Items

• Harpo and the Clown of God: The Seven-Storied Friendship of Thomas Merton and Robert Lax, a plenary lecture by Michael N. McGregor at the 15th General Meeting of the ITMS, held at St. Bonaventure University, Olean, NY, June 16, 2017.
  NB: The live presentation included a slideshow that is not included because of copyright limitations. Michael N. McGregor is the author of Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax (Fordham University Press, 2015). His writings on Lax and Merton have appeared in a variety of publications, including Poetry, Poets & Writers Magazine, Notre Dame Magazine, The Merton Annual, and The Merton Journal. In 2017, he retired as a Professor of Creative Writing and English at Portland State University.
• Light in a Darkening Landscape: Presidential Address—ITMS Fifteenth General Meeting at St. Bonaventure University, Olean, NY, June 15, 2017, by Michael W. Higgins.
  Michael W. Higgins, Distinguished Professor of Catholic Thought at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, served as fifteenth president of the International Thomas Merton Society (2015-2017). He is the author of numerous books, including Heretic Blood: The Spiritual Geography of Thomas Merton (1998), Thomas Merton: Faithful Visionary (2014), Unquiet Monk: Thomas Merton’s Questing Faith (2015), and Jean Vanier: Logician of the Heart (2016).
• 1966-12-01: Correspondence with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (Reb Zalman), audio tape recorded letter to Merton
  Zalman Schachter records a letter to Thomas Merton while driving. He mentions classes he is teaching and lectures for the R. M. Bucke Memorial Society in Montreal. He references the Vietnam War and the use of napalm. Captions include a photograph of Thomas Merton taken by Schachter of Merton holding a copy of The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert, given to him by Zalman Schachter.
• 1965-04-03: Correspondence with Angela of the Eucharist, OCD (Angela Collins, née Viola M. Collins), letter from Merton
• 1965-04-01: Correspondence with Angela of the Eucharist, OCD (Angela Collins, née Viola M. Collins), letter to Merton
• 1965-05-15: Letter from Jacques Winandy to Thomas Merton, 1965 May 15
  Thomas Merton and Dom Winandy discuss the hermit and life Merton's essay, "For a Renewal of Eremitism."
• Letter to James H. Forest from Thomas Merton. 1962 January 29 [misprinted as 1961], published as: "Thomas Merton on the Strike".
  Thomas Merton's letter to James Forest from January 29, 1962 was published in the February 1962 issue of the Catholic Worker. The letter references the General Strike for Peace, a protest against militarism, the "war economy", and nuclear testing at the U.S. AEC (Atomic Energy Commission ). The protest was held at New York Operations Office of the Atomic Energy Commission, at Hudson and Houston Streets in New York City. The letter was distributed during the second day of the sit down strike.
• 1959-12-14: Letter to Ernesto Mejía Sánchez from Thomas Merton. 1959 December 14
  Ernesto Mejía Sánchez was born in Nicaragua and lived his later life as a poet, essayist, literary critic, anthologist, and diplomat in Mexico. He can be placed with the "Generación del 40" and noted alongside other Nicaraguan poets, like Merton's friend Ernesto Cardenal and José Coronel Urtecho.
• Merton on Faith and Violence
  This is a selection of quotes from pieces written by Thomas Merton which appeared in the Catholic Worker newspaper and a listing of all articles, book reviews, and poetry which were written by Merton. Catholic Worker 44.9, December 1978, page 4 (lower half of page).
• The Rt. Revd. Rowan Williams discusses the continued importance of Thomas Merton's writings at the 14 General Meeting of the International Thomas Merton Society (ITMS), June 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky.