Patricia Hardesty was writing a piece for the «Saturday Evening Post» on Henry Miller. She writes from Mill Valley, California.
Sr. Katherine T. Hargrove, also known as Mother Hargrove, was a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was editor of some books on Jewish-Christian relations. She writes from Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in Purchase, New York.
Fr. Bernard Haring writes from the Lateran Pontifical University in Rome.
Arthur Harris was the son of John Harris (see "Harris, John" file), who notes that Arthur was born in 1954 and had asked Merton for stamps in 1967. Merton sends him a couple letters and shipments of stamps from letters he had received from around the world. John Harris later notes in correspondence about his letters after Merton's death that Arthur had become a professional philatelist.
Lucile Hasley was a convert to Catholicism who published around twelve titles through Sheed and Ward, which were quite autobiographical in nature and featured themes concerning her conversion and about the Catholic Church. She wrote to Merton from South Bend, Indiana.
Alfred Hassler was Executive Secretary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and writes from Nyack, New York.
Dom Columban Hawkins was the first abbot of Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey in Lafayette, Oregon.
Gerald Heard (also writing under H. F. Heard or Henry Fitzgerald Heard) was an author born in England and a close friend of Aldous Huxley. His prolific writings range from academic works on the nature of human development and comparative religion to fantasy and mystery novels.
Sr. Helen Marie was an exclaustrated Precious Blood Sister who, at the time of writing to Merton, had been accepted by both Kentucky religious communities of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Sisters of Loretto.
Fr. Laurence E. Henderson was a Jesuit priest writing from Loyola University in Chicago.
Nat Hentoff is a prolific writer on such issues as jazz, civil liberties, free speech and education. He had studied at Northeastern University and Harvard, and was a Fulbright fellow at the Sorbonne. After writing for many major media outlets, including «Commonweal» as a long time regular columnist for the «New York Times», he continues to write on music for the «Wall Street Journal» and has a weekly column in the «Village Voice». Merton thanks him for editing a book on the essays of A. J. Muste, and they discuss an essay by Hentoff on Lenny Bruce in a book called «Seeds of Liberation». (Source: "Nat Hentoff". «The Washington Post» online edition: 1998. ‹http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/opinions/hentoff.htm›, accessed 2005/03/29.)
Rabbi Abraham Heschel was born in Warsaw and later moved to Germany for his studies and to launch his teaching career, serving as successor to Martin Buber in Frankfort for a time. He was forced out of Germany in 1938 by the Nazis. After teaching at London and Cincinnati, he went to Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where he spent the rest of his career save a few stints as visiting chair at other universities. Heschel shared with Merton a way to both speak of God's majesty while remaining prophetic. Heschel wrote of many justice issues of the day in solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr., and with those opposing the Vietnam War. Merton initiates correspondence with Heschel in 1960. They discussed the Second Vatican Council's statement against war, Schema 13, part of which became «Gaudium et Spes», the "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World". Merton was also lending support to the Council's statement on interfaith dialog, which became «Nostra Aetate», the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions". When a compromise version of the statement came out that watered down the Jewish-Catholic dialog and had a condescending tone, Merton expressed his disappointment to Heschel and desire for greater unity, "This much I will say: my latent ambitions to be a true Jew under my Catholic skin will surely be realized if I continue to go through experiences like this, being spiritually slapped in the face by these blind and complacent people of whom I am nevertheless a 'collaborator'" (1964/09/09 letter from Merton to Heschel). (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 430 .)
Fr. Hidulphe was of the Priory of Sainte-Marie de la Bouenza-Madingou in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
Sr. Elizabeth Hillman was a Cenacle Sister of the Convent of Our Lady of the Retreat in the Cenacle in Lancaster, Massachusetts. She had attended Columbia University but left to serve as a nurse in World War II in 1942 and joined the Cenacle Sisters on her return to the United States after the war. She mentions Ruth Boyer and her husband who were friends of Merton in their youth. She also notes her appreciation for his writing, but an uncertainty about whether either side of the war issue, "the hawks or doves", really have it figured out.
Marie Hitchen writes from Wilmington, Delaware.
Paula Hocks was later known as a photographer and book artist. At the time of correspondence with Merton, she had spent time interacting with the Trappist nuns at Redwoods Monastery and was on faculty at University of California at San Diego in La Jolla. Merton was encouraging her interest in sacred art. Before she had established herself as an artist, she had offered to do typing for Merton. She became Editor of a small poetry magazine at UCSD while teaching in the Philosophy Department. She would later move to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Hallock Hoffman writes from the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California, and was a colleague of W. H. "Ping" Ferry.
Fr. Edward Holtam was an Episcopal priest of the Society of St. John the Evangelist and writes from Cambridge, Massachusetts. They discuss an article Merton wrote about Christian non-violence.
