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Henry Miller was a highly controversial author, and some of his works were censored in the United States until the 1960's. The authors respected each others works despite their vastly different lifestyles. However, Miller, like Merton, had spent years in New York and in France and was an artist as well as author. Merton expresses a desire to read Miller's «Tropics» novels, but doubts they would get past censors at the monastery.

Dorothy Mingolello writes from Fairfield, Connecticut. She asks Merton's assistance in writing a letter to the director of Boys Town, Msr. Nicholas H. Wegner.

Stephen Mooney was a poet and professor at the University of Tennessee, Martin. He was founder and editor of the «Tennessee Poetry Journal».

Fr. Augustine Moore was a Trappist monk from Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers, Georgia. At the time of this correspondence, he was the American Definitor in Rome. He later succeeded Robert McGann as abbot of Holy Spirit Abbey. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 56.)

Thomas Morrill was a poet writing from Tallahassee, Florida.

Virginia Naeve is the author of a proposal referencing Thomas Merton. There is no correspondence in this file; however, it quotes a message from Abbot James Fox who writes on behalf of Thomas Merton.

Brendan Nagle was from Malibu, California.

James Roy Newman wrote a number of popular books about mathematics.

S. H. Newman writes from El Paso, Texas. He had once entered the Trappists but was rejected before vows because they feared he was going blind. He spent time with the Carthusians, but was dismissed for disobedience. He did not go blind, married, and became the father of two girls. He includes a letter to his brother, Fletcher (Fletch) Newman, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey in Oregon.

Richard Nixon, then President-Elect of the United States, wrote letters to prominent individuals to ask them to suggest "exceptional individuals" for presidential appointments. Merton would have not received the letter as he was in Asia and days from his death in Bangkok.

Edward Noonan was an architect from Chicago, Illinois.

Fr. A. Nuy was a Benedictine priest of St. Willibrord's Abbey in the Netherlands.

Walter O'Connell writes from Waco, Texas.

John O'Keefe seems to have been an aspiring writer from Dublin, Ireland. He asks Merton's advice to a writer.

Ethelmary Oakland writes from Olean, New York, sending a poem of Merton's friend Robert Lax, "A Song for Our Lady Notre Dame de la Garde Marseille". (Poem not extant in file.)

Victoria Ocampo was a prolific author, essayist, biographer, publisher who became a feminist heroine challenging the limited roles of women in the Victorian world of the early twentieth century and in Argentine society. She came from a wealthy family, was well traveled and received an international education. She published the journal «Sur» ("the South"), which bridged North and South American culture and the best minds of Europe. She included Merton among the many diverse authors she published and translated. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», pp. 207-208.)

At the time of writing to Merton, Nancy Occhineri was in her senior year at Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford, Connecticut. She had just read Thomas Merton's «The Seven Storey Mountain». After leaving the area for graduate studies, she returned to Hartford and served as a teacher in the urban area for over 30 years. She remains an avid reader of Merton's work.

Patricia W. Oliver (Patricia Welsh) was reference librarian at Bellarmine College and cataloged and maintained the Thomas Merton collection in the Library. Merton and Ms. Oliver developed a friendship over meetings in the library and correspondence relating to the collection.

Beatrice Olmstead wrote to Merton after reading «The Seven Storey Mountain», and she and her family became for Merton like an adopted family.

Terence Olmstead was one of the children of Beatrice Olmstead (see "Olmstead, Beatrice" file).

Joel Orent was an ordained Jewish rabbi who writes to Merton about the possibility of exploring Buddhist and Catholic monastic traditions. He made some inquiries into living with some Catholic monastic communities. He first writes to Merton from New York, and later from Hollywood, California.

Michael Ortwein was an ex-novice of Gethsemani Abbey.

At the time of writing, Mother Mary Angela Osak was the Superior of the Redemptoristine Nuns in Keswick, Ontario, Canada.

Fr. Pachomius was a monk of Benedictine monastery of Erlach in Niederwaldkirchen, Austria.

Fr. Gustave Pairoux writes from the Desclee Company publishers to ask if Merton would write a preface to Fr. William Johnston's «The Mysticism of the Cloud of Unknowing». He writes from Rome, Italy.

Fr. Palumbo writes from Caserta, Italy.

George A. Panichas was an associate professor in the English Department of the University of Maryland in College Park at the time of writing to Merton. In addition, he was the an essayist, biographer and author of a number of books on politics, history and religion.

Jan Papanek was Chairman of the International League for the Rights of Man and writes to ask Merton's signature on a statement condemning human rights violations in the Vietnam War. Merton notes that he will sign the statement.

