The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Holloway, James Young, 1927-2002

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Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1965-1968

Volume: 91 item(s); 101 pg(s)

Scope and Content

Merton and Holloway discussed the Civil Rights Movement in the South and Merton's contributions to Katallagete.

Biography

Jim Holloway came to Berea College in 1965 where he would remain as a professor before retiring in 1992. He was co-founder with Will Campbell of Katallagete (Greek for "be reconciled!"), a magazine sponsored by the Committee of Southern Churchmen (CSC) and to which Merton contributed. Holloway served as editor.

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

See also the "Campbell, William Davis" and "Stone, Naomi Burton" files; and the Katallagete / James Y. Holloway Collection at the University of Mississippi.

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

Series NumberSeries NameTotal Records
1 Correspondence between James Holloway and Thomas Merton 89
2 Correspondence between James Holloway and Contributors to Katallagete regarding Merton 1
3 Correspondence between James Holloway and The Merton Legacy Trust and the Merton Center 1

Container List

SeriesDateTypeTo/FromFirst LinesPubFull TextNotes
11965/10/03 TLS[x]from MertonYou would probably do better not to wait for me. I will certainly get around to that piece before   
11965/10/13 (#01)TLSto MertonThanks so very much for your note of the 4th. Believe me, I appreciate the demands on your time,   
11965/10/13 (#02)other DIRECTORS REPORT [-] COMMITTEE OF SOUTHERN CHURCHMEN [-] AUGUST 30, 1965  [sent to Merton in 1965/10/13 letter]
11965/12/27 HLS[x]from MertonThanks for your warm note - I reciprocate all along and wish you joy in a blessed New Year.  piece Merton was writing regarding Second Vatican Council constitution on "The Church in the Modern World" - possible piece for <u>Katallagete</u>
11966/02/03 TLSto MertonWill Campbell just called to say that this issue of <u>Katallagete</u> is in the mail (they are   
11966/02/10 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThanks for your notes and for the new issue of Katallagete which I have been reading.  Walker Percy / Markus Barth
11966/02/10 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonThanks for your notes and for the new issue of Katallagete which I have been reading.  Walker Percy / Markus Barth
11966/02/24 TALSto MertonI do not mean to embarrass you by quoting your own writings to you, but I don't know of any other   
11966/04/26 HLS[x]from MertonTerribly sorry I forgot to send you this - here is the part of the ms you can draw on if you want   
11966/05/09 TL[c]from MertonThanks for your letter and for the copies of the magazine which reached me safely. As a matter   
11966/05/12 TLSto MertonForgive me for keeping the mss. of your commentary so long, but I now have copied off what we would   
11966/05/16 HNS[x]from MertonI finally decided that the only thing to do with my <u>Church and World</u> commentary was show it   
11966/06/27 TLSto MertonThe mail just brought some material from FOR, including your moving statement "Nhat Hahn [sic] is my   
11966/06/29? HLS[x]from MertonThere is no problem at all about your using the Nhat Hanh statement as far as I am concerned.  [undated - likely 1966] Thich Nhât Hanh - "Nhât Hanh Is My Brother" / "Godless Christianity" article
11966/07/06 HLS[x]from MertonBy all means write to Continuum if they don't act soon. Justus G. Lawler, 15   
11966/07/22 (#01)TLSfrom MertonI have an important favor to put before you, and while I am eager to do so, I am uneasy lest I botch   
11966/07/22 (#02)TLS[x]to Stone, Naomi BurtonDuring the past several weeks, I have been in correspondence with Father Thomas Merton about  [copy of letter to Naomi Burton of Doubleday, Merton's literary agent, enclosed with July 22 letter to Merton - dated 1966/07/08]
11966/07/22 (#03)TAL[c] from Levant, Dan / to Naomi Burton StoneI'm attaching a letter from James Holloway and my reply to him. This is about a book of Merton's  [copy enclosed with July 22 letter to Merton (carbon copy to John Delaney) - dated 1966/07/12]
11966/07/26 TL[c]from MertonThanks for your letter and for the eloquent enclosed statement by Will. I have read them both   
11966/08/25 TL[x]from Stone, Naomi BurtonFather Merton has decided now that he is not going to make a full length book from the material  "Church in the World" material - will not become a book, so <u>Katallagete</u> can make two articles from it
11966/09/24 TLSto MertonReceived this a.m. sheets of the finished product of the journal, summer issue, the second day   
11966/09/28 (#01)TL[c]from MertonI am glad to hear that this issue of Katallagete is on its way and I shall look forward to seeing it  Merton's feelings that "Death of God" material is inadequate and his reservations about Holloway publishing it
