Dr. Spock wrote a letter (not extant) which seemingly invited Merton to participate in a rally against the Vietnam War sponsored by SANE and to be held at Madison Square Garden in New York. In the one letter in this file, Merton states that he will try to get permission to appear as a sponsor, but that it would be impossible for him to make an appearance at a public event due to his monastic vocation.
Dr. Benjamin Spock, the pediatrician who wrote the "Bible" of childrearing for the post-World War II generation, was also a peace activist. Beginning in 1962, he protested nuclear arms and waste. Later in the 1960's, he protested the Vietnam War. (Source: "Spock, Benjamin" Obituary from Current Biography. 1998. Online. Biography Reference Bank. H.W. Wilson. Bellarmine University Library, Louisville, KY. 23 May 2006. ‹http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com›.)
Please click here for general restrictions concerning Merton's correspondence.
See also one published letter from Merton to Spock in Witness to Freedom, p. 111.
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.
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# | Date | From/To | First Lines | Pub ✓ | Notes |
| y/m/d | Merton | | Scan ✉ | |
1. |
1965/06/02 |
TL[c] from Merton |
The question of my being one of the sponsors of the Sane rally next week is one that would require |
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