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Dom M. Basil (Robert) Pennington was a Trappist monk, author, editor, lecturer and abbot. He joined St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts in 1951. In the early 1960's, he studied canon law at Gregorian University in Rome and returned to teach at Spencer. He began correspondence with Merton upon appointment in 1967 to reform the Trappist order's constitution. He was instrumental in launching Cistercian Publications (later Cistercian Studies) in the late 1960's. In the 1970's, he visited the Orthodox monks at Mt. Athos and began writing about Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. During this time, he also became interested in Centering Prayer and became one of its proponents, conducting numerous workshops on the subject. He spent eight years at Our Lady of Joy on Lantao Island near Hong Kong beginning in 1991. He traveled much through Asia and furthered interfaith dialogue with eastern religions. In 1999, he came back to the United States, briefly serving as superior of monasteries in Ava, Missouri, and Conyers, Georgia, before returning to Spencer. In March of 2005, he was in an accident from which he never fully recovered. In June of 2005, he succumbed to complications from the accident. He left behind a large corpus of writings. He wrote some reflections on Merton, including a book about a retreat he made at Merton's hermitage. (Source: "Dom M. Basil (Robert) Pennington, OCSO". Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. website. 2 Feb. 2006. ‹http://www.centeringprayer.com/newsltrs/basil.htm›.)

Poet Simon Perchik was an attorney living in Staten Island, New York, at the time of writing to Merton. He was born in New Jersey and now resides in East Hampton, New York. As a young man, he worked as a milkman and served as a bomber pilot during the Second World War. Merton includes him in the first volume of «Monks Pond». In the November 15, 2000 «Library Journal», Perchik was described as "the most widely published unknown poet in America..." (Source: "Simon Perchik Poetry Page". Perchik's website. 2 Feb. 2006. ‹http://www.geocities.com/simonthepoet/›)

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›.)

Dom Pedro Pérez was from the Benedictine Monasterio de las Condes in Santiago, Chile. In 1959, he asks some questions regarding the observance of the rule at Gethsemani and policies for novices. In 1964, he asks a number of questions regarding «aggiornamento», or reform, of religious life.

Anne Perkins worked for Harper and Brothers publishers while writing to Merton. She introduced Merton, via mail, to another author published by Harper, Abraham Heschel. She writes from New York.

Pheme Perkins was a graduate student in scripture and philosophy at the time of writing to Merton.

Dom Placide Pernot was a Benedictine monk writing from the monastery of Toumliline in Azrou, Morocco. At the time, he was sub-prior of the monastery.

Mother Peter of the Holy Face was a Carmelite nun and Prioress of the community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Barrie Peterson writes Merton from Princeton Theological Seminary about the idea of forming a "'radical Community' or commune".

Fr. Callistus Peterson was a Trappist monk, originally from Gethsemani Abbey. In the early letters, he was studying in Rome. Later, he was sent to the Trappist foundation in Las Condes, Chile.

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».

Fr. Robert B. Pfisterer was a Franciscan priest of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

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.

Paul-Pierre Cardinal Philippe was a Dominican priest who initially taught at the Pontificium Athenaeum Angelicum in Rome. In 1959, he became secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for Religious. In 1967, he became secretary of Doctrine of the Faith for the Roman Curia, and was elevated to cardinal in 1973. Philippe had been to Gethsemani and spoke to the community.

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

John-Francis Phipps wrote the book «Look Forward in Joy» and hoped Merton could help him find a publisher in the United States. He writes from Wimbleton, England.

John Pick was a professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was chairman of the University Committee on the Fine Arts and arranged to have a display of Merton's calligraphic drawings, entitled "Forty-Three Signatures", displayed at Marquette.

Barbara Pickett was a reference librarian at the Louisville Free Public Library in Kentucky. Merton contributes a piece to their staff newsletter, «Staff Log», entitled, "My Visits to the Secular Bookhouse".

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.

Mara Ann Pinto was a high school student from South Euclid, Ohio, who had recently read «The Seven Storey Mountain». She mentions her initial "aversion to reading books by priests and nuns"; however, she was glad to have read the book and mentions its profound effect on her.

Br. M. Placid was a Trappist monk of the Southern Star Abbey in Kopua, New Zealand. He asks Merton some questions regarding monastic formation, solitude, Dechanet's book on yoga, and the "Prayer of Jesus.

Allen Planz and Carl Larsen were editing an anthology of poems concerning race and civil rights in the United States. They ask for Merton's contributions. Allen Planz writes from New York.

Fr. Thomas Plassmann was a Franciscan priest and President of St. Bonaventure College in New York.

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

Joseph Polansky writes from St. Anthony's Church in Pollansbee, West Virginia.

Fr. Alfred Pooler was a Passionist priest that helped in the early years of the Thomas Merton Center in contacting people who had been in correspondence with Thomas Merton.

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.

Dom Jean Baptiste Porion was a French Carthusian monk of Le Grande Chartreuse, who later served as Procurator General for the Carthusians in Rome, Italy.

Arabel J. Porter was senior editor of the New American Library (NAL), publishers of the various Signet series among others.

Fr. Thomas Aquinas Porter was one of the Cistercian censors that needed to approve Merton's writings before publication. He writes from Holy Trinity Abbey in Huntsville, Utah.

Fr. Alexius T. Portz was the founding director of the St. John's University Institude for Mental Health in Collegeville, Minnesota.

The poet Clarence Poulin wrote to Merton from Penacook, New Hampshire.

At the time of writing to Merton, Sr. Mary James Power, SSND, was principal and a teacher at Girls Catholic High School in Malden, Massachusetts. She also served as secondary schools supervisor for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, New England Province. She wrote two books, «Poets at Prayer» (1938) and «In the Name of the Bee: The significance of Emily Dickinson» (1943), as well as making important contributions to scholarly publications. (Biographical information courtesy of research conducted by John Collins.)

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».