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).
Ira Sandperl was a friend and mentor of Joan Baez and came with her to visit Merton in December of 1966. Sandperl was an authority on Gandhi and co-founded a peace institute with Joan Baez.
A Cypriot by birth, Costas Papademas first writes after meeting Merton at Gethsemani, In 1963, while he was a professor in the Journalism Department of Indiana University in Bloomington. He came with a delegation of journalist from around the world (see a letter to Merton from October, 21, 1963 signed by all the foreign journalists). When unrest broke out in Cyprus in 1964, he returned to his native country. Later, he served as Cyprian ambassador in London and in Washington, D.C.
Charles Stanley Thompson worked for the British National Heath Service. He converted to Catholicism in 1954. He became involved in a peace organization called the Pax Society, which later allied with the Pax Christi International movement. Thompson served as bulletin editor for the British society's «Pax Bulletin» from 1956-1963. He was also chairperson until 1971. (Source: «The Hidden Ground of Love», p. 571.)
Joe Dobson writes from Yonkers, New York.
Ernst Fromm was Director of Livraria AGIR Editóra (Artes, Gráficas, Indústrias, Reunidas, S.A. [AGIR]) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Kenneth Seeman Giniger was head of the Layman's National Bible Committee, publisher of "The Catholic Bible in the St. Peter's Edition."
Catherine Hughes seems to have been an editor at Sheed and Ward publishers.
Fr. M. Jacques was a monk of the Trappist Abbey of Cîteaux in France.
Fr. Nivard Kinsella was a Trappist monk of Mount Saint Joseph Abbey in Roscrea (Ros Cré), Ireland. (Previously filed under "Nivard, Br., O.C.S.O." and moved in 2022.)
According to James A. Ward, the author of a biography of Merton's friend W. H. Ferry, Robert McVeigh was as a young activist at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California, where Ferry was Vice-President during the 1960's. Ward states that he became "a chiropractor and teacher of earth sciences" who "shared with Ping [W. H. Ferry] a common affection and respect for Thomas Merton and his ideas." (Ward, James A. «Ferrytale: The Career of W. H. "Ping" Ferry». CA, Stanford University Press, 2001: pp. 189-190.)
Vladimir Mertsalov was Director of the Institut zur Erforschung der UdSSRe.V. in Munich, Germany.
Catherine Meyer was an editor for «Harper's Magazine» and writes from New York.
Mother Michael of Christ the King was a nun of the Carmel of Our Lady of the Mountains in Reno, Nevada.
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.
Former monk of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. Previously listed under Fr. Anselm, O.C.S.O. (updated 2016).
Merton notes on copy of letter that Fr. Antoine is a Canadian Trappist.
Sr. Mary Antonella is was an administrator of the St. Joseph Infirmary in Louisville at the time of writing.
Br. Antoninus, who later went back to his birth name of William Everson, was a Californian poet associated with the San Francisco Renaissance and Beat movements, publishing under both his secular and religious names. He joined the Dominican Order in 1951 after a second failed marriage and remained a religious brother through his correspondence with Merton. In 1969, he left the Dominicans to enter a third marriage. He founded Lime Kiln Press and taught at University of California, Santa Cruz, which not only allowed him to continue his poetry, but also made him known as a master printer. (Sources: Nelson, Cary [ed]. An Online Journal and Multimedia Companion to the «Anthology of Modern American Poetry». Oxford University Press, 2000. ‹http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/everson/about.htm›.)
Sr. Marie Augustin is writing from a Trappistine monastery in Laval, France.
Fr. Pierre Babin, O.M.I. is writing as director of "Monde et Foi: Collection Internationale de Catéchèse pour Jeunes".
Betsi Baeten was in eighth grade from West de Pere, Wisconsin, when she wrote to Merton. She was seeking some words for him on civil rights as she was serving as moderator for a group presenting this issue at a P.T.A. (Parent Teacher Association) meeting.
Sr. Mary Julian Baird is writing as a staff editor of the New Catholic Encyclopedia in Washington, D.C.
Ernest Barr was an author writing to Merton from Toronto.
This is likely the same Marion Barry who would later become a long-time mayor of Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Bartelme was a publishing agent for Macmillan. She seemed to know some acquaintances of Merton's, such as Philip and Dan Berrigan and Ed Rice, and keep him informed of what was happening with them.
María Luisa Bastos is writing on behalf of the Argentinean magazine «Sur» ("the South"), founded by Victoria Ocampo.
Fr. R. J. Batten was a Dominican priest writing from Wahroonga, New South Wales.
Dorothy Beck was the author of some Zen stories and poems that Merton published in «Monks Pond». At the time of writing, she was working the in the Archives Department at Dartmouth College.
Iris Weiss Bennett was the widow of Merton's guardian in England, Dr. Tom Izod Bennett. Communication between the Bennett's and Merton was few and far between after Merton left Cambridge.
Philip Berrigan was a social activist and writer whose acts of civil disobedience during the Vietnam War made him a household name in the peace movement. Younger brother of Daniel Berrigan, he became a priest like his brother, but with the Josephites instead of the Jesuits. He would later marry and would be excommunicated. Throughout his life, he continued to protest nuclear proliferation in the United States and was often imprisoned for his actions.
Wendell Berry is a farmer and writer of poetry, novels, prose, and essays. He writes to Merton from Port Royal, Kentucky. Themes in his writings include concern for the land, environmental conservation, the value of work, and the culture of agricultural communities.x000D
Merton began a correspondence with Berry as he began to come of his own as a poet and author. Berry had returned to a family farm in his native Kentucky and was a professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Merton could appreciate Berry's simple life of nature and solitude on a farm and employing traditional agricultural means, both critical of the effects of modern farm machinery on rural life. Though Berry claimed that his poems could only loosely be considered haiku, Merton referred to them as such and included some in his magazine «Monks Pond». Berry shared Merton's opposition to Vietnam and knew many of Merton's friends from Lexington.
John Biram was originally from England and moved to the United States around 1960. A couple of years later, he would quit his job as a scientist and focus on writing. He wrote poems and includes one called "A Cocktail Party" with this letter to Merton. He also writes about the negative effects of technology in a book called «Teknosis», which would be published until 11 years after this correspondence (1978).
Genowefa Bogatynska writes from Poland.
Mrs. A. Boodoosingh was Foreign Rights Secretary for Darton, Longman and Todd Limited in London.
Cameron Borton is writing as Pastor of the North Congregational Church in Winchendon, Massachusetts.