The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Lax, Robert, 1915-2000

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Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1938-1991

Volume: 264 item(s); 460 pg(s)

Scope and Content

The correspondence of Merton and Robert Lax during the late thirties and early forties details Merton's conflicts in deciding whether to be a writer, to be a social worker in Harlem, thoughts about the Franciscans and the priesthood, anxiety over the draft for World War II, and his eventual decision to join the Trappists at Gethsemani Abbey. Though their correspondence takes a more formal and serious note and becomes temporarily infrequent shortly after Merton enters the Trappists, their dialog resumes a witty playfulness which reaches a crescendo in the 1960's. The letters play with language and can even be called "anti-letters" in the anti-poetic style of Chilean poet Nicanor Parra. The letters include light-hearted banter between friends, but the humorous style has an undertone of wry wit and wisdom about politics, ranging from the civil rights struggle to the Israeli Six-Day War of 1967. Included in the letters are poems written by Merton and Lax.

Please note that original letters of Lax and carbon copies of Merton's letters were bound into the manuscript for A Catch of Anti-letters (edited by Merton before his accidental death but not published until 1978). Photocopies of the bound set of letters from the manuscript are interfiled with the other letters for convenience. Each letter is referenced by it's number in the published letters by Arthur Biddle. For example, "Biddle 68.16" references the 16th letter published by Biddle from 1968 (generally the 16th letter of that year chronologically). Following the Biddle notation, the letters from 1962-1967 that were include in A Catch of Anti-letters are labeled as follows: "CAL Pt. II-XXXI", i.e., A Catch of Anti-Letters, part two, number 31. The usual column for published letters only references those letters of Merton's published in The Road to Joy.

Biography

Robert Lax was a minimalist poet and Merton's closest friend from his Columbia University days. Bob Lax was born in Olean, New York, into a Jewish family. His family later moved to New York. At Columbia, he met Merton through mutual involvement in the university's humorous magazine, The Columbia Jester. Lax's spirituality influenced Merton's acceptance of religion and conversion to Catholicism in 1938, Lax having later been influenced by Merton and converting to Catholicism in 1943. The two friends stayed in contact after graduating from Columbia and spent time together with Ed Rice at a cottage in Olean after Merton finished his Masters degree in 1939. Lax attended Merton's ordination to the priesthood in 1949. Lax wrote for and edited such magazines as Pax and Jubilee and was on staff at The New Yorker. In 1962, he went into self-imposed exile from the United States and lived much of his life until his later years on the Greek islands of Patmos, Lesvos and Kalymnos. He returned to Olean, New York, in the summer of 2000, where he died in his sleep on September 26. (Sources: The Road to Joy, p. 142; and The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia, p. 249.)

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

All letters, except a very few as noted, appear in a book edited by Arthur W. Biddle, When Prophecy Still Had a Voice. See also Cold War Letters #16, #40, and #78, and other letters from Merton, published in The Road to Joy, pp. 142-187; see also A Catch of Anti-Letters; and see also "Reinhardt, Adolph" for three post cards sent to Lax.

Other Finding Aids

If the person in correspondence with Merton has full text records in the Merton Center Digital Collections, there will be a numeric link to them below.
   

Series List

This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.

Container List

SeriesDateTypeTo/FromFirst LinesPubFull TextNotes
 1938/06/17 TLS[x]from MertonI got here very hot very tired. Every time the Erie Railroad got parallel to a highway the cars allYes [Biddle 38.1]
 1938/06/29 TLS[x]from MertonTomorrow I move out of here to go to the place on 114th st. which is 548a, where they haveYes [Biddle 38.3]
 1938/07/29 TLS[x]from MertonLax, you don't write. Sir, are you bogged up in your cabin? Are you walled in, is there no mailYes [Biddle 38.5]
 1938/08/11 TLS[x]from MertonTomorrow summer session draws to a close and all the happy people go away, some creeping,Yes [Biddle 38.7]
 1938/08/no? TLS[x]from MertonLissen forchrissake why dont [sic] you go to Boston to N.Flagg, and maybe I'd go up to BostonYes [Biddle 38.8]
 1938/10/no? TALS[x]from MertonI had to do some fast thinking today. I walked out of the Library and my mind shouted: "Ow, Globes,Yes [Biddle 38.9]
 1939/04/25? HLS[x]from MertonThere is on board one Ida Lichfield of Boston Mass. I say to her ok you are of Boston so you knowYes [Biddle 39.2]
 1939/04/30? HPCS[x]from MertonListen: Bermuda is the place in the world most like the South of France. It is, hear me, splendid!Yes [Biddle 39.3]
 1939/07/14 TALS[x]from MertonI got back here it is hot, but it aint so much the heat as the wet which is grieving. I seen GibneyYes [Biddle 39.4]
 1939/07/30? HLS[x]from MertonI never heard no beard so highly praised except by barbers. I find it is not dames who dislikeYes [Biddle 39.5]
 1939/08/21 TLS[x]from MertonIts [sic] hot. It is so hot all the fellows as far as I know have sat down. Slate, I talked to onYes [Biddle 39.6]
 1939/09/no? TLS[x]from MertonGibney just now over the phone nearly knocked me unconscious with the quotation about the childrenYes [Biddle 39.8]
 1939/10/17 TLS[x]from MertonGibney made a sharp guess you and seymour had flew the coop. Some coop. Then I called upYes [Biddle 39.10]
 1939/10/30? TLS[x]from MertonIt come to me today to go to the Fair again although it is nearly locked up or rather because it is.Yes [Biddle 39.12]
 1939/12/10 (#01)HPCS[x]from MertonI'm satisfied comfy and quite content [-] I'm stopping here my money's well spent. x29 [-] 12xG:24ΠRYes [Biddle 39.16]
 1939/12/10 (#02)HPCS[x]from MertonHere we are for the art for the culture for the beauty for the sloth for the expense for the humdrumYes [Biddle 39.17]
 1940/01/09 TLS[x]from MertonYes it was nice at Olean and I'm sorry I had to go so fast. But I did save money on the trainYes [Biddle 40.2]
 1940/02/04 TLS[x]from MertonThanks for the letter, the play. Some play, very fine very funny but I only read it betweenYes [Biddle 40.3]
 1940/02/16 TLS[x]from MertonThanks nice letter, Lax. The handwriting is neater but still runs in wavy sloping lines now upYes [Biddle 40.5]
 1940/03/no HLS[x]from MertonI had a ghastly experience with some doctors. (1) The Doctors rushed at me in a group and pluckedYes [Biddle 40.7]
 1940/04/08 HPCS[x]from MertonThis picture shows how Florida enchant the eye. Another pic. I send to Slate show how horse is kingYes [Biddle 40.8]
 1940/04/10? TLS[x]from Mertonwhat i say about cuba is true it takes about thirty bucks to get to Havana from new york by trainYes [Biddle 40.9]
 1940/07/24 HNS[x]from MertonNo monastery. Maybe look for a job. I don't think Jinny & Lilly come up to Olean. Here it isYes [Biddle 40.12]
 1940/08/07 HPCS[x]from MertonMe come Friday night. Right now not in Worlds Fair [-] Busy in the movies. Love MertoYes [Biddle 40.13]
 1940/08/no? TLS[x]from MertonSome complicated misery leaving Virginia Burtons mansion in the state of the same name, for it wasYes [Biddle 40.14]
 1941/02/20 TLS[x]from Mertonsidney Pratt cant fool me, I know "writer conscious" isn't nothing to go bang bang on my headYes [Biddle 41.4]
 1941/03/13 TLS[x]from MertonHow youse. Me not so good, what with the draft. Last week I got the questionnaire, this week,Yes [Biddle 41.6]
 1941/03/21? TLS[x]from MertonSome printemps. Outside my fusty room it laughs a great drunk tree as if in the heats of middlemostYes [Biddle 41.8]
 1941/03/30? TLS[x]from Mertonthe chaff board hath spoke. I got me drop number: 4e. i will not appeal. there is only one moreYes [Biddle 41.9]
 1941/04/05 HNS[x]from MertonHowever many "n's" there may be in Cincinnati it is sure a nice city, clean, serious, happy,Yes [Biddle 41.10]
 1941/06/18? HPCS[x]from MertonThis is a penny view of Spencer's Beauty in Cornbox, N.Y. Holloy. Not stopping at the HotelYes [Biddle 41.12]
 1941/06/30 TLS[x]from MertonI have just rushed incontinent to my maquina scribi and penned with the artful mechanical fingersYes [Biddle 41.14]
 1941/12/06 TLS[x]from MertonFinally has come the time to go to the Trappists and try to get in. I cannot explain this exceptYes [Biddle 41.19]
 1942/11/21 HLS[x]from MertonI was happy and surprised that the New Yorker took the Carol, all full of direct references to God,Yes [Biddle 42.1]
 1942/no/no? HLS[x]to MertonYr letter I showed to Gibney, Gil, Roger, Leila Lennie - this week to Rice Gladio, Mark Van Doren.  [Biddle 42.2]
 1943/11/23 HLS[x]from MertonThanks for the letters. I liked the poem about the "universe is mostly dark" in connection withYes [Biddle 43.1]
 1945/04/01 HLS[x]from MertonAfter my confessor had said no poems, then I was talking to Fr. Abbot about something completelyYes [Biddle 45.1]
 1945/04/02 HLS[x]from MertonP.S. Today I opened a letter from someone called Raymond E. F. Larson who sent me a good poemYes [Biddle 45.1 (continued)]
 1947/04/07 HLS[x]to MertonI've been thinking about you a lot through Lent at Easter. I haven't heard from you even indirectly  [Biddle 47.1]
 1947/04/13 HLS[x]from MertonThanks for your letter. I am fine. In fact March 19th I made my solemn vows &amp; so everythingYes [Biddle 47.2 / dated "Low Sunday", which should be April 13th that year, but dated "May 1947" in <i>The Road to Joy</i>]
 1947/11/29 TLSto MertonThis girl Mary Averett Seelye is 7 ft tall and an ex-instructor at Sarah Lawrence. She dancesYes [Biddle 47.3]
 1948/04/01 HLS[x]from MertonYou see it's still Gethsemani, not Utah, though the Utah foundation sounds fine.Yes [Biddle 48.1]
 1948/11/24 TLS[x]from MertonThanks for your beautiful letter. One of the best things I liked about the 7 storey mtn wasYes [Biddle 48.2 - dated "Feast of St. John of the X" (John of the Cross) / photocopy is missing a line - missing line appears in Biddle's published letters]
 1949/05/27 HNSto Merton+PAX [-] Happy Ordination Day. It is good here, all snow. Here are markers for your friends.Yes [Biddle 49.1]
 1949/10/no? TALS[x]to MertonI'm home again in the attic; stayed at the island till October 15. it is a fine island, but house  [Biddle 49.2]