11966/09/28 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonI am glad to hear that this issue of Katallagete is on its way and I shall look forward to seeing it  Merton's feelings that "Death of God" material is inadequate and his reservations about Holloway publishing it
11966/09/30 TLSto MertonThanks for your note of the 28th. I am returning the mss on Godless Christianity as you requested.   
11966/10/15 TALSto MertonI sent a couple of copies first-class, and a few more book-rate, and I hope by now they have arrived   
11966/10/25 TL[x]to New York Review, to the editorsI am enclosing a check for fourteen dollars ($14.00) to cover the cost of a three-year subscription  [Holloway sending a check to pay for a 3-year subscription to the <u>New York Review</u> for Merton]
11966/11/14 TLSto MertonAs work goes along on the politics-as-messiah theme we seem to be accumulating enough first-rate   
11966/12/14 (#01)TL[c]from MertonThis is a very delayed acknowledgement of all the copies of the summer issue, and a comment on same.  thoughts on article from last issue of <u>Katallagete</u> / "Godless Christianity" article / thanks for <u>New York Review</u> / reading and a possible study of William Faulkner / possibility of seeing Holloway and Will Campbell later in January of 1967
11966/12/14 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonThis is a very delayed acknowledgement of all the copies of the summer issue, and a comment on same.  thoughts on article from last issue of <u>Katallagete</u> / "Godless Christianity" article / thanks for <u>New York Review</u> / reading and a possible study of William Faulkner / possibility of seeing Holloway and Will Campbell later in January of 1967
11967/01/17 TLS[x]from MertonI really enjoyed having you and Will here the other day. By the way I could not find in my pocket   
11967/01/18 TALSto MertonI'm sending with this today the Johnny Cash record, so please be on the lookout. Parcel post inside   
11967/02/01 TLSto MertonThis is an awkward sort of letter, but not so much as it might have been had we not had the chance   
11967/02/10 (#01)TL[c]from MertonSorry I was not prompt in answering your last two letters: we have been on retreat. As to dividing  Flannery O'Connor's <i>Wise Blood</i> - "best summary of God is Dead Theology" / thoughts on Johnny Cash and comparisons with Bob Dylan / working more on William Faulkner
11967/02/10 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonSorry I was not prompt in answering your last two letters: we have been on retreat. As to dividing  Flannery O'Connor's <i>Wise Blood</i> - "best summary of God is Dead Theology" / thoughts on Johnny Cash and comparisons with Bob Dylan / working more on William Faulkner
11967/02/28 HNS[x]from MertonJust got back from the hospital today. Here is the article. Feel free to edit it as you please.   
11967/03/04 TLSto MertonA quick note to let you know that the "Godless Christianity"? mss. arrived o.k. Many, many thanks   
11967/04/04 TLSto MertonFor some time we have wanted to arrange a meeting for the working segment of the editorial board   
11967/04/13 TL[c]from MertonSorry for the delay in answering yours of the 4th. I have had a lot of people to see lately   
11967/04/22 TNS[x]from MertonThanks for the letter. I am clarified. I'll expect news of the editorial board meeting around end   
11967/06/27 TLS[x]from MertonThanks, belatedly for the card. I also enjoy Johnny Cash, especially in his references to the hermit  Johnny Cash and the hermit life
11967/07/03 TLSto MertonNot trying to add to what I know is your backlog of reading. But I had an extra set of galleys   
11967/07/21 TLSto MertonStrange as it seems, we've been unable to locate either the complete text of the resolutions of the   
11967/08/20 TL[c]from MertonThanks for the copies of Kat which came in safely. I think the cover is very effective and in fact   
11967/08/22 (#01)TALSto MertonMany thanks for your note of the 20th, and esp. for the enclosures. And for the kind words about   
11967/08/22 (#02)other Facing the Future [-] By Walter Lippmann [-] The Negro Insurrection: An Ominous Gap Triggers Rioting  [newspaper clipping from the 1967/08/20 <u>Louisville Courier-Journal</u>]
11967/08/31 (#01)TL[c]from MertonA very persuasive letter came in from Will yesterday. He inveigled me with the summary of new  letter from Will Campbell summarizing new country songs / Merton's article "The Hot Summer of 1967" for <u>Katallagete</u> / William Faulkner / Cornell [Tom Cornell?] - Alabama / Catholic Church - "St Vitus dance plus logorrhea"
