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This is a file in the correspondence of Thomas Merton under the heading: "O'Gara, James".
James O'Gara was editor of the Commonweal in New York from 1952-1984. A Catholic, born in Chicago's South Side, he had an early interest in the Catholic Worker movement. He later became assistant director of the Catholic Worker House of Hospitality and associate editor of the Catholic Worker newspaper. After fighting in the infantry in the Second World War in the South Pacific, he contracted malaria and was sent home. He married Joan F. Smith in 1946, who was secretary for the head of the Chicago Interstudent Catholic Action Movement. He co-founded Today, a Catholic student magazine circulated nationally. Later he worked for Voice of St. Jude, which became the current magazine U.S. Catholic. During his tenure at Commonweal, he defended a liberal Catholic voice in journalism. When Daniel Berrigan submitted an article while hiding from the federal authorities during the Vietnam War, O'Gara was approached by the FBI, but was said by his daughter to have told them to "get out". (Source: Toomey, Shamus. "James O'Gara, 85, editor for leading Catholic lay magazine." Chicago Sun Times [online]. 30 Oct. 2003.
Obituaries. 13 Jan. 2006. ‹http://www.chicagosuntimes.com/output/obituaries/cst-nws-xogara30.html›.)
Please click here for general restrictions concerning Merton's correspondence.
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. |
1966/05/04 |
TLS to Merton |
Many thanks for your note. We are sorry indeed to hear you've been having trouble with your back. |
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«detailed view» |
| 2. |
1967/07/28 |
TALS to Merton |
I am enclosing our check as a token of our appreciation for the article you sent. Many thanks |
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«detailed view» |
| 3. |
1967/09/27 |
TL[x] from Forest, Jim |
Thought I haven't as yet heard from Merton myself (perhaps you have), we did get the letter out |
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«detailed view» |
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