 1949/11/27 TLS[x]from MertonThanks for the letter and the list of poems and the news of Gib and Nancy. Is Virgin Islands anyYes [Biddle 49.3]
 1949/11/30? TALS[x]to MertonYou do fine: always letters on my birthday. This one very good, very funny. Here is the beginning  [Biddle 49.4]
 1950/04/23? HPCS[x]to MertonPOWER WISDOM LOVE AT PLAY IN EVERY ACT OF EVERY BEING POWER WISDOM LOVE  [Biddle 50.1 - postmarked April 23, 1950 - words arranged in a circle]
 1950/09/23 TLSto MertonSister Tiroux is from nazis gesprungen; i on the other hand am chez the baroness von hueckYes [Biddle 50.3]
 1950/11/04 HPCSto MertonIf I ever heard of La Sainte Chapelle I didn't pay much attention but it sure is pretty - the angelYes [Biddle 50.4 - verso: black and white photograph of a statue on La Sainte Chapelle du Palais in Lourdes, France]
 1950/no/no? HLS[x]from MertonSwell poem. About these autographs- No. Not unless they can get to some close friend  [not published in Biddle's book]
 1951/04/07? TLS[x]to MertonEverywhere I look today it says Louis: trucks go by say Louis, hotel St Louis, but Sain Louis;  [Biddle 51.1 - no date / marked in pencil "1952?" but Biddle estimates the date as 1951]
 1956/12/25 TLSto Mertonfrom the middle of the storm i salute you. dying, we praise thee. from under the rocks we garbleYes [Biddle 56.6 - dated "Noel 56"]
 1957/08/12 TLto Mertonone sits here in the apartment of dave budd, abstract expressionist painter, husband of corkyYes [Biddle 57.4 - continued on letter from 1957/08/13]
 1957/08/13 TLSto Mertonhere it is the next morning in the same place. there is a tree outside the window. the world asYes [Biddle 57.4 - continued from previous letter]
 1957/11/08 HPCSfrom Reinhardt, Adolph   [see "Reinhardt, Adolph" file / series of symbols / appearing to be a coded language of some sort with no intelligible words written to Robert Lax in Buffalo General Hospital (Buffalo, New York)]
 1957/11/22 HPCSfrom Reinhardt, AdolphLAXPAXPALAXPAXLAX, MEX. YUREM SANKS YRREM SAMX MEANS ITS ALL THE SAME (TO YOU) SAMKS  [see "Reinhardt, Adolph" file] appears to be stylized letters (similar to symbolic writing in prior post cards) of "Merry Xmas"
 1957/11/28 HLSto MertonI had to larf when I seen you was at the Flageolet's Memorial Hospital. It certainly is the yearYes [Biddle 57.7 - dated "Thanksgiving Day"]
 1957/11/30? HLSto MertonI've been working on a memorable saying of the following characters: L. Bloy: the only sorrowYes [Biddle 57.8]
 1957/12/13? TLSto MertonThis is Cotton Mather's day. Cotton Mather invented the gin-mill. This was called the unlustriousYes [Biddle 57.9]
 1960/06/09 TALS[c]from MertonDid come Paxo proof from Mem day jive, I have, I have admired, jog-goggled, imagined on crustyYes [Biddle 60.8]
 1961/06/21 HLSto MertonPrint it all together with a whoop - this is my idea - fill it up with peace dragons, pretty beezilsYes [Biddle 61.9]
 1961/06/25? HLSto Mertonperhaps there is some Ferlinghetti mixup - but maybe not. He writes you tell him he can have atomYes [Biddle 61.10]
 1961/07/11? HLSto MertonThis latest version of the bomb is by far the most magnificent, I am ravished anew. I will do allYes [Biddle 61.13 - verso: handwritten notes by Merton]
 1961/07/14 HLSto MertonThat is a good poem, the poem about poor old Ernest. (His brother, Lester Hemingway, is he stillYes [Biddle 61.14]
 1961/08/17? HLSto MertonL. F writes he not use Child Bomb till after Pax if at all- SoYes [Biddle 61.16]
 1961/08/25? HLSto MertonI am reading the crazy mad argument (for P. A. Cuadra) with great pleasure &amp; many a bombed-outYes [Biddle 61.20]
 1961/08/no? HLSto MertonEd Rice say could we have an excerpt (2000 words you, 2000 words Suzuki) from <u>Wisdom in</u>  [not published in Biddle's book]
 1961/09/no? (#01)other here is Lax saving world for Polynesian girls. (Cristiani)  [black and white photograph of a woman and a girl from the Cristiani family with annotation in pencil by Lax - Lax spent the summer of 1949 following the Cristiani family circus in western Canada - stamp on the back of the photograph seems to indicate this print was made in September of 1961]
 1961/09/no? (#02)other here is same one lushing up with Mama Cristiani  [black and white photograph of Lax and Mama Cristiani with annotation in pencil by Lax - Lax spent the summer of 1949 following the Cristiani family circus in western Canada - stamp on the back of the photograph seems to indicate this print was made in September of 1961]
 1961/09/no? (#03)other here is Emil Antonucci  [black and white photograph of Emil Antonucci, who designed and published many of Lax's books and designed a special edition book of Merton's "Original Child Bomb"]
 1961/11/12? HLSto MertonI am overwhelm with presents [-] Thurber poem [-] Clamx of Alexandriums [-] Red &amp; Dead jokes -Yes [Biddle 61.24]
 1961/11/15 HLSto MertonI am just read Clemish Alexandrius - All splendid. All most magnificent. For Pax I would likeYes [Biddle 61.25]
 1961/11/18? HLSto Mertonhoy [-] yes [-] Pax want Clement of Alexandria [-] hoy, [-] yes, [-] Pax want collected worksYes [Biddle 61.26]
 1961/11/22? HLSto Mertonyes - Clammish - short introduction [-] funny sayings, [-] plenty [-] Poppa ZavattaYes [Biddle 61.27]
 1961/11/29? HLSto MertonYes, Ernesto Cardenal poems [-] yes - Jubilee, ok [-] Jubilee [-] plenty beat [-] translations,Yes [Biddle 61.29]
 1961/12/no? transcriptfrom MertonHere is at my side your exceedingly ribald Christmas card in many foreign languages inciting to joy.Yes [Biddle 61.30 - Cold War Letters #16 - copy from bound set / see also <i>Seeds of Destruction</i>, "Letters in a Time of Crisis" #8]
 1962/02/no? transcriptfrom MertonIndeed the poem of Nick the Gosling is a very fine poem, Major. I think you crazy, Major, if youYes [Biddle 62.2 - Cold War Letters #40 - copy from bound set]
 1962/04/no? HLSto MertonAll the Catholic Worker crowd (all of whom has just been bailed from the stocks by TennesseeYes [Biddle 62.3]
 1962/06/04 transcriptfrom MertonHere is an answer to your riposte of the nth. Since that time my dear agent we have been in contactYes [Biddle 62.4 - Cold War Letters #78 - copy from bound set]
 1962/07/no? TLSto Mertonam thanking you for the book of thoughts on you-know-what. very good, strong, powerful,Yes [Biddle 62.5]
 1962/08/16 HLS[x]from MertonZalman Schachter left no forwarding address with me - is he still there? Here is a letter for him.Yes [Biddle 62.7 - encloses photograph of W.C. Fields at a pool table with the message: "Here is a popular sheepherder image. Very popular cockeyed sheeps."]
