Thomas Merton

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Thomas Merton

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Thomas Merton was born in France on 31 January 1915 to an American mother and a New Zealand father. As a baby he was taken to New York where his mother died when he was six years old. He returned to France in August 1925 with his father and in May 1928 they migrated to England where Thomas successfully completed his schooling. His father died in London in January 1931 and in 1934 Thomas returned to New York after an unsuccessful year at Clare College, Cambridge. He received his MA in English in February 1939 from Columbia University. On 10 December 1941 he joined the Trappists (Order of Cistercian of the Strict Observance) in Kentucky, a rather strict order of monks of the Catholic Church, where he lived for twenty-seven years until he was tragically electrocuted in Bangkok, Thailand, on 10 December 1968.

Now, over thirty years after his death, Thomas Merton's words are as significant and moving as they were when they were written. What a writer and thinker he was! Some fifty books, four thousand letters to a thousand correspondents, volumes of poetry totalling over a thousand pages, numerous essays, journals, notebooks and lectures on tape. A man well ahead of his time, a prophet of the twentieth century whose message is timeless because it is based on an acute awareness of the sacredness of all creation, and the interconnectedness of individuals regardless of religion, race and nationality.

Noel Almeida, a member of the International Thomas Merton Society (ITMS) based in the USA, produced some limited edition philatelic souvenirs to commemorate and honour Thomas Merton. At the time of issue (December 1993) the covers were made available free of charge to members of the Society. The remainders are offered here to philatelists until sold out with all proceeds going to the Society. The quantity available is very limited so restrict your order to one of each item, please. The original drawing, by Lyn Cloud and referred to below, was given to the Society by Noel Almeida once printing was completed. Contact details for ITMS are:

INTERNATIONAL THOMAS MERTON SOCIETY
Bellarmine College, 2001 Newbury Road, Louisville,
KY 40205, USA
Phone +1 502 452 8187 E-mail itms@bellarmine.edu

Souvenir (Event) envelope in two colours, DL size (110 mm x 220 mm), pencil drawing by Lyn Cloud of Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, Love Letters 29¢ USA stamp, postmarked 10 December 1993, Merton, Wisconsin 53058 USA, 100 serviced on 25th death anniversary of Merton, commissioned and produced by Noel Almeida, based on a photograph by John Howard Griffin, used with permission.	$35	View Order
Souvenir (Event) envelope in two colours, DL size (110 mm x 220 mm), pencil drawing by Lyn Cloud of Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, Christmas $1 Australia stamp, postmarked 10 December 1993, Merton, Victoria, Australia, 100 serviced on 25th death anniversary of Merton, commissioned and produced by Noel Almeida, based on a photograph by John Howard Griffin, used with permission.	$35	View Order
Postcard in two colours, 145 mm x 100 mm, pencil drawing by Lyn Cloud, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, commissioned and produced by Noel Almeida, based on a photograph by John Howard Griffin and used with permission.	$10	View Order
Poster (publicity) stamp, 28 mm x 42 mm, in two colours, pencil drawing by Lyn Cloud of Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, commissioned by Noel Almeida, based on a photograph by John Howard Griffin, used with permission, printed by Novelty Printing, Adelaide, South Australia.	$5	View Order

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