11967/08/31 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonA very persuasive letter came in from Will yesterday. He inveigled me with the summary of new  letter from Will Campbell summarizing new country songs / Merton's article "The Hot Summer of 1967" for <u>Katallagete</u> / William Faulkner / Cornell [Tom Cornell?] - Alabama / Catholic Church - "St Vitus dance plus logorrhea"
11967/09/02 TLSto MertonThanks so much for your letter of the 31st. You're not the first one to fall before a Campbell   
11967/09/06 TLS[x]from MertonHere, hastily, is the copy of Hot Summer. I leave you to judge whether it would be improved without   
11967/09/11 TALSto MertonThanks for the Hot Summer which arrived o.k. Just had time to read it before going to N'ville this   
11967/09/21 (#01)TALSto MertonFaulkner at Oxford arrived o.k. Let me know if you find others you can use. Not sure if I sent you  [encloses two black and white photographs - there are two men pictured: Jim Holloway, editor, is in the "Katallagete 2" shirt and the other, the publisher and co-founder with Holloway, is Will Campbell, "Katallagete 1" - also encloses a newspaper clipping (see next record)]
11967/09/21 (#02)other Faulkner, in Letter to Ex-Butler, Said Negro Must Earn Equality [-] By M. S. Handler [-] In a letter  [newspaper clipping sent by Holloway describing a letter author William Faulkner sent to his ex-butler concerning racial issues]
11967/09/22 TL[c]from MertonWhen I see you fellows all decked out in your athletic finery, it makes me wonder when I am going to   
11967/09/27 TL[x]to MertonI was very sorry to hear about Dr. Allport, and can understand how this bears on you at this time.   
11967/09/28 TLSto MertonThanks for your note of the 23rd. Will is free Tuesday, Oct. 3, which is also the best day for me   
11967/09/no? HLS[x]from MertonJim, I should have enclosed this with the note - If you want it for a Spring issue ok.  [handwritten note to "Jim" on copy of "Easter Homily for Argus Communications" - date unknown but essay dated September 1967 - possibly a note to Jim Douglass, October 17, 1967 letter from Holloway to Merton mentions a Merton essay sent by Jim Douglass]
11967/10/17 TALSto MertonThe mss is finally in the hands of the printer, who starts on it tomorrow. The special supplement   
11967/10/20 TL[c]from MertonA fellow who knows Groppi and has worked with him just went through on his way to Alabama   
11967/11/03 TALSto MertonHere are proofs for both articles for Fall Kat. I haven't read either (in proof). You might check   
11967/11/06 TNS[x]from MertonHere are the proofs in haste. This is my afternoon to try to catch up with the mail.  Doris [Doris Dana?] - visit to Lexington with John Jacob Niles / early December meeting with nuns
11967/11/25 (#01)TAL[c]from MertonThanks the buttons. I got an idea. For a change. What do you think about Kat getting into the  possibility of <u>Katallagete</u> producing cryptic buttons - "Combat the Bloat" and "Read Kat", etc.
11967/11/25 (#02)TLS[x]from MertonThanks the buttons. I got an idea. For a change. What do you think about Kat getting into the  possibility of <u>Katallagete</u> producing cryptic buttons - "Combat the Bloat" and "Read Kat", etc.
11967/11/28 HNS[x]from MertonThe Styron book got here from Nashville today. Many thanks. Will get review to you early January   
11967/12/02 (#01)HNS[x]from MertonHere's a [indecipherable word] worked with Groppi and will do an article for Kat.  Doris Dana to translate more of Mistral [Gabriela Mistral] / Ping Ferry article for <u>Katallagete</u>
11967/12/02? (#02)TLS[x] from Lyons, John, Br. / to MertonGreetings and all that! Well, I finally arrived back at Salvatorian Center after running around  Will Campbell / article on Father Groppi for <u>Katallagete</u> / Sr. Therese [Sr. Thérèse Lentfoehr]
11967/12/08 other[x] Gethsemani's Abbot Fox Is Retiring [-] Abbot M. James Fox of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani  [newspaper clipping]
11968/01/10 TLS[x]from MertonI have finished my draft of the Nat Turner review and after it has been typed it will be on its way.  article "Who Is Nat Turner?" / abbatial election (to replace Dom James Fox)
11968/01/15 HNS[x]from MertonHere is Nat Turner. Hope it's ok. Snowed in for fair here! Still pretty tied up in January but  [sent with "New Year's Letter 1968" mimeographed circular letter]
11968/01/18 TL[x]to MertonThe Styron piece is splendid: you've put the crux of the matter extremely well, and in short compass  publishing Merton's piece "Who Is Nat Turner?" with article on the Black Power Movement in California by John Howard Griffin and an article by Ping Ferry / Leslie Dunbar of the Field Foundation wants to use Merton's "The Hot Summer of 1967" in annual report / Philip Berrigan to come to Cincinnati and Louisville
11968/01/26 HNS[x]from MertonBest time to see you (and/or Will) would be for me sometime between Feb 12 and 25 (Sundays excluded)  arranging a meeting regarding Phil [Philip Berrigan?]
