|
Ray Livingston writes to ask if Merton would review his book, The Traditional Theory of Literature. He also asks: "[W]hat Scriptural, Patristic, and Scholastic sources set forth and explain the doctrine that the harmony of the cosmos depends upon man's spiritual condition?" The file contains poems of his wife, Claire (see "Livingston, Claire" file for correspondence), and of his eleven year old son, Ira Livingston.
Ray Livingston was chair of the Department of English at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Please click here for general restrictions concerning Merton's correspondence.
See also Cold War Letters #80 published in Witness to Freedom, pp. 244-248.
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.
This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.
Click icons for links: ✓="Published | Library Record", ✉="Scanned" | 🗷="Scanned, Viewable Only at Merton Center"
| # | Date | From/To | First Lines | Pub ✓ | Notes |
| | y/m/d | Merton | | Scan ✉ | |
| 1. |
1962/05/02 |
TLS to Merton |
For ten years I have considered writing to you, but I have refrained, if not out of fear that |
|
«detailed view» |
| 2. |
1962/06/no? |
transcript from Merton |
On looking at your letter again I see you are really asking me whether I would like to see your book |
|
[Cold War Letter #80 - copy from bound set of letters]
«detailed view» |
| 3. |
1962/12/11 |
TAL[c] from Merton |
I have thought about you often since you sent the books, and have meant to write. Your fine letter |
|
«detailed view» |
| 4. |
1962/12/no? |
HLS to Merton |
Under separate cover I shall shortly send a copy of AKC's "Measures of Fire." I wish you good |
|
«detailed view» |
| 5. |
1963/06/10 |
HLS to Merton |
If I can get this letter written it will be a wonder indeed. |
|
«detailed view» |
| 6. |
1964/02/19 (#01) |
TLS to Merton |
I have started at least twenty-five letters to you---and even finished some---since last summer when |
|
«detailed view» |
| 7. |
1964/02/19 (#02) |
other to Merton |
The Living Stone [-] "Let me lie down like a stone, and rise up like a loaf." [-] The earth needs |
|
[8 poems by Claire Livingston - "The Living Stone," "Two Poems in Celebration of the End of the World," "The Sins of the Fathers," "Only the Living," "Willy-Nilly," "For the Night Cometh," "Playboy," and "This First Spring"]
«detailed view» |
| 8. |
1964/05/11 |
TL[c] from Merton |
Obviously ours is the kind of correspondence which demands that a few months pass between letters |
|
«detailed view» |
| 9. |
1967/05/03 (#01) |
HLS to Merton |
Though I think of you constantly, I don't write for several reasons but thought, after several false |
|
«detailed view» |
| 10. |
1967/05/03 (#02) |
other[x] to Merton |
A Letter to Friends - To E.B. Cohen [-] "Be absolute for life." [-] They say the first man |
|
[Claire Livingston's poems, "A Letter to Friends" and "A Paradox"]
«detailed view» |
| 11. |
1967/05/03 (#03) |
other[x] to Merton |
Once upon a time there lived a sweet, kind, white-haired, fat, deaf, gentle old lady. |
|
[3 pieces by Ira Livingston, eleven year old son of Ray and Claire Livingston - "Once upon a time...", "Power", and "Letter from a Vietnamese Man"]
«detailed view» |
| 12. |
1967/05/03 (#04) |
other[x] to Merton |
ISHI THE YANA [-] He was Ishi the Yana, [-] And they didn't know where to put him. [-] He was the |
|
[Livingston send a photocopy of the poem "Ishi the Yana" by C.W. Truesdale from his book, The Loss of Peace]
«detailed view» |
|
 |
|
 |
|