Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
- Laughlin, James, 1914-1997
- Laughlin, James, 1914-1997
Other form(s) of name
- James Laughlin
- Jim Laughlin
- J. Laughlin
- Laughlin, J.
- Laughlin, Jim
- James Laughlin
- Jim Laughlin
- J. Laughlin
- Laughlin, J.
- Laughlin, Jim
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
James Laughlin and Merton first came to known each other through Merton's former professor at Columbia University, poet Mark Van Doren. Van Doren recommended some of Merton's poems to Laughlin for his publishing house, New Directions. These poems became Merton's first published book, Thirty Poems. Laughlin, having been born into a wealthy steel-producing family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, decided he would rather enter the literary world. He attended Harvard and, during his years there, went to Europe and met Ezra Pound, who encouraged Laughlin to get into publishing. While still a student at Harvard, Laughlin began New Directions in Norfolk, Connecticut, publishing a young generation of modern poets. Through correspondence and visits to Gethsemani, Merton and Laughlin forged an intimate friendship, entrusting Laughlin with some of his most private confidences.