The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Heidbrink, John C., 1926-2006

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Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1961-1967, 1983-1984

Volume: 97 item(s); 139 pg(s)

Scope and Content

This is a file in the correspondence of Thomas Merton under the heading: "Heidbrink, John C.".

Biography

John Heidbrink was a Presbyterian minister and activist for civil rights and peace. He writes to Merton after having been in touch with Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. It was shortly after he came to Nyack, New York, in 1960 to work as Secretary for Church Relations for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). He was a friend of Jim Forest and Daniel and Philip Berrigan, all of whom worked to found the Catholic Peace Fellowship (CPF). With Daniel Berrigan he discussed Protestant expectations for the Second Vatican Council and attended the International Peace Conference in Prague in 1964 and other Christian/Marxist seminars in Europe. Heidbrink arranged for the landmark meeting of Merton and Thich Nhât Hanh at Gethsemani in 1966. (Source: The Hidden Ground of Love, p. 401.)

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

See also letters to Thich Nhat Hanh, James Forest, Alfred Hassler, A.J. Muste, and Douglas Steere in their respective files; and, see also Cold War Letters #2 and #38 and other letters from Merton published in The Hidden Ground of Love, pp. 401-430.

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
 1961/10/30 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThank you for your good letter of October 25. I am glad Dorothy Day and the CW got in touch withYes [Cold War Letters #2]
 1961/10/30 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonThank you for your good letter of October 25. I am glad Dorothy Day and the CW got in touch withYes [Cold War Letters #2]
 1961/10/30 (#03)transcriptfrom MertonThank you for your good letter of October 25. I am glad Dorothy Day and the CW got in touch withYes [Cold War Letters #2 - transcript from bound set]
 1961/11/07 TL[x]to MertonI enclose the most recenter PAX Bulletin. You may keep it. If it isn't the one you want let me know   
 1961/11/13 TLS[x]from MertonThanks very much for the Pax Bulletin. It was very welcome and has been eagerly read by severalYes  
 1961/11/20 TLS[x]from MertonFirst, thank you for all the books and articles which have arrived. I am reading them with great,Yes  
 1961/11/28 TL[x]to MertonI have been away for two weeks. Therefore, excuse the delay. <u>Red or Dead</u> is excellent.   
 1961/12/02 TALS[x]from MertonI will be glad to get to know the FOR better. I had never heard of it, I must confess.Yes  
 1962/01/03 TL[x]to MertonI was discussing your new book with Professor Douglas Steere of Haverford College in Pennsylvania   
 1962/02/01 TL[x]to MertonThe Metzger piece you did is praiseworthy and deserves much gratitude from those of us who have   
 1962/02/15 (#01)TLS[x]from MertonThank you for the tearsheets of Red or Dead. I assume you don't want me to return them.Yes [Cold War Letters #38]
 1962/02/15 (#02)transcriptfrom MertonThank you for the tearsheets of Red or Dead. I assume you don't want me to return them.Yes [Cold War Letters #38 - transcript from bound set]
 1962/05/11 TLS[x]from MertonI am just about a month behind with mail. It is not quite as hectic here as there, but it can beYes  
 1962/05/30 TLS[x]from MertonHere is the little slip about using my name for the China project. Notice that I am saying nothingYes  
 1962/06/19 TL[x]to MertonLet me say first that Dan Berrigan's retreat with twelve Protestant ministers at the Benedictine   
 1962/08/08 (#01)TALS[x]from MertonFr. McDole is here. I am glad you wrote, as the letter reached me Monday. I had forgotten aboutYes  
 1962/08/08 (#02)transcriptfrom MertonFr. McDole is here. I am glad you wrote, as the letter reached me Monday. I had forgotten aboutYes [William Shannon's transcript - photocopy of original letter is faded]
 1962/09/18 TL[x]to MertonExcuse my silence but I have been romping through the sweet old streets of Italy.   
 1962/09/25 TLS[x]from MertonThanks for your good letter. I am glad to hear you are back from Europe and that you want to comeYes  
