Ron Dart, professor of Religious Studies and Political Science at UFV, adds two books (as editor and author) to his extensive bibliography.
Thomas Merton and the Counterculture: A Golden String (St Macrina Press, 2016) is a collection of essays and illustrations by many of North America's top Merton scholars, including Leah Cameron, Stephanie Redekop, Russel Hulsey, Ross Labrie, Robert Inchausti, Lynn Szabo and of course, Ron S. Dart. The book also features sketches by North Van artist, Arnold Shives.
Two elements set this booklet (123 pages) apart. First, it not only speaks of the counterculture historically; it gives one a feel for the counterculture because a good number of the authors lived in the thick of it and arguably never 'sold out.' In some ways, the book then feels less like a retrospective and more like a time machine, enabling me to relive by proxy some of the highpoints of the counterculture ideals that I was insulated from as an elementary school child.
The other great strength of this book is that so many of the essays relate Merton to other major figures of that age. Some he knew or corresponded with personally, while others were parallel figures climbing and converging on common peaks by other trails and approaches. So we not only get more of Merton the monk, but Merton becomes a posture from which to view the likes of Mark Van Doren, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, William Everson, Denise Levertov and Henry Miller. Some of these names were familiar to me among the great 'Beat Poets,' but I did not know that many related to Merton directly. Others were unknown to me but the book provided an initial introduction.
For Merton and counterculture poetry aficionados alike, the book is well worth the read, not just as nostalgia, but to give a personal inside scoop on the abiding value of that important epic. Indeed, there's an urgent need to remember their wisdom in these dark days.
C.S. Lewis & Bede Griffiths: Chief Companions (St Macrina, 2016) is Ron Dart's own booklet (58 pages) on the interaction of thoughts and letters between Lewis and Griffiths. Ron has attended closely to this long-term friendship and gathered up sources, letters and articles to highlight and provide a very warm commentary on the importance of this connection.
The book begins with their 1. Faith Affinities, which might surprise those who know Lewis as the Oxford scholar and Griffiths as the contemplative theologian who led the 20th century in interfaith dialogue. But in fact, both men testified that the other was their chief companion at the stage of their conversion to Christianity through the early1930's.
In chapter 2, Ron describes the correspondence between Lewis and Arthur Greeves in which Griffiths is mentioned. Chapter 3 moves on to letters by Lewis to Griffiths himself. Chapter 4 switches perspectives and we're treated to a review of two articles that Griffiths writes about Lewis. In chapter 4, we follow the drama of how Griffiths (in The Canadian C.S. Lewis Journal) enters the conversation over Christopher Derrick's C.S. Lewis and the Church of Rome -- esp. concerning Lewis' decision not to become Roman Catholic. In chapter 6, Dart publishes two letters he personally received from Griffiths (along with reflections). The final chapter is a summary, pointing out that virtually no work has been done on the Lewis-Griffiths connection in four decades. For my part, I'm glad Dart broke the silence!