Msgr. Alfred Horrigan, Bellarmine's first president, served from 1950-1973. He assisted Fr. John Loftus in the establishment of the Merton collection at Bellarmine.
Jo Hubacher writes from Toledo, Ohio.
Sr. James Ellen Huff was the College Librarian for Catherine Spalding College in Louisville (now known as Spalding University) at the time of writing.
Aloys Landes was Director of Development for Catherine Spalding College in Louisville, Kentucky.
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.
Joseph Jean Lanza del Vasto was a Christian disciple of Gandhi who founded the Ark communities (Communautés de l'Arche) in France in the 1940's. They were committed to peace, non-violence and living a self-sustaining lifestyle that was not damaging to the environment or exploitative of other people.
Maurice Lavanoux was an architect with Gustave E. Steinback in New York and Maginnis and Walsh in Boston. He founded the Liturgical Arts Society in 1928 and was editor of «Liturgical Arts» from 1931 to 1972.
Hernán Lavín Cerda is a poet who was born in Chile in 1939. Merton first contacts him in 1965, regarding some help he sought in regard to the translation of some poems. Lavín Cerda had to flee Chile after the military coup of 1973 and settled in Mexico City as a professor. He continued to write poetry and published a number of volumes. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 204.)
Dom Louis de Gonzague Le Pennuen was a Trappist monk who became Abbot of Our Lady of Melleray in France from 1949-1958. Melleray is the motherhouse of Gethsemani Abbey, so the abbot of this monastery was important in decisions affecting Merton. Le Pennuen was replaced by Dom Colomban Bissey.
Thomas W. Leavitt was Director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and asks Merton about displaying some of his art in Santa Barbara.
Fr. Jouis-B. Leduc was a Dominican priest writing from Kyoto, Japan.
Dom Paulinus Lee was the founder of a Trappist monastery on Lantao Island near Hong Kong. Having been born in Peking, he became a entered the Trappist Monastery of Consolation, Yang Kia Ping, in 1919. In 1941, he elected as Titular Prior at Our Lady of Joy, but had to flee Communist oppression and found a new monastery near Hong Kong in the late 1940's. (Source: website of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Archives, ‹http://archives.catholic.org.hk/memory/P-Lee.htm›; originally appearing in the 1980/08/08 edition of Hong Kong's Catholic Sunday Examiner, ‹http://sundayex.catholic.org.hk/›.)
Hellmut Emil Lehmann-Haupt was the author of «Art Under a Dictatorship», describing the policies to censor and control art under the totalitarian regimes. Lehmann-Haupt was born in Germany but lived and was schooled in a number of different countries, including England and Turkey. After his doctoral studies, he spent time as a rare book dealer and later museum curator in Germany before moving to the United States in 1929. He spent a number of years at Columbia University as rare books curator, leaving in 1950 to pursue further research and writing. In the late nineteen forties, he advised the United States military occupation forces in Germany on matters related to art and cultural treasures, which led to the publication of «Art Under a Dictatorship» in the mid-fifties. He published a number of other books concerning rare books and art in both German and English. (Source: "Lehmann-Haupt, Hellmut." Current Biography. 1961. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University W.L. Lyons Brown Library, Louisville, KY. 19 Aug. 2005. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Harding Lemay was Vice President for Trade at Alfred A. Knopf publishers.
"Dom Gregorio Lemercier was Superior of an experimental Benedictine monastery at Cuernavaca in Mexico" at the time of these letters. (Source: «The School of Charity», p. 68.)
Lillie Lenihan writes from Palo Alto, California.
Sr. Thérèse Lentfoehr was a Salvatorian religious sister, who was a poet, author, lecturer and one of the foremost early Merton scholars. She was born and lived most of her life in Wisconsin. She first contacted Merton in 1939 in praise of one of his poems, and she contacted him again in 1948 to discuss Merton's review of Lentfoehr's book of Marian poems, «I Sing of a Maiden». From this time, Merton and Lentfoehr became regular correspondents until Merton's death in 1968. Merton would often send her his manuscripts, and amassed a large early Merton collection, which she donated to Columbia University. In 1967, Lentfoehr came to Gethsemani to visit Merton. (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 187.)
Denise Levertov was a English-born poet who moved to the United States in 1948 after marrying an American, Mitchell Goodman. Goodman introduced Levertov to Robert Creeley of Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. Creeley's direct style and derivation from the poetry establishment influenced Levertov's writing. Although published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and associated with the Beat writers, Levertov resisted this comparison and criticized much of what the movement stood for. She was an anti-war activist and campaigned against the Vietnam War. Levertov first writes to Merton to ask whether he would send a poem for the War Resisters' League Engagement Calendar in July of 1967. Wendell Berry brought Denise Levertov to meet Merton at his hermitage on December 10, 1967 (which is recounted on that date in his published journals). Besides Levertov's letter, there had been some correspondence from Merton to Levertov ("two brief business notes" according to the 1973 letter by Richard Edelman), which are not extant. (Source: "Levertov, Denise." World Authors. 1991. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 07 Sep. 2005. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Fr. Thomas J. Liang was a priest of St. Leo's Church in Oakland, California. He was a refugee priest from China who came to the United States in 1951. He wrote to Merton concerning the Christian Unity Corps, which hosted international students. (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 321.)