 1962/11/27 (#01)TL[x]to MertonExcuse the beveity of this note but I am in the hospital for gall bladder operation. All is well,   
 1962/11/27 (#02)TL[x]to Goss-Mayr, HildegardI have seldome been moved by a letter as much as I was by yours which came recently.  [to Jean and Hildegard Goss-Mayr]
 1962/12/09 (#01)TL[c]from MertonI was very sorry to hear, from Margaret Von Selle, that you were still in the hospital, or againYes  
 1962/12/09 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonI was very sorry to hear, from Margaret Von Selle, that you were still in the hospital, or againYes  
 1963/04/09 (#01)TLS[x]from MertonI just wrote to Glenn Smiley and gave him a message for you, but I might as well send along a copyYes [encloses letter of the same date to Paul Peachey]
 1963/04/09 (#02)TAL[c] from Merton to Paul PeacheyThanks for your letter and for the reply to my question. I have left the quote as it stands in theYes [encloses with letter of the same date to Heidbrink - annotation is by Heidbrink and notes that Peachey is a "Mennonite scholar who helped to arrange the retreat at M's hermitage with Muste etc."]
 1963/04/15 TL[x]to MertonA word to say that Jim Forest, Hermine Evans and I have about given up on PAX. I have always been   
 1963/05/15 TL[x]to MertonA brief letter: Paul Peachey and I are working with a group of Catholic scholars as we are trying   
 1963/05/20 TLS[x]from MertonSince I have formally been forbidden to write on the subject of nuclear war, it would be unwiseYes  
 1963/05/24 TL[x]to MertonThanks for your note.Don't bother to reply to this one. I am grateful for the name of James Douglass   
 1963/06/04 TL[x]to MertonThe superb pictures came and also the Fenelon and Zen pieces. I must quickly thank you for them.   
 1963/09/09 TAL[x]to MertonExcuse this brief note but there has dawned on me the necessity of going further into our life   
 1963/09/14 (#01)HNS[x]from MertonI think for the moment that would be too big a gang. We could not handle so many.  [written from the hospital]
 1963/09/14 (#02)transcriptfrom MertonI think for the moment that would be too big a gang. We could not handle so many.  [William Shannon's transcript - photocopy of original letter is faded]
 1963/10/15 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonThanks for your letter and for the prayers, which I appreciate. About thekind [sic] of group thatYes  
 1963/10/15 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonThanks for your letter and for the prayers, which I appreciate. About thekind [sic] of group thatYes  
 1964/02/23 (#01)HLS[x]from MertonThanks for the material on Latin America. I am sorry to hear you are ill. Take care of yourself.Yes  
 1964/02/23 (#02)transcriptfrom MertonThanks for the material on Latin America. I am sorry to hear you are ill. Take care of yourself.Yes [William Shannon's transcript - photocopy of original letter is faded]
 1964/03/04 TL[x]to MertonI must reply to the questions you raised in the previous letter regarding Thomas Ritt. The poor   
 1964/03/11 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonThanks for the information about T. Ritt. I know he is having a very hard time and my impressionYes  
 1964/03/11 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonThanks for the information about T. Ritt. I know he is having a very hard time and my impressionYes  
 1964/03/16 TL[x]to MertonThanks for your letter. Lochman was moved, too, by the visit. I enclose I.F. Stone's (Jewish   
 1964/05/09 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonI have your letter of April 29th here, and the memo about PD East, for which thanks. He was here,Yes  
 1964/05/09 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonI have your letter of April 29th here, and the memo about PD East, for which thanks. He was here,Yes  
 1964/09/14 TAL[c]from MertonHow are you? And where are you? I thought I had better drop you a line and find out where thingsYes  
 1964/09/17 TALSto MertonI am eleven years married today. At twenty five I would not have thought for a moment that such joy   
 1964/09/19 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonThanks for the very good letter. Yes, I will be thinking about all those things. The great thingYes  