Nicanor Parra distinguished himself as the most prominent Chilean poet, or antipoet, of the Generation of 1938. In 1935, he and friends started «Revista Nueva». The surrealism of Pablo Neruda and the writing of Garcia Lorca among others influenced his first book of poetry, published in 1937. Parra became a professor of mathematics and theoretical physics Universidad de Chile in Santiago from 1951-1991 after his graduate studies at Brown University in Rhode Island and Oxford in England. The direction of his poetry changed in the 1960's, inventing a new poetic form called antipoetry. He published a number of volumes of poetry and influenced many other poets, including Merton, who translated a number of his poems. Parra along with James Laughlin visited Merton at Gethsemani Abbey in May of 1966. (Source: "Parra, Nicanor." Spanish American Authors. 1992. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 26 Jan. 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Boris Pasternak was the Russian novelist and poet best known for «Dr. Zhivago». This novel earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature, but, after the nomination, he was forced to leave the Soviet Writers' Union.

Nancy-Lou Patterson was Director of Art at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, at the time of writing to Merton, where she was founder of the Department of Fine Art. Her poetry appeared in «America», «The Prairie Schooner», and other notable publications. Merton chose her poetry for volume three of «Monks Pond». She later published art criticism, including books about the relationship of art and literature. In addition, she published three novels and was commissioned for liturgical artwork, including murals and stained glass, for churches.

Dom Humphrey Pawsey was a Carthusian monk from St. Hugh's Charterhouse in England. In the 1950's, he became superior of their American foundation at Sky Farm in Vermont.

Walker Percy was a novelist best known for «The Movie Goers», which he sent to Merton and which Merton liked very much. Born in Alabama, he grew up and lived most of the rest of his life in Louisiana. He was a convert to Catholicism and his faith influenced his writing, as did existentialism. Though a product of the South, he rebelled against the racism of the Old South but equally was skeptical of modern America and its materialistic ethic. Percy met Merton at his hermitage in the summer of 1967. The encounter was arranged since both were on the advisory board of «Katallagete». There was a strained feeling between the two men-- they were fans of each other but could not seem to find conversation; however, they continued writing to each other and Merton continues to praise Percy's novels. Walker Percy writes to Merton from Covington, Louisiana. (Source: "Percy, Walker." Obituary from Current Biography. 10 May 1990. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 2 Feb. 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

At the time of correspondence, Fr. Gerald B. Phelan was a Basilian priest at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (PIMS) at St. Michael's College, Toronto, Ontario.

Roscoe M. Pierson was librarian of the Bosworth Memorial Library at the College of the Bible (later known as Lexington Theological Seminary, Disciples of Christ) in Lexington, Kentucky.

Leslie M. Pockell was articles editor for «Avant-Garde» magazine and writes from New York.

Richard M. Pope was a professor of church history at the College of the Bible, later Lexington Theological Seminary, in Lexington, Kentucky. He and some of his students came to visit Merton at Gethsemani, and Merton lectured on monasticism.

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.

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

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

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.)

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

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

"Carlos Reyes writes, teaches and edits poetry (The Wine Press) in Portland, Oregon" (biography from Monks Pond, p. 209).

José Eusebio Ricaurte from Bogotá, Colombia, sent Merton a translation of «Basic Principles of Monastic Prayer» and was part of a group there called the Priest Slaves of Mary.

Br. René Richie entered Gethsemani Abbey in 1950. He was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1928 and died at Gethsemani Abbey in 2011. (Previously filed under "René, Br., O.C.S.O." and moved in 2022.)

Fr. Emilio del Río was a Jesuit priest and writer from Spain.

John G. Roberts writes from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Natalie S. Robins was a poet who sends Merton an incribed copy of her book.

Marta Elena Rodríguez was a friend of Evora Arca de Sardiña. She took a trip to Brazil and asks Merton some questions about the plight of the poor and what can be done.

Fr. Andrew Roduskey is a Trappist monk of Gethsemani Abbey.

Fr. C. Murray Rogers writes from the Jyotiniketan Ashram in Bareilly, India. He was an Anglican priest who came to India on official missionary duty with his wife Mary and with Fr. C. F. Andrews. However, they were inspired by Swami Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux, O.S.B.) and chose to live his example of a life of poverty. The ashram they founded, Jyotiniketan, was ecumenical in nature, and had a special focus on Christian-Hindu relations. Rogers had contact with scholars of interreligious relations, such as Raimundo Panikkar (Raimon Panikkar) and Dr. J. A. Cuttat. Merton and Rogers had common friends in Fr. (now Canon) Donald Allchin. (Source: Du Boulay, Shirley. "The priest and the swami." «The Tablet» online. 21 Apr. 2001. Accessed 24 Feb. 2006. ‹http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/register.cgi/tablet-00519›.)

Fr. Peter-Thomas Rohrbach is a Carmelite priest and was editor of the Catholic quarterly «Spiritual Life». He writes from Washington, D.C.

Keith Rolland was a college student majoring in finance at Fordham University. He writes from Brooklyn, New York. He sends Merton some articles he had written and, after reading a book by Merton, was interested in the influence on his writing of "affluence, Communism, religion, «Brave New World», etc."