Paulo Alceu Amoroso was a Brazilian scholar, teacher, and writer of over eighty books on a variety of subjects. Among his interests, he wrote about social justice and was an early Latin American influence on Merton. He wrote prefaces and introductions to some of Merton's earlier works in Portuguese, while translating some of his later works. (Source: «The Courage for Truth», p. 164.)
Cecil Robert Lloyd writes on behalf of a authors and poets series to be hosted by Radio KHFM of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Michael Looby was a student at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. He asks Merton to defend his stand against the Vietnam War.
Richard M. (Dick) Loomis was a former monk of Gethsemani who went by the religious name of "Cuthbert". He narrated "Laudate Dominum", an album of Gregorian Chant for which Merton provided the program notes.
Else B. Lorch was Assistant to James Laughlin at New Directions. She writes from New York.
Mother Marie de Lourdes was of the Society of St. Ursula of the Blessed Virgin from Tours, France. She came to the United States in 1965 to visit her community's foundation in Kingston, New York. She arranged to meet Merton to discuss aggiornamento or reform in the religious life.
A poet in his own right, Walter Lowenfels might be better known as an anthologist of 20th century radical poetry. A member of the Communist party, he wrote for the «Daily Worker» from the 1930's through the early 1950's. Solely based on his Communist Party membership, he was arrested and convicted of trying to overthrow the United States government in 1953, such charges being cleared in a matter of weeks. In the late 1950's, he focused more on writing poetry and publishing anthologies. Besides liking Lowenfels poems in «To an Imaginary Daughter», Merton gives Lowenfels praise for his anthology, «Where Is Vietnam?» (Source: "Walter Lowenfels, 1897-1976. American author and editor." Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Library Department of Special Collections website. 27 July 2004. Accessed 16 September 2005. ‹http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/manuscripts/mlc/lowenfels/lowenfels.html›.)
Sr. Lucilla was a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet writing from Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts.
Br. Edmund Lum was a Trappist monk of Gethsemani Abbey. His name outside of religious life is Theodore Lum.
Andrew Nelson Lytle was an author of essays, novels and short stories, a professor of history and creative writing, and an editor. Lytle writes to Merton as editor of «The Sewanee Review», a quarterly published by the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Merton became a regular contributor to this publication. In addition, Lytle often sent books of interest to Merton.
Herbert D. Magidson writes from Beverly Hills, California, on behalf of Individuals against the Crime of Silence, an organization opposed to the Vietnam War.
Carolyn W. Mallison writes from Watertown, New York.
Archimandrite Laurence Mancuso founded the Monks of New Skete in Cambridge, New York, in 1966. In his first letter to Merton in 1961, he was a Franciscan priest in the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite, living in New Canaan, Connecticut. After founding New Skete, he joined the Orthodox Church in America.
Fr. Richard Marimon writes from New York, but undersigns that he is a Spanish priest from the Diocese of Ponce.
Merton writes to Lillian Marks in response to her criticism of his article "Blessed are the Meek" from the edition of «Fellowship» (published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation) from May of 1967. Merton took an ironic tone in the article. Marks thought that Merton crossed the line and hampered ecumenical dialogue in employing the term "international Jewry", even if the tone was that of irony. Merton apologizes and pledges to be more careful in the future.
Reginald Marsh was a artist and friend of Owen Merton, Thomas' father and another artist. Unlike Owen, who tended toward watercolor landscapes, Marsh is often considered of the Social Realist school, reporting in detail urban life in the 1930's through his paintings and drawings. Merton writes to Marsh in April of 1932 while on Easter holiday from Oakham in Germany and writes again from Oakham. He would spend most of the summer of 1933 at Marsh's studio in Greenwich Village in New York. (Source: The Seven Mountains of Thomas Merton by Michael Mott, pp. 61 and 73.)
Mary Declan Martin was a student in the education department of Brescia College in Owensboro, Kentucky. She asks Merton about his educational philosophy.
Mother Agnes Mary was from the Monastery of Poor Clares of Newport News, Virginia.
Sr. Mary Catherine of the Heart of Christ was a nun of the Carmel of the Holy Family in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Sr. Mary Evangeline was Executive Secretary of the Sister Formation Conference. She writes from Washington, D.C.
Sr. Mary Immaculate was from the Congregation of the Holy Cross at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Sr. Mary Immaculate was one of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Saint Mary Convent in Monroe, Michigan.
