Keeping a Spiritual Journal with Thomas Merton: A Personal Book of Days.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. His writings include such classics as The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite. Merton is the author of more than seventy books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism, and writings on peace, justice, and ecumenism.

Naomi Burton Stone was Merton's literary agent who became a close friend and confidant. She was born in England and came to the United States in 1939. She took an early interest in Merton's work and was trying, unsuccessfully, to publish his early novels before he entered the monastery. However, she at first thought his writing career had ended when he entered the monastery. Later, Merton would send her a manuscript of The Seven Storey Mountain. In late 1946, she met with success in submitting it to Robert Giroux, who published and edited the best-selling book. (Source: Witness to Freedom, p. 123.)