Dom Vital Klinski was born in Poland. In 1904, he entered the Cistercian Abbey of Achel in Belgium and was elected their abbot in 1920. By 1927, he left for the United States to join Gethsemani. He was Merton's confessor at the time of correspondence. (… Read more
Sr. John Marie Klisiewicz was a Sister of St. Ann of Providence at Mount Saint Ann in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.
Perry Knowlton was an editor and later Vice President of Curtis Brown publishers.
Franz Cardinal König was Archbishop of Vienna, Austria.
Frank Kowalski was a United States Representative for Connecticut. He writes from his office in Washington, D.C. Kowalski retired from the military as a colonel in 1958 and had served under Dwight Eisenhower in World War II. He was a Democrat and voted… Read more
Marcelle Kraemer-Bach and Pierre Kraemer-Raine were from the French law firm representing the Abbey of Gethsemani while Marie Tadié, a translator and agent for some of Merton's works in romance languages, was threatening a law suit concerning her role as… Read more
Gilda Kuhlman was Production Editor for New Directions and writes from Norfolk, Connecticut.
Pedro Juan Labarthe was a poet originally from Latin American and a friend of Ernesto Cardenal and Cesar Vallejo. He writes from Hudson, Illinois.
Lionel Landry was Director of the Asia Society, a group found in 1956 to promote intercultural dialog between Asia and the United States. Landry writes from New York.
Alfred H. Lane was Head of the Gift and Exchange office of Columbia University in New York.
Sarah Lansdell was an art critic for the Louisville Courier Journal. She wrote an article in November of 1964 concerning the drawings Merton was exhibiting at Spalding College.
Archbishop (later elevated to Cardinal) Arcadio Larraona was a head of the Sacred Congregation for Religious at the Vatican. He wrote the prologue to the Italian translation of «The Ascent to Truth».
Pasteur Jean Lasserre was a traveling secretary of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and worked with Jean Goss (see the "Goss-Mayr, Hildegard" file). He writes from Lyon, France. In France, IFOR was called the Mouvement International… Read more
Irving Laucks writes from Santa Barbara, California.
Sr. Mary Laurence writes from Holy Cross Abbey in the United Kingdom.
John Lawrence was Editor of «Frontier», a literary journal from London.
Sr. Marie Lawrence was a Religious Sister of Mercy from Albany, New York.
Robert Lax was a minimalist poet and Merton's closest friend from his Columbia University days. Bob Lax was born in Olean, New York, into a Jewish family. His family later moved to New York. At Columbia, he met Merton through mutual involvement in the… Read more
Richard C. Leach was President of Argus Communications in Chicago, Illinois. He asks Merton to write a homily for Easter to be included in a series written and recorded by a number of prominent Christian names from various denominations. His sermon was… Read more
Fr. John Leary was a Jesuit priest and President of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
Paris Leary writes from New Paltz, New York. The two letters are listed as from Paris Leary and Robert Kelly, editors at Doubleday, but are signed exclusively by Paris Leary.
Juan Liscano was a poet, literary critic, essayist and editor of such literary magazines as «Zona Franca». He writes from Caracas, Venezuela.
Claire Livingston was a poet and professional violinist who taught at North Hennepin State Junior College in Osseo, Minnesota. Her husband, Ray (see "Livingston, Ray F." file), was first in contact with Merton and sent him some of Claire's poetry. Merton… Read more
Ray Livingston was chair of the Department of English at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Fr. Loftus served as the academic dean of Bellarmine College from 1953 until his death in 1969. He chair the committee for the establishment of a collection of Merton's papers at Bellarmine. In 1960, Merton would sometimes visit . Loftus was a fan of… Read more
Kenneth A. Lohf was Assistant Librarian for Special Collections at Columbia University in New York.
Fr. Benedict Lohr was a Trappist monk of Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville, Virginia. He was writing as editor of «Monastic Studies» and asked if Merton would contribute a piece for an issue about the Advent-Nativity Mystery.
Sr. Lone was a Carmelite nun from Norfolk, England.
Fr. Johann Lotz was a German Jesuit priest and Catholic existentialist philosopher who was the author of a number of book and was planning to visit Merton at Gethsemani.
Dom André Louf was a Cistercian monk and author of books on contemplative prayer. He was of the abbey of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont at Mont-des-Cats in France. In 1963, he became abbot of this monastery.