Sr. Mary of the Heart of Jesus was Sub-prioress of the Carmel at Waterbeach, near Cambridge, England.
Sr. Mary Ruth of the Holy Infant writes from the Maryknoll Cloister in Maryknoll, New York.
Sr. Mary St. Thomas was the Anglican contemplative community of the Society of the Precious Blood at Burnham Abbey in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.
Herbert Mason is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies in the history and religion departments of Boston University in Massachusetts. He first became interested in his field through contact with Louis Massignon. Mason later introduced Merton to Massignon. Mason has written and translated many middle eastern texts from a narrative on the Gilgamesh epic to a translation of Massignon's most famous work, «The Passion of al-Hallaj». (Sources: «Witness to Freedom», p. 259; and "Herbert Mason" Boston University (website). Accessed 5 Dec. 2005. ‹http://www.bu.edu/uni/faculty/profiles/mason.html›.)
Jacques Masui writes from Switzerland on behalf of the magazine «Hermes».
Fr. Francis J. Matthews writes on behalf of the National Association for Pastoral Renewal. He was also the Director of the Catholic Radio and Television Apostolate for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri, and was the Executive Secretary of the National Carta Foundation (NCF).
Edward McCarthy was a teacher at a Catholic grammar school in Coventry, England.
Fr. Thomas McCarthy (known as Fr. Malachy with the Trappists) was a monk at the time of writing at New Melleray Abbey in Dubuque, Iowa.
Vincent A. McCrossen was a professor at Boston College. He writes from Lexington, Massachusetts.
Thomas P. McDonnell was a staff writer for «The Pilot», a publication of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts. He often wrote book reviews about Merton's books, edited «A Thomas Merton Reader», and interviewed Merton for «Motive», a magazine affiliated with the Methodist Student Movement. McDonnell often sent Merton other reviews and articles he had written for «The Pilot» and other publications.
Christopher McFadden writes from Wilton, Connecticut.
Dom Robert McGann was abbot of the Trappist monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Ghost (Holy Ghost Abbey) in Conyers, Georgia. He became abbot after Dom James Fox left in 1948 to become abbot of Gethsemani Abbey. He asks Merton some questions about the scholasticate.
Fr. Cornelius McMenamin was a Trappist monk of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia.
Br. Basil McMurray was a Trappist monk of Gethsemani and former novice of Thomas Merton's. He later received permission to live as a hermit at Mount Saviour Monastery in New York.
Chris McNair was the father of Carole Denise McNair, one of the children killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. He took a picture of his daughter that was included in «Look», which Merton saved and wrote a poem about called "Picture of a Black Child with a White Doll." He captioned the photo, "Carole Denise McNair, one of the four bomb-murdered Negro children, never learned to hate." (Source: «The Road to Joy», p. 332.)
Carey McWilliams was Editor of «The Nation» magazine from New York, as well as a liberal social critic and author of a number of books.
John O. Meany was a visiting professor in the Education Department at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Dr. Joost A.M. Meerloo was a Dutch-born psychoanalyst specializing in the area of thought control techniques used by totalitarian regimes. Most of his family were killed by the Nazis, but he escaped to England in 1942 from a Nazi prison in the Netherlands. In 1946, he emigrated to the United States and took residence in New York where he continued to writes books and continue his practice as a psychoanalyst. He coined the term "mentacide", the killing of the mind as employed in brain-washing techniques. After writing to each other for since 1962, Meerloo visits Gethsemani in November of 1967 (see Merton's journal entry from November 7, 1967). His books include «Homo Militans», «The Psychology of War and Peace in Man», «Delusion and Mass Delusion», and «The Rape of the Mind». (Source: "Meerloo, Joost A. M." Current Biography. 1962. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 13 Dec. 2005. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Fr. Charles Meeus writes from the Archdiocese of Taegu [Daegu] in South Korea. He discusses Korean translations of Merton's "The General Dance" and a haiku by Merton, "Japanese Frog".
Fr. Michael D. Meilach was a Franciscan priest and Assistant Editor of «The Cord», "a spiritual Franciscan review". He writes from St. Bonaventure, New York.
Carmen de Mello translated some of Merton's poems into Portuguese from "Poesias" by Ernesto Cardenal. The work was entitled «Vinho do silencio (Poesias)», and is an equivalent of «Selected Poems» in Portuguese. Carmen de Mello writes from Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Frederick Merida writes from the Corner Shop and Gallery in Anchorage, Kentucky. He asks if Merton would like to exhibit some of his artwork at his gallery.
Beatrice Katherine Merton was Owen Merton's sister and Tom's Aunt "Ka". She was a nurse in Christchurch, New Zealand. She visited Tom Merton once in 1922 in Douglaston, New York. (Source: The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, p. 293).