The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Percy, Walker, 1916-1990

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Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1964-1967, 1973, 1982

Volume: 17 item(s); 22 pg(s)

Scope and Content

Biography

Walker Percy was a novelist best known for The Movie Goers, which he sent to Merton and which Merton liked very much. Born in Alabama, he grew up and lived most of the rest of his life in Louisiana. He was a convert to Catholicism and his faith influenced his writing, as did existentialism. Though a product of the South, he rebelled against the racism of the Old South but equally was skeptical of modern America and its materialistic ethic. Percy met Merton at his hermitage in the summer of 1967. The encounter was arranged since both were on the advisory board of Katallagete. There was a strained feeling between the two men-- they were fans of each other but could not seem to find conversation; however, they continued writing to each other and Merton continues to praise Percy's novels. Walker Percy writes to Merton from Covington, Louisiana. (Source: "Percy, Walker." Obituary from Current Biography. 10 May 1990. Wilson Biographies Plus. Online. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 2 Feb. 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

See also published letters from Merton to Percy in The Courage for Truth, pp. 281-284.

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
 1964/01/no? TL[c]from MertonThere is no easy way to thank you for your book. Not only are the good words about books all usedYes  
 1964/02/14 HLSto MertonI remember the "Fr Louis" from another book you wrote. Your letter meant much to me- I am a slow   
 1964/02/27 HLSto MertonMost deeply grateful for your abstract which shall hang on my wall next to Franz Kofka's motto:   
 1964/03/31 TAL[c]from MertonFrom Le Seuil comes this letter saying they had seen the book in 1961, Knopf must have sent it,Yes [Merton includes on the stationery some cut-out block letters spelling: "THE MONKS. MODERN MOVING... WITH OLD-FASHIONED CARE"]
 1964/04/11 HLSto MertonMost deeply grateful for your   
 1966/05/29 TLSto MertonAm most grateful for your response to that novel (the writing of which is a poor thing for a grown   
 1967/07/13 TLSto MertonIt was a pleasure to meet you. Though I must admit I felt somewhat diffident, putting myself   
 1967/07/20 (#01)TLSfrom MertonIt is good news to hear you can perhaps use Bantu philosophy in your new book, which sound likeYes  
 1967/07/20 (#02)TL[c]from MertonIt is good news to hear you can perhaps use Bantu philosophy in your new book, which sound likeYes  
 1967/08/24 (#01)TALSfrom MertonYou are much in my thoughts as I continue my explorations of Bantu ideas. I have on interlibraryYes  
 1967/08/24 (#02)TAL[c]from MertonYou are much in my thoughts as I continue my explorations of Bantu ideas. I have on interlibraryYes  
 1967/08/27 TLSto MertonMost grateful indeed for the stuff on the Bantu eclectics and the reference, Sundkler's book.   
 1967/10/17 HCSto MertonWell, you're a white man, aren't you? [-] Walker [-] a white man gave it to me.  [verso: "'When White People learn to Vote Together like negroes do, then Politicians in Washington and Baton Rouge will quit shoving you around'... In Louisiana, Whites are Uniting behind Ned Touchstone for State Superintendent of Education. He's a Segregationalist." ... "(Pass this card on to another White man)"]
 1973/11/30 TLS[x]from Center to Percy, WalkerMr. Victor Kramer at Georgia State University has requested permission to look at your   
 1973/12/12 HLSto Center from Percy, WalkerThank you for your request for my correspondence with Thos Merton. Unfortunately I have already   
 1982/01/20 HLSto Center from Percy, WalkerThanks for your letter. No, I have no objections to scholars seeing my letters from Merton.   
 1982/01/22 TL[x]from Center to Percy, WalkerThank you for your letter of January 20, 1982. When the Trustees of the Thomas Merton Legacy Trust   
        

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