on Love" that appeared in the Autumn 1967 issue of «Frontiers».

Bill Manning writes from Hopkins, Minnesota.

Fr. Marcellus was a Trappist monk of Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers, Georgia.

Gladys Marcus was the sister of Merton's close friend Bob Lax. Merton got to know her and her husband, Benji Marcus, in the summer of 1938. Merton was having some difficulty in getting in touch with her brother Robert and asks her for assistance in 1967. She writes back informing him that he will be coming back to the United States. In addition, she informs Merton of the death of her husband.

Sr. Maria da Concricão da Virginem Dolorosa writes from the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sr. Marie of the Eucharist was a Carmelite nun.