Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has millions of copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.

After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.

The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.

During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dali Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani.

Jonathan Montaldo is a writer, editor, and a contemplative retreat presenter. His renditions of Thomas Merton’s writing include "A Year with Thomas Merton," "Dialogues with Silence," and "Choosing to Love the World: On Contemplation." He was the principal editor of "The Intimate Merton: His Life from His Journals.0" with Brother Patrick Hart of Gethsemani Abbey. He edited the second volume of Merton’s private journals, published in seven volumes by HarperCollins, under the title "Entering the Silence (1945-1959)".

Jonathan served as director of the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University, the official archive of the writer’s legacy. He was Associate Director for the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living in Louisville, Kentucky, for which he created "Bridges to Contemplative Living with Thomas Merton," a ten-booklet resource for small group dialogue. He also was the director and retreat master for Bethany Spring, the Merton Institute’s Retreat Center, one mile from Merton’s Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey.

He narrated five audiobooks of Merton’s work: "New Seeds of Contemplation," "No Man Is An Island," "Thoughts in Solitude," "Contemplative Prayer," and "The Intimate Merton." He co-narrated "Praying with Thomas Merton," a two-set CD with the book’s editor and musician Dr. Kathleen Deignan of Iona College.

He served as Co-General Editor with publisher Gray Henry of Fons Vitae Publishing in Louisville, Kentucky, for the Merton and World Religions series in nine volumes. He also edited Fons Vitae’s We Are Already One: Reflections on Thomas Merton’s Centenary."

His current projects are writing a play on Thomas Merton, “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and a new book, "Contemplative Mentoring: Reading Thomas Merton’s Journals for Self-Development in Solitude or Community."

He writes a monthly reflection on a Sunday Gospel for the online English edition of the Vatican’s newspaper "L’Osservatore Romano."