 1964/09/19 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonThanks for the very good letter. Yes, I will be thinking about all those things. The great thingYes  
 1964/09/26 HCSto MertonDan cannot come earlier than Nov. 18. I'm in England Nov. 16-28. Rat! I've just received my   
 1964/10/29 TALSto MertonThings are shaping up for the wake-in-preparation at Trappist with these key people from the peace   
 1964/10/no? TL[c]from MertonThanks for your card. I think the best thing would be to plan on the group coming Nov. 18-20,Yes [undated]
 1964/11/26 TL[c]from MertonBy now you may have heard reports from others of the retreat last week. I think we all felt it wasYes  
 1964/12/01 HLS[x]from Nelson, John Oliver "Jack"Nary another day must go by without my 1) saluting you on what I hear of your operation and its  Jack Nelson thanks Heidbrink for "that amazing Thomas Merton experience" (retreat at Gethsemani, "The Spiritual Roots of Protest")
 1965/01/15 TALSto MertonExcuse this typing business. It will probably turn out like an ancient scratch sheet. But everyone   
 1965/01/22 TL[c]from MertonIt was very good to have your special delivery letter, first because it give me news that you areYes  
 1965/01/27 TL[x]to MertonThanks for writing. I understand your point. Dan will consider doing it, I think. Hope so!   
 1965/04/30 (#01)TL[c]from MertonI just got your note about Jean and Hidegarde [sic], and was planning in any case to answer yourYes [Jean and Hildegard Goss-Mayr]
 1965/04/30 (#02)TALS[x]from MertonI just got your note about Jean and Hidegarde [sic], and was planning in any case to answer yourYes [handwritten postscript not in published letter or on carbon] A.J. Muste / Jean and Hildegard Goss-Mayr
 1965/05/16 TALS[x]from MertonHere is a first draft of a letter I am hoping to send off to Paul VI tomorrow. I was shocked but not   
 1965/06/16 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonMany thanks for the card. You can certainly have the Simone Weil essay to print, though I presumeYes  
 1965/06/16 (#02)TALS[x]from MertonMany thanks for the card. You can certainly have the Simone Weil essay to print, though I presumeYes [handwritten postscript not in published letter or on carbon]
 1965/07/25 TL[c]from MertonI have been waiting for a chance to make some thoughtful comment on your excellent notes on the JustYes  
 1965/11/16 TL[x]to MertonJim Forest shared your letter with me today. I am merely writing for Jim's sake, I guess, rather   
 1965/11/20 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonYesterday I got very good letters from Dan and Jim and answered them immediately. Today I receivedYes  
 1965/11/20 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonYesterday I got very good letters from Dan and Jim and answered them immediately. Today I receivedYes  
 1965/12/04 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonFirst, thanks for your note and the enclosures. All were helpful. I owe you (and here youYes [see Section E.1 of the classification (Manuscript Essays) under the title "Concerning the Catholic Peace Fellowship" - annotated carbon copy of this letter is included in file for this unpublished essay - also included are letters of December 3 and 5 from Merton to Jim Forest and Tom Cornell (respectively)]
 1965/12/04 (#02)TALS[x]from MertonFirst, thanks for your note and the enclosures. All were helpful. I owe you (and here youYes [see Section E.1 of the classification (Manuscript Essays) under the title "Concerning the Catholic Peace Fellowship" - annotated carbon copy of this letter is included in file for this unpublished essay - also included are letters of December 3 and 5 from Merton to Jim Forest and Tom Cornell (respectively)]
 1965/12/17 TL[x]to MertonThanks for writing. I understand your point. Dan will consider doing it, I think. Hope so!  [seems to be missing a page or pages of the letter]
 1966/01/26 other[x] THOMAS MERTON IN SECLUSION: MONK PLANS TO LIMIT WRITING by Religious News Service (1-26-66)   
 1966/05/20 (#01)telegramto MertonUNEXPECTED ARRIVAL U S A #3 BUDDIST [sic] LEADER FROM VIETNAM HE AND I IN LOUISVILLE  [Thich Nhat Hanh]
 1966/05/20 (#02)TL[c]from MertonYour telegram arrived today and though I am not able to give an absolutely definite answer,Yes  
 1966/05/20 (#03)TALS[x]from MertonYour telegram arrived today and though I am not able to give an absolutely definite answer,Yes [many notes by Heidbrink on the letter]
