'Brighton Rock' made me feel ready to become a Catholic after so many years of deliberately not being one. I, too, frequently felt lost and agnostic. The story of Rose and Pinkie—so similar, so different, both human—was like a piece I found that had been missing from my puzzle.

I was well into adulthood before I realized the co-author of my battered copy of The Elements of Style was also the author of Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web.

John Cogley was once called “the most prominent American Roman Catholic journalist of his generation.” The onetime executive editor of Commonweal also played a key role in the election of J.F.K.

Aldous Huxley convinced me to try psychedelic drugs. Thomas Merton gave me a healthy suspicion of them.

James Hart "Hootie" McCown didn't just have an amazing nickname. He was one of Flannery O’Connor’s best friends and spiritual advisors.

In this article from 1979, a Jesuit priest recalls his friendship with Flannery O'Connor.