11968/02/12 TL[x]to MertonSorry for the delay in responding to your note of the 26th. Will and I have been tied up in  arrranging time to meet Merton February 17
11968/02/23 TN[x]to MertonThaks for the Styron changes; no problem to include. We may have another week (and of Feb) to wait  changes to "Who Is Nat Turner?" article
11968/02/no? (#01)TLS[x]from MertonJust ran across some info which calls for an important change in the Nat Turner  [no date, likely between Holloway's letters of February 12 and February 23, 1968]
11968/02/no? (#02)other[x]from MertonWHO IS NAT TURNER? by Thomas Merton for Katallagete [-] January 1968   
11968/03/15 TLS[x]from MertonPing Ferry wrote that he might come "Friday or Saturday April 22 or 23rd" but the calendar doesn't   
11968/03/29 TLS[x]from MertonNo problem about Friday April 26. Saturday is better but it makes no real difference at all,  Ping Ferry's trip to Gethsemani to meet with Merton / <u>Monks Pond</u> / idea of issue of <u>Katallagete</u> on Jacques Ellul - suggests one on Herbert Marcuse / William Faulkner
11968/04/02 TL[x]to MertonThanks for the note. I think now we're set. As it <u>now</u> develops, I think it is better  arrangements for a meeting at Gethsemani including Holloway and Ping Ferry in late April 1968 / <u>Monks Pond</u> / Daniel Berrigan and the trial of Philip Berrigan - possible trip to Kentucky / possibility of Herbert Marcuse article for issue of <u>Katallagete</u> featuring Jacques Ellul
11968/04/21 TNS[x]from MertonThanks for your note. I'll expect Ping. I don't think he'd object if you came along, but perhaps   
11968/05/16? HPCS[x]from MertonYour letter followed me out here. Have been busy at a convent north of here. Will be tied up  [postcard from San Francisco - postmarked Santa Fe, NM, May 16, 1968]
11968/07/31 TLS[x]from MertonIt seems I haven't written you for a long time. Can it be that I owe you a letter since May?  declining Holloway's invitation to write about the Kennedy assassination - Merton explaining that he had, for the time being, disengaged from politics - announces his trip to Asia later in 1968 for dialogue with Catholic religious and interfaith groups - possibility of re-engaging politics in the following year
11968/08/30 TLS[x]from MertonI've an idea for that second article-- something about Moltmann's Theology of Hope.  Jürgen Moltmann - Jacques Ellul's exegesis of common places / places Merton can be reached in California - Ping Ferry, etc. / possibilities for interfaith dialogue / Liturgical Conference
11968/08/31 TL[x]to MertonThanks for the note. Hadn't realized tht [sic] you were leaving Ky. so soon. And therefore not sure   
11968/09/06? HNS[x]from MertonOk about Moltmann. Maybe I could do something on the Structuralists. Levi-Strauss, Lacan, etc.  [no year - seems to be 1968]
11968/09/09 TLS[x]from Meatyard, Ralph EugeneI have showings of various types of Art on the walls of my business establishment from month  Meatyard's display of Merton "drawings, photographs, manuscripts, books, etc." in his business, Eyeglasses of Kentucky (in Lexington)
11968/12/14 telegram[x]from Hart, PatrickFUNERAL MASS FOR FATHER MERTON TUESDAY DECEMBER 17TH 10 AM THIS TELEGRAM WILL ADMIT   
1undated/01/05 HNS[x]from MertonYour letter did not reach me until yesterday - next week would be fine for me - to give you time,   
1undated/02/22 HLS[x]from MertonHere is that article, finally. I hope it will be of some use. I have a feeling it will not please   
1undated/05/04 HNS[x]from MertonDan says he hopes to be over here with you next Monday. Everything fine - I expect you both   
1undated/09/01 HNS[x]from MertonHere's the old guy in his Katallagete sweatshirt, registering satisfaction. Best, Tom.  [sending a photo of Merton by Ralph Eugene Meatyard with his <u>Katallagete</u> sweatshirt - Campbell and Holloway had numbers 1 and 2 on their sweatshirts, and they gave Merton one with the infinity symbol (∞) on it]
2undated/no/no   [Folder description only - one folder and smaller sub-folders]  [Each sub-folder has the name and letters related to Merton of someone in correspondence with James Holloway: Markus Barth, Dan and Phil Berrigan, Will Campbell (and Fred Hall), James McBride Dabbs, Jim Douglass, Leslie Dunbar, Jacques Ellul, W.H. Ferry, J.H. Griffin, Lee Keck, Julius Lester, James B. Meriwether, Reinhold Niebuhr, Walker Percy, Tom Pettigrew, and William Stringfellow.]
3undated/no/no   [Folder description only - one folder with all letters in Series Three]  [Contains correspondence related to publishing Merton materials, much to do with transcripts of Merton's work on Faulkner, between James Holloway and Robert Daggy, Betty Delius, Br. Patrick Hart, James Laughlin, Tommie O'Callaghan, Naomi Burton Stone, and representatives of Merton's publishers.]
        

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