Maria Rosa Romagosa writes from Barcelona, Spain.

Fr. William Joseph Rooney writes as Executive Director of the Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Fr. Raymond Roseliep was a Catholic priest and poet. He was born in Iowa and spent almost all of his life in Dubuque with the exception of his seminary studies at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. When he first wrote to Merton, he was an English professor at Loras College in Dubuque. After suffering some health problems, he became a chaplain from 1966 through the rest of his career at Mount Saint Francis in Dubuque. In the 1960's, he began to experiment with concrete poetry and Merton publishes Roseliep in «Monks Pond», volumes 2 and 4. In the 1970's, he became best known for his use of the haiku, sometimes taking the pseudonym Sobi-shi. (Source: "Roseliep, Raymond." Biography from American National Biography. 2004. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 27 Feb. 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Dorothy Rosenberger writes on behalf of the Grail community (Grailville) outside of Loveland, Ohio. The Grail is an international women's movement, founded in the 1920's in the Netherlands. The Grailville community in Ohio was the first in the United States, founded in 1944, and is now the national headquarters with other communities in New York and California.

Jean Rosenthal writes on behalf of Curtis Brown publishers from New York.

Nancy Wilson Ross was a novelist and essayist writing for both adults and juveniles, and writing about relationships and spiritual journeys. She had a long interest in eastern religions and wrote some popular introductions to Buddhism and Zen. She was born in Olympia, Washington, but spent the later part of her life in New York. (Source: "Ross, Nancy Wilson." Biography from World Authors 1900-1950. 1996. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 28 Feb. 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Emile Rovilly was municipal archivist for Nantes, France.

Fr. Marco V. Rueda was a Jesuit priest in Quito, Ecuador. He was Master of Novices and writes on letterhead of the Instituto Superior de Humanidades Clasicas. He knew Br. Fernando Cardenal, the brother of Merton's novice, Ernesto Cardenal.

Sr. Ruth Adelaide was a Sister of Charity writing from the College of Mount St. Joseph On The Ohio.

Eric Sackheim writes on behalf of the Japanese publisher Mushinsha Limited. Sackheim had completed graduate studies in Japanese at Harvard University and went to Japan on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1960. He published anthologies of Chinese and Japanese poetry, including the poems of Kusano Shimpei. He was also interested in American folk and roots music, publishing a seminal book on blues music.

Ruth Fuller Sasaki was a Zen practitioner and author on Zen from Kyoto, Japan. She began Zen practice in 1941 at the Nanzen-ji Monastery in Kyoto under Nanshinken Roshi and later Goto Zuigan Roshi (with some interim interruptions causing her to move to New York to study under Sokei-an Roshi). She writes to express interest in Merton's «Mystics and Zen Masters» and to introduce Merton to her books «The Zen Koan» and «Zen Dust». She questions Merton on some statements he makes about "do-it-yourself" Zen and the question of practicing Zen without the guidance of a Zen master.

John Nevin Sayre was a pacifist and leader in the Peace Movement of the 20th century. He served in leadership positions in the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and the United States national office of FOR. He writes from Nyack, New York.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi was a scholar on mystical aspects of Judaism. He was born in Poland in 1924 and grew up in Vienna. Later, in France, he was sent to a prison camp by the Vichy government. He was able to escape to the United States in 1941. He studies at the Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn and was ordained a rabbi in 1947. He received a Master of Arts in psychology from Boston University in 1953. He taught religion at University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, from 1956-1957, and was later Chair of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. He completed a doctorate at the University of Cincinnati in 1968. While in Cincinnati, he made a number of visits to see Merton.

William J. Schickel was the architect and liturgical consultant for the renovation of Gethsemani Abbey's church and cloister. Schickel was living in Loveland, Ohio, at the time of this correspondence.

The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph E. Schieder was Director of the Youth Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. He writes from Washington, D.C.

Br. Richard Schmidlen was a Trappist monk of Gethsemani Abbey.

August Schou was President of the Nobel Prize Committee at the time of this correspondence.

Donna Scolastica seems to have been a Camaldolese abbess.

Ernesto Seguny writes on behalf of the Conferencia Episcopal Argentina in Buenos Aires.

Sr. Seraphim of the Holy Spirit was a Carmelite nun and prioress of the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Joseph in Louisville, Kentucky.

Clifford Shaw was a composer living in Louisville, Kentucky. He discussed setting some of Thomas Merton's poems to music.

Sr. Emmanuel de Souza e Silva was a Brazilian nun of the monastery of the Virgin Mary in Petropolis (whose order joined with the Benedictines during their correspondence) and long-time translator of Merton's works into Portuguese. Although born in Brazil, she had spent some of her academic studies in England and France. She was also a social worker in her home of Rio de Janeiro before religious life. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 181.)

John N. Sims was a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and chairman of the Faculty Retreat Committee.