 1962/11/25 TAL[c]from MertonIt turns out that you are among the Greeks. This is clearly educational, especially as you referYes [Biddle 62.9 / CAL Pt. I-II / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1962/11/no? HLSto MertonHere is a short note from the insuls of Greichland to say that I have applied for a yo-ho-ho-erieYes [Biddle 62.9 / CAL Pt. I-I / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1962/12/03 TAL[c]from MertonHas just gone off to the Guggenwhaps the total conclusions of my summation and reports.Yes [Biddle 62.10 / CAL Pt. I-III / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/01/12 TAL[c]from MertonWhat was my surprise and shock to go to the posto this am and find what do you think?Yes [Biddle 63.1 (incorrect date of 1963/01/22 in book) / CAL Pt. I-IV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/06/30 TAL[c]from MertonAm I right in supposing you are still perched on that clump of islands? What a perch, and if so,Yes [Biddle 63.2 / CAL Pt. I-V / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/07/27 TALSto Mertonhere is a bird i am send you from Patmose [-] this patmos is a splendid place.Yes [Biddle 63.4 / CAL Pt. I-VI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon / published letter in Biddle is missing the salutation, "carissimost Mertaghs" - original contains a drawing of a bird]
 1963/09/02 HPCSto MertonHo, ho, those sheeps was really Italians (left-overs from the last war). They got sprayed plentyYes [Biddle 63.6 - verso: colorized photograph of an old man on the island of Samos]
 1963/10/05 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonHow come you all the time Samos? Glad about those Italian sheep and the head of the community.Yes [Biddle 63.7 / CAL Pt. I-VII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/10/05 (#02)TAL[c]from MertonHow come you all the time Samos? Glad about those Italian sheep and the head of the community.Yes [copied from Sub-Section H.7, Hart Working Files / Biddle 63.7 / CAL Pt. I-VII]
 1963/10/12 TALSto Mertoni am always on the march. where have i been but on the march. the banners is rippyYes [Biddle 63.8 / CAL Pt. I-VIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/10/17 TAL[c]from MertonToday I receive your secrets about the march and your reminder of the manifestoes and calligraphiesYes [Biddle 63.9 / CAL Pt. I-IX / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/10/20? TALSto Mertonhere i am again, yr friendly correspondent. i am read again the seneca poemYes [Biddle 63.10 / CAL Pt. I-X / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/10/23 TAL[c]from MertonIt is true, no one can deny that you are the most friendly of neighborhood correspondents you haveYes [Biddle 63.11 / CAL Pt. I-XI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/10/30? TALSto MertonYour letter is drift ashore and i am apprised now of all that is in them. ( outside is bugles:Yes [Biddle 63.12 / CAL Pt. I-XII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/11/02 TALSto Mertonyrs is arrived, that is yours of the nst, and i am delighted with the following news: that you areYes [Biddle 63.13 / CAL Pt. I-XIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/11/10? TAL[c]from MertonHere is your uncle pangloss again writing hard from Moose Holler, where the Bears whoopYes [Biddle 63.14 / CAL Pt. I-XIV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/11/23? HLSto Merton(If there is a letter from you, it is now in Athens) I am think to send you bk. 1 pretty soon (whichYes [Biddle 63.15]
 1963/11/27 (#01)HLS[x]to MertonYour letter with its many ingenious thaumistics certainly came to me at a good moment.Yes [Biddle 63.16 / CAL Pt. I-XV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1963/11/27 (#02)TLSto MertonI think there is three from Aegina, but there is only two; so I send one from Athens, the readerYes [Biddle 63.17]
 1963/11/27 (#03)otherto MertonAE-GI-NA [-] THREE POEMS [-] 1. sun things [-] stone things [-] be- sun be- [-] ing stoneYes [Biddle 63.17 continued]
 1964/02/29 TNSto MertonDear Swinger, [-] here's the handy list we promised you of all the hot spots in Rimini, [-] yrs, Zaw  [not found in Biddle - includes small square cut-outs of a street map with numbered lists of attractions in Rimini]
 1964/03/05 TAL[c]from MertonFirst of all your prose is again from Greeks which alerts me to the fact that you have not budgedYes [Biddle 64.1 / CAL Pt. I-XVI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1964/03/13 TALSto Mertoni sit now in the island of kos among the elements: in truth at the villa apis; in very truthYes [Biddle 64.2 / CAL Pt. I-XVII (first paragraph deleted by Merton from <i>A Catch of Anti-letters</i>) / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1964/03/14 TLSto Mertonme hop up&amp;down; many things to do; many things all over the desk; goodness, goodness.Yes [Biddle 64.3]
 1964/04/30 TLSto Mertonman i think your shld write letter to and send all kinds pamphelts, pamphlets, tracts, manifestosYes [Biddle 64.4]
 1964/05/01 TALSto Mertonhere it is good friday among the orthodox (i have just again seen old pater basilis) the followingYes [Biddle 64.5 / CAL Pt. I-XVIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon - contains a paragraph edited from all published copies]
 1964/05/05 (#01)TLto Mertondear friends in the outer circle of the john stuart mill society: i address you once again in myYes [Biddle 64.8 / CAL Pt. I-XXI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon - see also the same page for Biddle 64.9]
 1964/05/05 (#02)TLSto Mertoni am here again at the machine, a prisoner of sorts in room 13 of the hotel rex. this hotel rex isYes [Biddle 64.9 / CAL Pt. I-XXII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon - on the same page as Biddle 64.8]
 1964/05/05 (#03)TLSto Mertonand yes, oh yes: i am in receipt of every manifesto: of the monk in the diaspora, and suggestionsYes [Biddle 64.9 / CAL Pt. I-XXII continued / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1964/05/08 TAL[c]from MertonThat is the way. Sooner or later we start it. Who is right, we say, who is wrong, who hasYes [Biddle 64.6 / CAL Pt. I-XIX / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1964/05/11 TAL[c]from MertonThis is a great hollow banging on the building and I suppose apes have come and would enter throughYes [Biddle 64.7 / CAL Pt. I-XX / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1964/07/04 TLSto Mertonone is in kalymnos. it is better here. the books are arrived. i thank you and every monk amongYes [Biddle 64.10 / CAL Pt. I-XXIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1964/07/10 TAL[c]from MertonWith you it was four and with me is ten. July four, July ten. Patriotism and unknown wits.Yes [Biddle 64.11]
