Read more
Informationen zum Autor Robert Ellsberg is the publisher of Orbis Books. For five years (1975-1980) he was part of the Catholic Worker community in New York City, serving for two years as managing editor of the Catholic Worker newspaper. He has edited Dorothy Day: Selected Writings and has co-edited A Penny a Copy: Readings from the Catholic Worker. This volume is a companion to his previous book, The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day, which won two First Place Book Awards from the Catholic Press Association. His own books include All Saints, The Saints' Guide to Happiness, and Blessed Among All Women. He lives in Ossining, New York. Klappentext "The publication of the letters of Dorothy Day is a significant event in the history of Christian spirituality." -Jim Martin, SJ, author of My Life with the Saints Dorothy Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker movement, has been called the most significant, interesting, and influential person in the history of American Catholicism. Now the publication of her letters, previously sealed for 25 years after her death and meticulously selected by Robert Ellsberg, reveals an extraordinary look at her daily struggles, her hopes, and her unwavering faith. This volume, which extends from the early 1920s until the time of her death in 1980, offers a fascinating chronicle of her response to the vast changes in America, the Church, and the wider world. Set against the backdrop of the Depression, World War II, the Cold War, Vatican II, Vietnam, and the protests of the 1960s and '70s, she corresponded with a wide range of friends, colleagues, family members, and well-known figures such as Thomas Merton, Daniel Berrigan, César Chávez, Allen Ginsberg, Katherine Anne Porter, and Francis Cardinal Spellman, shedding light on the deepest yearnings of her heart. At the same time, the first publication of her early love letters to Forster Batterham highlight her humanity and poignantly dramatize the sacrifices that underlay her vocation. "These letters are life-, work-, and faith-affirming." -National Catholic Reporter Preface This volume and its companion, The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day , complete the publication of Dorothy Day’s personal papers, part of the Dorothy Day–Catholic Worker Collection housed at Marquette University’s Raynor Memorial Libraries in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to her wishes, these materials were sealed for twenty-five years after her death in 1980. After receiving an invitation from the University in 2005 to edit these writings, I chose to begin first with the diaries. That project was a greater editorial challenge, both in terms of the sheer quantity of material to be transcribed, and the difficulty of deciphering Day’s handwriting. In contrast, it was a positive relief to turn to the letters. As these were intended to be read, at least by their recipients, they were mercifully legible—many of them typed. The relatively limited number of letters, however, was a disappointment. While she spent little time each day writing in her diary—sometimes only a few minutes—Day evidently spent many hours writing letters. Many of these were short notes, postcards, polite acknowledgments, and the like. But in many other letters she poured out her thoughts and feelings in a personal way, quite different from her public writings. With the exception of letters of an official character, she did not keep carbons or drafts. Thus, the extent of the letters available for this collection reflects the choice of her correspondents to preserve them and their willingness, or that of their heirs, to make them available. I have no illusions that these letters represent any more than a small fraction of the many thousands of letters she wrote in her lifetime. Many letters to close friends, colleagues, and even family members were los...