 1966/05/30 (#01)HNS[x]from MertonHere is the corrected text. I find it is my last available copy, but I can get more run off.Yes  
 1966/05/30 (#02)transcriptfrom MertonHere is the corrected text. I find it is my last available copy, but I can get more run off.Yes [William Shannon's transcript - photocopy of original letter is faded]
 1966/06/01 (#01)HNS[x]from MertonMy face is red like this pen. Proofs for "Blessed Are the Meek" just came in. I forgot entirelyYes  
 1966/06/01 (#02)HNS[x]from MertonMy face is red like this pen. Proofs for "Blessed Are the Meek" just came in. I forgot entirelyYes [William Shannon's transcript - photocopy of original letter is faded]
 1966/06/07 TCSto MertonYou are to send me the corrected copy of "Blessed are the meek". You gave Nhat an uncorrected copy.   
 1966/06/13 (#01)TLS[x]from MertonI have your card of the 7th. Sent the corrected copy of Blessed Are the Meek some time before that,Yes  
 1966/06/13 (#02)TALS[x] from Merton to John Heidbrink and othersA STATEMENT concerning Thich Nhat Hanh. by Thomas Merton. This is not a political statement.  [written 1966/05/29 - enclosed with 1966/06/13 letter to Heidbrink]
 1966/06/22 HLSto MertonThanks for the "goodies". <u>Chinese Thought</u> lights a flame. <u>Humanism</u> and the   
 1966/06/26 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThanks for your letter: I think the idea of translating Nhat's little book on Buddhism is a good oneYes  
 1966/06/26 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonThanks for your letter: I think the idea of translating Nhat's little book on Buddhism is a good oneYes  
 1966/07/13 TLSto MertonI am returning the photos. Please excuse my tardiness. I am pretty well sure now of being able   
 1966/07/15 TCS[x]from MertonI thought you would be interested in this piece. I have sent it to Cross Currents, but have no ideaYes [Merton sends "Buddhism and the Modern World" / also copy of first page of essay with a handwritten note by Merton]
 1966/07/21 HCSto MertonThanks for writing and for the Buddhist piece. I've not read yet. If you are not going to send   
 1966/08/01 TLS[x]from MertonDid I answer your card and send more Buddhist pieces? Probably not yet. Here are a few more.Yes  
 1966/08/02 (#01)HNSto MertonI send this on since it is the most recent news we have. Hassler leaves Sunday to join Nhat again  [handwritten note on photocopy of a letter from Thich Nhat Hanh - see next record]
 1966/08/02 (#02)HLS[x] from Nhât Hanh, Thich / to Ray [?]Thank you so much for your letters and for what you have been doing for us. I just returned from  [photocopy of a handwritten letter from Thich Nhat Hanh, address to "Ray" - see previous record for note from John Heidbrink to Merton]
 1966/08/10 HLSto MertonI've read twice the piece you wrote on Buddhism and Social awakening. Thanks for doing it   
 1967/03/05 TL[c]from MertonGlad to have you come by yourself, or with just one or two others. I don't relish the large groupYes  
 1967/04/22 TL[c]from MertonThanks for your real good letter of the 1st. I was especially interested to hear something aboutYes  
 1983/10/24 (#01)TLS[x]from Shannon, WilliamI hope you don't mind my calling you "John." After reading your name so often in the other   
 1983/10/24 (#02)other Heidbrink to Merton [-] May 20, 1966 H to M - telegram [-] Unexpected arrival USA Buddhist leader   
 1984/02/17 (#01)HLSto Shannon, WilliamFinally I've photocopied the Tom letters for your project. I've made available only those which   
 1984/02/17 (#02)HNSto Shannon, WilliamPls. ignore my scribble on the letters - they unfortunately reproduced and do not function as any   
 1984/02/27 TLS[x]from Shannon, WilliamIt was a delight for me to receive the Merton letters you sent. Since I have been working on the   
 1984/03/10 HLSto Shannon, WilliamNot convinced at all by your letter; and neither am I angered. It's best a part of Merton floats  [verso of letter is photocopy of a typescript for Merton's poem from <i>Emblems of a Season of Fury</i>, "A Dream at Arles on the Night of the Mistral"]
 undated/no/no HLSto Mertonpictures not ready yet - Here is one way your great statement was used -   
        

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