Titles

Beneath the Mask of Holiness: Thomas Merton and the Forbidden Love Affair that Set Him Free

Mark Shaw
Palgrave Macmillan, November 2009
ISBN: 978-0230616534

Spiritual writer Thomas Merton is the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. Despite appearances to the contrary, in 1966 he was a troubled, lonely monk. Only when the suffering Merton fell madly in love with a student nurse, a forbidden, erotic affair condemned by the Catholic Church, would he discover whether his devotion to G od was stronger than his dedication to the woman he called "a miracle in my life." Truly an inspirational story based on Merton's personal journals, new information and sources including fellow monks, Beneath the Mask of Holiness offers a unique portrayal of the famous man, never revealed in its entirety before.

Author Bio

Mark Shaw is a "reformed" criminal defense lawyer and radio/television personality turned author. Curious about the theological aspects of conversion and other spiritual topics, he graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary with a Masters degree in theological studies in 2008. His many published works include Melvin Belli, King of the Courtroom, Miscarriage of Justice, The Jonathan Pollard Story, Forever Flying, the autobiography of famed aviator R. A. "Bob" Hoover, Larry Legend, a biography of NBA superstar Larry Bird, and Testament to Courage, the poignant memoir of Holocaust survivor Cecelia Rexin. He has also written Down for the Count, an investigative look at the Mike Tyson rape trial, and The Perfect Yankee, a chronicle of New York Yankee pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

An avid collector of Ernest Hemingway books and a great fan of the Chicago Cubs, Mark is married to Wen-ying Lu, a linguistics librarian at Michigan State University. Currently he resides with his wife and their beloved Labrador, Black Sox, in Boulder, Colorado.