 1964/07/17 TLSto Mertonlook, if you had said the gold rail; if you had said the King's Crown Hotel; but BUTLER HALL.Yes [Biddle 64/12]
 1964/08/06 (#01)TLSto Mertonhere is the latest news from a tumbling universe. have thousands more to send you, but will allYes [Biddle 64.13]
 1964/08/06 (#02)other BLACKISM LAUNCHED [-] LONDON, Fri. (Reuter) - A Nigerian leader calls for direct action to create  [newspaper clipping about the book <i>Blackism</i> by Chief Remi Fani-Kayode, Deputy Premier of Western Nigeria]
 1964/10/14 TL[x]to Landes, AloysOn November 15 we will open an exhibit here of a group of abstract drawings by Thomas Merton.  [see also "Landes, Aloys R." file]
 1964/10/30 HLSto MertonI am see the poems of Nagomi Burdquist in the Simes. I look upon yr picture there. Some picture.Yes [Biddle 64.14]
 1964/10/31 (#01)TLS[x]from MertonHow long you think you can hide from the long arm of the postoffice? Where have you been?Yes [Biddle 64.15 / CAL Pt. I-XXIV]
 1964/10/31 (#02)TAL[c]from MertonHow long you think you can hide from the long arm of the postoffice? Where have you been?Yes [Biddle 64.15 / CAL Pt. I-XXIV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1964/11/26 TLSto Mertonfirst of all happy christmas &amp; right upon it happy new year, less pursued, more in contentments.Yes [Biddle 64.16]
 1964/11/29 TAL[c]from MertonWell Rob we are coming seriously to the end of another calendar year, and in fact we are alreadyYes [Biddle 64.17 / CAL Pt. I-XXV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1964/12/27 (#01)TL[c]from MertonDans le cours de 1965 il faut avant toutfoutre par terre les ithyphages et les tonitruants, sansYes [Biddle 64.18 / CAL Pt. I-XXVI]
 1964/12/27 (#02)TAL[c]from MertonDans le cours de 1965 il faut avant toutfourtre par terre les ithyphages et les tonitruants, sansYes [Biddle 64.18 / CAL Pt. I-XXVI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon - this copy includes corrections and sections crossed out, see previous record for unedited version]
 1964/12/30? HLSto MertonI am all right now - I am all over the party. Ina Lou is all over the party. This is LilyYes [Biddle 64.19 / CAL Pt. I-XXVII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1965/01/23 (#01)HNSto MertonAnother letter from Sister Barkingham. Do you think it will be all right to send her a curt refusalYes [Biddle 65.1]
 1965/01/23 (#02)HLSfrom Hall, SuzanneOne of our common editors, who strikes me as a remarkable friend of God's, judging from the sort  [Sr. Suzanne Hall was a Benedictine nun of the Abbaye des Saints Jean et Scholastique in Maredret, Belgium]
 1965/02/15 (#01)TL[c]from MertonMore than immediately and with even startling suddenness I mustanswer [sic] at onc [sic] the GreekYes [Biddle 65.2]
 1965/02/15 (#02)TLSto Mertonis the sun out again. la grêche, let me tell you dear battlesworth, is so beautiful thatYes [Biddle 65.3]
 1965/02/24 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonWabes have brought me yours numerous with syllaboi will think i will think. Here is the facts.Yes [Biddle 65.4 / CAL Pt. II-I / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1965/02/24 (#02)otherfrom MertonBook of Proverbs: [-] 1. I will tell you what you can do ask me if you do not understand what I justYes [Biddle 65.4 continued / CAL Pt. II-Ia / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1965/03/31 HLSto MertonMy head has been hurting something lately &amp; I have been writing poems. Here are someYes [Biddle 65.5 - after the first page, Lax writes the rest as shape poems in red and blue ink in varying patterns]
 1965/04/02 TL[c]from MertonIt comes from you in bewildering profusions the whirling note with cryptics in circulo making veryYes [Biddle 65.6]
 1965/04/28 TL[c]from MertonYou telling me mae murray is dead she sure is dead you aint gonna get no laughs out of THAT movie.Yes [Biddle 65.7]
 1965/05/03 (#01)TLSto Mertonevery day [-] when joe [-] walked down [-] the street [-] he would meet [-] mrs machsliYes [Biddle 65.8]
 1965/05/03 (#02)HNSto Mertonyrs is arrive: 1) send here the types [-] 2) that fitz is same. [-] 3) he is already take someYes [Biddle 65.8 continued - handwritten note on the back of the envelope]
 1965/05/06 HLSto MertonHo- I am back, that is, away, from the visit with Padre Pio [-] I mix up everything I hardly seeYes [Biddle 65.9]
 1965/05/26 TL[c]from MertonJust can't keep my poorself together can't remember whether I wrote about what I wrote.Yes [Biddle 65.10]
 1965/07/17 TAL[c]from MertonThere I was close to writing the cartolina when I sunk into a supposition and it developedYes [Biddle 65.11]
 1965/08/11 (#01)TL[c]from MertonAll right then tell me this: why didn't the house collapse when we was fighting for Bramachari'sYes [Biddle 65.13]
 1965/08/11 (#02)TALSto Mertoni am prized with sorrow when i see that while i was off at the shootings in athens you were at thatYes [Biddle 65.14 / CAL Pt. II-II / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1965/10/16 TAL[c]from MertonWell you are probably wondering why I haven't written from the camp for so long[-] I'll tell youYes [Biddle 65.15 / CAL Pt. II-III / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1965/10/21 (#01)HLSto MertonIf you are wondering what the National Program is doing in these days of crisis, here's what it'sYes [Biddle 65.16]
 1965/10/21 (#02)otherto Merton<u>Letter to the Editor</u> 'HISTORY'S MESSAGE' [-] Dear Sir, [-] Here is a thought of mine,Yes [Biddle 65.16 continued - news clipping of poem by Harry Fournier, M.D., "Mother History Speaking to the Greeks of Today", from English-language newspaper in Athens]
 1965/10/23 (#01)TLSto Mertonit is good to be a hermit. i too am a hermit. it is best. always be one. it was james gutmannYes [Biddle 65.17]
 1965/10/23 (#02)other winter gwaf winter [-] winter gwaf winter [-] vinter gwaf vinter [-] vinter gwafYes [Biddle 65.17 - typescript of poem]
 1965/10/23 (#03)other one of the last things left to us in uncle irwin's will ...  [not in Biddle's book - typescript of two poems]
 1965/10/24 TLto Mertonread HIAWATHA  [two word message - not in Biddle]
 1965/11/10 TAL[c]from MertonWhat you mean Fitzsimmons is an indiangiver and an accepter but not a printer: have you seenYes [Biddle 65.18 / CAL Pt. II-IV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1965/11/13 other    [one black and white photograph (Greece?) and two newspaper clippings from comic strips - one of "Popeye" and one of "Thimble Theatre"]
