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Br. David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk who has been a pioneer in Christian-Buddhist dialogue, renewal in of the monastic life and interest in spirituality. He was born and educated through the doctoral level in Austria and was born in Vienna. In 1952, he came with his family to the United States. Shortly afterward, he joined the new Benedictine monastery of Mount Saviour near Elmira, New York, founded by Merton's friend Dom Damasus Winzen. ("Br. David Steindl Rast". Website of Gratefulness.org. Accessed 25 May 2006. ‹http://www.gratefulness.org/brotherdavid/bio.htm›.)

Fr. Clifford Stevens is a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, and author of a number of books on religion, religious history and morality. In the 1950's, he spent some time in seminary at the Trappist monastery of New Melleray in Iowa, but was disillusioned by changes in the order. He continued as a diocesan priest at other seminaries. During the 1960's, he served as an Air Force chaplain, writing to Merton from assignments in San Francisco, California, and from Itazuke, Japan, until 1969. After some assignments in New York and New Mexico, he has spent most of his life in Nebraska. In the 1980's, Stevens pursued his dream of founding a monastery with a purer ideal than he had seen in contemporary orders. He founded Tintern Monastery, a contemplative house of prayer, on a farm near Oakdale, Nebraska. He began with a group of previously ordained priests. Although many inquired about his monastery, few stayed, and the experiment was ended. (Source: "Clifford Stevens." Contemporary Authors Online. 2001. Thomson Gale. Bellarmine University Library. 26 May 2006 ‹http://galenet.galegroup.com›.)

Daisetz T. Suzuki was one of the most influential scholars in bringing Zen Buddhism to the West. He was born in Kanazawa, Japan. He taught at universities in Europe, Japan and the United States. Merton rarely traveled during his years at Gethsemani Abbey, but received permission in 1964 to visit Suzuki at Columbia University in New York. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», pp. 560-561.)

Peter Dunne was executive director of The Temple of Understanding in Washington, D.C. The organization was founded to promote interreligious dialog and to build a center in Washington to facilitate interfaith education (later, programming of educational programs became the sole emphasis and the idea of building a center was abandoned). Merton was invited to speak at the first international conference of the organization in Calcutta and was able to make this a part of his journey to Asia.

Juan García Elorrio was Secretary General of the Encuentro Latino-Americano Camilo Torres to be held in Montevideo, Uruguay on February 15, 1968, and invites Merton's contributions. He supported the Movimiento de Sacerdotes del Tercer Mundo (Priests in the Third World Movement) and was Editor of the magazine «Cristianismo y Revolución» in Argentina. He writes from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Knut Erichson writes from Bonn am Rein on behalf of the publisher Bonner Buchgemeinde. Having been impressed with Merton's drawings that were published in Clare Booth Luce's «Saints for Now» of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and of St. John of the Cross, Erichson asks Merton to send a drawing of St. Catherine of Siena for an edition of Sigrid Undset's book on the saint, «Katharina Benincasa». The book was published by Verlag Bonner Buchgemeinde in 1954 with Merton's drawing of St. Catherine on the front cover of the dust jacket.

Joseph Ferraro was assistant professor of philosophy at University of the Americas in Mexico at the time of writing to Merton. He had written a dissertation on the theological virtues of St. John of the Cross and the relation to St. Thomas Aquinas, «Las virtudes teologales en la doctrina de San Juan de la Cruz».

Fran Fevrier took over the role as poetry editor for «The Florida Quarterly» from Martin Lee Curry who became general editor. This literary magazine began at University of Florida in Gainesville in 1967 and was the first of its kind at the university. Curry convinced Merton to send in a poem for the first issue. Merton also contributed the poem "Welcome" for the second issue, which was published in November of 1967.

Flanagan, usually publishing under Fr. M. Raymond, was another Gethsemani author whose writing career started in the early forties, slightly before Merton's, and ran contemporaneously with Merton's through the late sixties. Quite different in style and substance from Merton's work, Flanagan's books include «The Man Who Got Even with God», «God Goes to Murderers Row», and «Burnt-Out Incense». Merton and Flanagan often saw each other at opposing ends of disagreements about theology or the training of novices.

Howard Frankl met Ernesto Cardenal while in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Cardenal was Frankl's godfather and instructed him in catechism. Frankl spent over two months as a retreatant at the Benedictine community of Nuestra Senora de la Resurrecion. This was the community of another Merton correspondent, Dom Gregorio Lemercier. Under pressure from the Vatican, the community was disbanded and Lemercier laicized in the late 1960's. Ernesto Cardenal shared his Merton correspondence with Frankl. Cardenal liked Frankl's poems and translated some of them into Spanish. Frankl initiates correspondence with Merton by sending some of his poems.

Peter Geist writes from Matinicus Island, Maine and Saint Louis, Missouri. He was a professor of industrial design at Washington University in Saint Louis and designed books and corporate logos. Merton contacts him to design a books of pictures about Gethsemani Abbey, «Monastic Life at Gethsemani» (1965, softcover) and «Gethsemani: A Life of Praise» (1966, hardcover).

Michael M. George was Program Officer for the Council on Leaders and Specialists (CLS) and writes from Washington, D.C. He was trying to arrange for Dr. Alberto Caturelli, an Argentine philosopher, to meet Merton. Merton agreed but Dr. Caturelli later cancelled due to a heavy schedule.

Dom Aelred Graham was a Benedictine monk from Ampleforth Abbey in England. From 1951-1967, he served as superior of the Portsmouth Priory in Rhode Island. All letters by Graham are addressed from Portsmouth, Rhode Island, except the 1968 letters and others as noted. (Source: Obituary of Fr. Aelred Graham from the Ampleforth Abbey Library by Fr. Patrick Barry, O.S.B., ‹http://www.monlib.org.uk/obits/barry/graham_a.htm›.)

Marlon D. Green became the first African-American to be hired as a commercial pilot for a major airline. He was an experienced Air Force pilot, and though there was a need for pilots after World War II, minorities were not being hired for pilot positions in civilian life. He protested these discriminatory practices since the late 1950's, but was not hired until the Supreme Court ruled in his favor in 1963.

Leif Gustafson was a Radio Officer for UNEF (United Nations Emergency Force to secure the troop withdrawal from Egypt and keep peace with Israel). He was originally from Sweden and a convert to Catholicism. The UNEF headquarters was Beirut, Lebanon, but Gustafson traveled throughout Palestine and writes from Gaza.

Alfred B. Hailparn was a friend of Merton's while at Columbia University. Hailparn's father was a liquor distributor in Yonkers, to which Merton makes reference in the second letter. In 1936, Merton was the editor-in-chief of the Columbia yearbook, «Columbian», and Hailparn was managing editor. They were working on the yearbook for May of 1937. (Source: «Witness to Freedom», p. 156.)

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.

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.

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 .)