 1965/12/28 TAL[c]from MertonThis is the afternoon for resolutions. Nice sunny bright holiday afternoon but I chopped woodYes [Biddle 65.19 / CAL Pt. II-V / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/01/05 (#01)TALSto Mertoni was in happiest receipt of yours that had the horse, &amp; all the letters &amp; all your newsYes [Biddle 66.1 / CAL Pt. II-VI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/01/05 (#02)otherto MertonGET (THAT IS DON'T FAIL TO GET) [-] LETTERS OF WM SHAKESPEARE TO HIS MOMYes [Biddle 66.1 continued / CAL Pt. II-VIa / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/01/15? TALto Mertonwell, here it is days later in a brand new house: the home of aspasia &amp; pericles.Yes [Biddle 66.2 / CAL Pt. II-VIa / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/01/28 TL[c]from MertonI have in hand your aimable aeroporikes written on aspasia with fred. Yes it is wise to registerYes [Biddle 66.3 / CAL Pt. II-VII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/02/15 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonYou have invited me to the Deans Day Delirium (DDD) for 1966 and you have said Make Big the DDD.Yes [Biddle 66.5 / CAL Pt. II-IX / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/02/15 (#02)otherfrom MertonToday I said to Mrs Who [-] Lady you got the sanpaku [-] Throw that coffee pot awayYes [Biddle 66.5 continued / CAL Pt. II-IXa / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/02/no? TALSto Mertonhir again is holy patmos. patmos really holy place. what i mean dear murthwog, it's what i'd callYes [Biddle 66.4 / CAL Pt. II-VIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/03/04 TALSto Mertonthe minute the bird flew in with your scripts i was thrown on the floor with hilarity; such was myYes [Biddle 66.6 / CAL Pt. II-X / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/03/10 TL[c]from MertonYou was thinking of Deans day well here it is. All I can say is deans have gone into doldrumsYes [Biddle 66.7]
 1966/03/17 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonBefore I run to the hosps it has come your missips with the gypsies with the old black joeYes [Biddle 66.8 / CAL Pt. II-XI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/03/17 (#02)otherfrom MertonInstructions exhortations and imperatives [-] Find out regulator in gear seven. [-] Up town six payYes [Biddle 66.8 continued / CAL Pt. II-XIa / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/06/01 TLSto Mertonthis is likely to be a short, fitful note: the only kind the birds have been uttering, too.Yes [Biddle 66.10 / CAL Pt. II-XII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/06/07 TAL[c]from MertonI don't know if it is the sevens the eights or the nines of june but it come today your fitful notesYes [Biddle 66.11 / CAL Pt. II-XIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/06/11 TLSto Mertonthe cookies is arrived every one &amp; with each the weights &amp; fortunes. here is a fortune thatYes [Biddle 66.12 / CAL Pt. II-XIIIa / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/07/10 HLSto MertonOne does not write because of the cinemas. One is engaged to perform (arf, arf) on the films,Yes [Biddle 66.13]
 1966/07/15 TAL[c]from MertonYours of the 10th resting in Athens has arrived and I take note of the "restante" and the Athens,Yes [Biddle 66.14 / CAL Pt. II-XIV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/07/25 TAL[c]from MertonIf you do not have a script for your movies I will write one in fact many. How you met PrinceYes [Biddle 66.15 / CAL Pt. II-XV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/08/12 TAL[c]from MertonWhile you sleep, while all Athens sleeps, Miss Velma does not sleep. She is awake and fathomingYes [Biddle 66.17 / CAL Pt. II-XVI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/09/no? HLSto MertonMiss Velma keeps me awake night &amp; day with her questions. I'd have written long before butYes [Biddle 66.18 / CAL Pt. II-XVII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/10/08 TAL[c]from MertonAt last it has come the scripts of your ult.I note with concerns every sidelong referenceYes [Biddle 66.19 / CAL Pt. II-XVIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/10/22 (#01)TALSto Mertonam in fastest receipt of yours of the inst. both of the edifying cables, the notes on the worldYes [Biddle 66.20 / CAL Pt. II-XIX / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/10/22 (#02)otherto MertonHere it is all about the morning that little Tracy Littlefield was eaten up by mistake by Mrs RosenYes [Biddle 66.20 continued / CAL Pt. II-XIX continued / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon - note by Lax and newspaper clipping]
 1966/10/22 (#03)otherto MertonEverything was going all right here till Rebecca Hary bucked at the part about "Slow down &amp; liveYes [Biddle 66.20 continued / CAL Pt. II-XIX continued / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon - note by Lax and newspaper clipping, "Cadette Girl Scouts Meet In Owls Head"]
 1966/11/03 (#01)TALSto Mertonhere we are again; straight from the clysters &amp; half as good as new. each day brings to lightYes [Biddle 66.21 / CAL Pt. II-XX / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/11/03 (#02)otherto Mertonhere is all the lucky mumbers on your hit parade, including a mystery tune you can never identify.Yes [Biddle 66.21 continued / CAL Pt. II-XX continued / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon on the back of the letter of 1966/11/03]
 1966/11/04 TL[c]from MertonIt is always wise of course to help the foot into the hammock supported by the nurse. It is alwaysYes [Biddle 66.22]
 1966/12/05 TALSto Mertona lot of snow has gone under the chipmunk since my last flash. i am once again in kalimpops.Yes [Biddle 66.24 / CAL Pt. II-XXI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1966/no/no other from ? / to MertonTO: AUTHOR OF - THE - BOOK "SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION" C/O - THE - BOOKSTOREYes [not in Biddle - odd jumble of handwritten notes on an envelope and a Christmas card / postmarked from "A member of Saint Philip Church Parish" in Melbourne, Kentucky]
 1967/01/07 TAL[c]from MertonDo not give it even a wink, merely testing the types, merely proving the provo, approvingYes [Biddle 67.1 / CAL Pt. II-XXII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/01/18 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonHere is Towser conducting the symphony. Without force or threat, he never threatens his master'sYes [Biddle 67.2 / CAL Pt. II-XXIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/01/18 (#02)TALSto Mertonhave been running around with all those bent arrows in my crown, but am feeling better now sinceYes [Biddle 67.3 / CAL Pt. II-XXIV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/01/18 (#03)otherto Mertonnames &amp; things [-] names &amp; things [-] names &amp; things [-] names &amp; thingsYes [Biddle 67.3 continued / CAL Pt. II-XXIV continued / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/01/26 TAL[c]from MertonEnough of these Bradford Belly Dancers. Let them shade the Gauguins no more with their hip.Yes [Biddle 67.4 / CAL Pt. II-XXV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/02/04 TAL[c]from MertonLook what is come while all Athens slept. Velma she not slept. She was with Rip Van Winthops.Yes [Biddle 67.5 / CAL Pt. II-XXVI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/02/21 TALSto MertonHow happy we were to hear the latest-- it cannot be the last--of Miss Velma. If now she flies it isYes [Biddle 67.6 / CAL Pt. II-XXVII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/03/05 TLSto MertonWell, it is all Dr. Whips for Towser: he should have known better. He should have thought hisYes [Biddle 67.9]
 1967/03/no? HLSto MertonThank you for the splendid suggestion or the long black sack: I am making it a first-rateYes [Biddle 67.10]
 1967/04/05 TAL[c]from MertonAll is dizzy with vernals. Flowers spring up in the closets among the coats. Birds nestYes [Biddle 67.12 / CAL Pt. II-XXVIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/04/15 TLSto MertonI am just unfolding yours of the unst &amp; here is Towser again. He is learning you say.Yes [Biddle 67.13 / CAL Pt. II-XXIX / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/04/25 HLSto MertonWell, we have finally heard from Aunt. Sandor &amp; Vashti have been giving her a lot of troubleYes [Biddle 67.14 / CAL Pt. II-XXX / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/05/17 (#01)TLSto Mertonhere is everything nice for forum legion. clip on magnifier blackens headlines. bullneck collarYes [Biddle 67.15]
 1967/05/17 (#02)other THE AMERICAN LEGION SHOPPER [-] DARLING PET MONKEY [-] This Squirrel Monkey makesYes [Biddle 67.15 continued - an advertisement page from an American Legion publication]
 1967/06/11 TL[x]from MertonYes we was all thinking of you. We was disturbed for you in the distubance. We have consulted  [Biddle 67.16 - from one folder from the "New Directions Publishing" papers at Harvard, entitled "Letters (carbons) to various people, 1967"]
 1967/07/03 TL[c]from MertonYes you are right it is fez day all over the place. I have your prints of the ult in which youYes [Biddle 67.18 / CAL Pt. II-XXXII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/07/23 (#01)HLSto MertonJust before it fell apart, my typewriter made up a batch of these &amp; said I shld send them.Yes [Biddle 67.19]
 1967/07/23 (#02)other TTTTTTTTT [-] NNNNNNNNN [-] XXXXXXXXX [-] NNNNNNNNN [-] TTTTTTTTT [-] XXXXXXXXXYes [Biddle 67.19 continued - many strips of paper with similar strings of single letters]
 1967/07/no? TALSto Mertonwell you're right, it's kick the fez day now, or anyway it was. little goliath showed big samsonYes [Biddle 67.17 / CAL Pt. II-XXXI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/09/05 TAL[c]from Mertondo you know the great sorrows? Just heard today by clipping from Schwester Therese about Reinhardt.Yes [Biddle 67.20 / CAL Pt. II-XXXIII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/09/08 HLSto Mertonoy oy, sad for old Reinhardt [-] very sad for old Reinhardt [-] oy oy [-] Yrs, MaxYes [Biddle 67.21]
 1967/09/13 TALSto MertonYou are right. It is sorrows for old Reinhardt. One could weep with out let for old Reinhardt.Yes [Biddle 67.22 / CAL Pt. II-XXXIV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/10/14 TAL[c]from MertonWell guess what it is Yom Kippur and I have elected to race the old race with the sun,Yes [Biddle 67.23 / CAL Pt. II-XXXV / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/10/15 TLSto Mertonnow indeed we are all undone; it is our undoing now, every one. with the passing of Dom John SlateYes [Biddle 67.24 / CAL Pt. II-XXXVI / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/10/31 TAL[c]from MertonGuess what marse here is woe's race. Here is Mose ways to tish vup. Here is most waste of teshuvahYes [Biddle 67.25 / CAL Pt. II-XXXVII / photocopy in correspondence file - see bound manuscript for original or carbon]
 1967/11/07 TLSto MertonYou have won the race. Starting late you have ended up early. Of all conscript poems, yoursYes [Biddle 67.26]
 1967/11/27 TL[c]from MertonYou have return, you are back to the prinzip, you is regress to the fonts, you is the oilwells,Yes [Biddle 67.27]
 1967/12/01 (#01)TL[c]from MertonWell, guess who it is comes to meet you and shake the hand as you disembark from the OliumYes [Biddle 67.28]
 1967/12/01 (#02)TLSto MertonWell, here we are home again &amp; I can't thank you enough for that crowd you sent downYes [Biddle 67.29]
 1967/12/13 TL[c]from MertonImagine great flames inspiration outburst crash wap zap bowie gonna start a magazine.Yes [Biddle 67.30]
 1967/12/20? TLSto MertonZowie! Flap bam magazine! All bop, no $$$ four issues only. From all parts of world comes answers.Yes [Biddle 67.31 - dated "Hanukah"]
 1968/01/21 HLSto MertonWhat sadness for Freedgood. And what an awful year. But I thought that year was gone.Yes [Biddle 68.1]
 1968/01/30 TLSto Mertonhere is from old Jack Kerouac two poems; first treats of the very condition of man himself;Yes [Biddle 68.2]
 1968/01/31 TL[c]from MertonWhat I was done is get it type up more of the ladders. I got it stck on papers more ladder for bookYes [Biddle 68.3]
 1968/02/14 TL[c]from MertonJust trumping out the clean ribbons on the typewrapper. Just tuning up the claim rubbingsYes [Biddle 68.5]
 1968/02/28 TL[c]from MertonHere is copies of letter sent to Teo Savory, Unicorn Press, Santa Barbara. She is very anxiousYes [Biddle 68.6]
 1968/02/no? HLSto Mertonthe ladders have arrived &amp; they are great. (these Jebusits also are very neat on the typing).Yes [Biddle 68.4]
 1968/03/09 TL[c]from MertonObserve the letterpress. Behold the leader hats, the latterheads, the capitolio stazionario.Yes [Biddle 68.7]
 1968/03/11 TLSto MertonLook, look, the monks pond! See letterhavens, liederpress: every imposement. see how the blackYes [Biddle 68.8]
 1968/03/14 TL[c]from Mertonyes indeed buckle the swash on that ol' Pond. Old man Pond he just' kep' rottin' along.Yes [Biddle 68.9]
 1968/03/15 TL[c]from MertonJolly undertakers solve population problem. The birth control of the death. The resurrectionYes [Biddle 68.10 - a transcription error in Biddle substitutes "Barn" for the word "Bam" near the end of the first paragraph - "Bam" is correctly transcribed in <i>The Road to Joy</i>]
 1968/04/10 TL[c]from MertonHo: you have now sprung full into the Beagle's nest. You are in the midst of the pups.Yes [Biddle 68.13]
 1968/04/13 (#01)TL[c]from MertonHohohoho. Hohohohohoh Jenl Biddle. Hhohohohohohoh Jenl Biddle. Hohohohoh Genl Beagle.Yes [Biddle 68.14]
 1968/04/13 (#02)TL[c]from MertonPROSPECTUS FOR GENERAL BIGGLE UNIVERSITYTO ATTRACT CLOWNS AND MAKE FAMOUS.Yes [Biddle 68.14 continued]
 1968/04/28 HNSto MertonMuch pursuits [-] many dispatches [-] whirlwind life in [-] South Dakotum - SAMYes [Biddle 68.15]
 1968/05/04 TL[c]from MertonWell is now in the envelope all the friendly skies of United. All little pink papers admitYes [Biddle 68.16]
 1968/05/09 (#01)HLSto Mertonevery bless to the living nuns. every bless to General Redwood. from Mount Mount GomeryYes [Biddle 68.20]
 1968/05/09 (#02)otherto Mertonthisf of hre [-] ingmA.0 ancnsati [-] er t epolqaale [-] ol A ler ehm a co [-] ou e. eSou s y  [not in Biddle - appears to be a photocopied jumble of letters, many are upside-down / verso (possibly handwritten by Merton): "post this."]
 1968/05/13 (#01)HLSto MertonEvery greet in the west from Rapid City, S D [-] Rapid City, South Dakota. Rabbit Sitting.Yes [Biddle 68.26]
 1968/05/13 (#02)HLSto MertonWelcome back to old chomping ground. [-] Gen. Walkout  [not in Biddle's book]
 1968/05/21 HPCSto MertonFea [-] ther [-] None [-] Sa [-] lutes [-] White [-] Fa [-] ther [-] Cheyenne, Wyoming [-] Home of  [not in Biddle's book - verso: color photograph: "Minneweyakpahwin, 'Shining Water Woman,' Miss Indian America, III, All American Indian Days, Sheridan, Wyo."]
 1968/05/28 (#01)TLSto MertonI have receive your message from every direction: from red works, red rocks &amp; from loathsome,Yes [Biddle 68.28]
 1968/05/28 (#02)HNSto MertonLook, look! Lone protestings! Múdrost [-] Láska  [not published in Biddle's book]
 1968/05/28 (#03)other Lone protester [-] PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia- "Non-violence, Wisdom, Love" those are the words written  [newspaper clipping sent to Merton with black and white photograph of a protester in Prague - anonymous lone protester who walked six days to protest the Vietnam War in front of the United States Embassy]
 1968/06/01? TL[c]from MertonRapid Satyr Soth Daks havearrive [sic] shooting Indian pronto. Best postcarp of Rabid SmittyYes [Biddle 68.27]
 1968/06/17 TLSto Mertoni am here in the rains of olean, engulfed in the swamps of the cattaraug. here is no picnic: neverYes [Biddle 68.29]
 1968/06/22 TL[c]from MertonGlad news back in Cattarops but fie on all the cops and robbers which is took place up and downYes [Biddle 68.30]
 1968/06/26 TL[c]from MertonHere is two: first an exculpation and examination of conscripts by the New Discretion a meaculpaYes [Biddle 68.31]
 1968/07/05 (#01)TLSto Mertonis coming, is coming [-] La Vida from General [-] Beagle. General Beagle [-] is writeYes [Biddle 68.32]
 1968/07/05 (#02)TLSto Mertonhoy [-] hoy [-] hoy [-] hoy [-] here again [-] the voids [-] of Ovid [-] NATURA ABHORRET VACUUMYes [Biddle 68.32 continued]
 1968/07/15? TLSto Mertonhooray for Rathshneller &amp; Winstop. is call me long dystans: shld he come to the chipsYes [Biddle 68.35]
 1968/07/17 TL[c]from MertonWhat is with Granpa and the whiskey, granma's denatured alky in the publishing lounge decanturYes [Biddle 68.36]
 1968/07/19 TL[c]from MertonFirst is celebrations of natuuraabbhorrett. Wimwaimwum. Second is lemntification of Zapped Garool.Yes [Biddle 68.33]
 1968/07/22 TL[c]from MertonRejoice today is the fest of Murphy Magdalen [-] Festivity of Murphy's Magd rejoice festivity.Yes [Biddle 68.37]
 1968/08/12 TLSto Mertonhere is everything all stacked up like planes over Denver. itinerant newsbird goes off on vacarmeYes [Biddle 68.38]
 1968/08/17 HLSto MertonHere is old letter &amp; drama auf Slate [-] I make my own Bowdler (thinking for Jester), still no  [not published in Biddle's book]
 1968/08/18 TL[c]from MertonWell it was always topics anyway. From the start it was topics. If he could have got a chance,Yes [Biddle 68.39]
 1968/08/30 HLSto MertonHere is many hoorays: 1) for the Fords &amp; the opium. 2) for cargo cults 3) for ElmhurstYes [Biddle 68.41]
 1968/09/07 TLSto MertonYou are off to the bhikus, off to the bikkhus, only this week &amp; you are off to the biks.Yes [Biddle 68.44]
 1975/no/no? TALSto Labrié, RossYour letter jumped out of a bunch of other (mostly Christmas cards) today &amp; said: answer me!  response to a query about Merton's literary influences and favorites
 1987/12/23 HLSto Center from Lax, RobertThanks for your letter, and these proofs and the Merton Seasonal. It's a pleasure to hear from you.   
 1988/01/28 TL[c]from Center to Lax, RobertThank you for your prompt reply and return of the proofsheets for THE MERTON ANNUAL, 1.   
 1988/03/04 TLSto Center from Lax, RobertThanks for your letter which arrived just days ago. Something about the mail here.   
 1988/06/30 TL[c]from Center to Lax, RobertThis letter will serve to introduce Arthur W/ Biddle (known as "Bill"), a member of the faculty   
 1989/02/26 TLSto Center from Lax, RobertThanks very much for sending me the Kentucky Poetry Review -- an excellent issue, and all   
 1991/04/17 TLSto Center from Lax, RobertThanks for your letter of some weeks ago. I'm pleased to hear that I'm now a member   
 1991/04/24 TL[c]from Center to Lax, RobertAs you know, I think, the feature in the summer issue of <b>The Merton Seasonal</b> will be   
 1991/05/08 HLSto Center from Lax, RobertThe musical mystery: I didn't write music for the poems you sent me, but I did write two   
 1991/05/17 HNSto Center from Lax, RobertA new mixup! I voted for your new amendment - picked several candidates -- all my old friends   
 1991/11/21 HLSto Center from Lax, RobertMany thanks, as mid-winter approaches, for the summer Seasonal, and warm congratulations on it too.   
 undated/no/no (#01)TLSto Mertoni am forgetting to send articles by sister joan of arc and a plan for converting la russie by some  [not published in Biddle's book]
 undated/no/no (#02)otherto Mertonhere is [-] longest [-] methodo [-] lojax m [-] ske whi [-] sky [-] --- [-] drown the [-] knoppss  [not published in Biddle's book]
 undated/no/no (#03)HNSto MertonDear T [-] will be sending bks retorts islands nxt. wk [-] D. [-] ooooooo [-] bbbbbbb [-] ppppppp  [not published in Biddle's book / one page of a handwritten note and two pages from a typewriter]
        

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