Merrick, David orig. David Margulois (b. Nov. 27, 1912, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.—d. April 25, 2000, London, Eng.) U.S. theatrical pro¬ ducer. He practiced law until 1949, when he became a producer in New York City. His first independent production, Clutterbuck (1949), was fol¬ lowed over the next 40 years by more than 85 other Broadway shows, including Look Back in Anger (1957), The Entertainer (1958), Gypsy (1959), Oliver! (1963), Hello, Dolly! (1964), and 42nd Street (1980). Many of his productions were critical and commercial successes, and he was known for his skillful use of publicity.
Merrick, Joseph See Elephant Man
Merrill, Charles E(dward) (b. Oct. 19, 1885, Green Cove Springs, Fla., U.S.—d. Oct. 6, 1956, Southampton, N.Y.) U.S. investment banker. He held a series of jobs before joining a Wall Street firm in 1911. In 1914 he cofounded the investment-banking firm Merrill, Lynch & Co., which soon became the broker for some of the largest chain-store securities, including S.S. Kresge Co. and J.C. Penney Co. He helped create Safeway Stores in 1926 and founded Family Circle magazine six years later. Fore¬ seeing the crash of 1929, he advised many of his clients to lighten their stock holdings. In the 1930s the firm focused on underwriting and invest-
Merlin (Falco columbarius ).
ERIC HOSKING
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Merrill ► Mesmer I 1241
ment banking, but in 1940 it returned to brokerage. The company (now Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith), which had 115 offices in the U.S. at the time of Merrill’s death, is today among the largest retail brokerage houses in the U.S. He was the father of poet James Merrill.
Merrill, James (Ingram) (b. March 3, 1926, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Feb. 6, 1995, Tucson, Ariz.) U.S. poet. Son of a founder of the investment firm Merrill Lynch, he attended Amherst College. Inherited wealth enabled him to devote his life to poetry. His lyric and epic poems are known for their fine craftsmanship, erudition, and wit. Many of his later works were stimulated by sessions with a Ouija board. His collec¬ tions include Nights and Days (1966), the trilogy of Divine Comedies (1976, Pulitzer Prize), Mirabelclass="underline" Books of Number (1978), and Scripts for the Pageant (1980), published together in The Changing Light at San- dover (1982). A Different Person, his memoir, was published in 1993. His last book of poetry, A Scattering of Salts, was published posthumously in
Merrimack River River, northeastern U.S. Rising in the White Moun¬ tains of central New Hampshire, it flows south into Massachusetts, then turns northeast and empties into the Atlantic Ocean after a total course of 110 mi (177 km). The main cities along the river include Concord, Manchester, and Nashua, N.H., and Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, Mass.; they used the river to power their textile mills in the 19th century.
Mersey, River River, northwestern England. It flows west through the southern suburbs of AAanchester and is joined by the Irwell in its canalized form as the Manchester Ship Canal. The Mersey is itself modified by the canal as far as Warrington, where it becomes tidal. At Runcorn it is joined by the Weaver, and it forms the Mersey Estuary, the harbour of Liverpool. It enters the Irish Sea after a course of 70 mi (110 km).
Mersey Vmor-zeX River River, northern Tasmania, Australia. Fed by the Dasher and Fisher rivers, the Mersey flows 91 mi (146 km) north, east, and again north to enter an estuary at Latrobe and then empty into Bass Strait at Devonport. The stream cuts a gorge up to 2,000 ft (600 m) deep; its water is harnessed there for hydroelectric power.
Merseyside Vmor-ze-.sIdX Metropolitan county (pop., 2001:
I, 362,034), northwestern England. Located on the estuary of the River Mersey, it comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St. Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool. The areas to the north of the Mer¬ sey, including Liverpool, form part of the historic county of Lancashire, while the borough of Wirral to the south belongs to the historic county of Cheshire. In 1986 it lost its administrative functions, which it held from 1974, and it is now a geographic and ceremonial county without admin¬ istrative authority. During the 17th century many ships sailing from Liv¬ erpool, its main harbour, were engaged in the West Indies slave trade. In the 19th century the area benefited from U.S. cotton imports. Merseyside residents possess a distinctive local dialect, “scouse,” that provides the region with a strong identity. It was bombed heavily during World War
II. It is famous for its contributions to national popular culture, from the Beatles to its football teams and its noted golf links.
Merton, Robert K(ing) orig. Meyer R. Schkolnick (b. July 4, 1910, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. Feb. 23, 2003, New York, N.Y.) U.S. sociologist. After receiving a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1936, Merton taught there and at Tulane University before moving to Colum¬ bia University, where he was a professor from 1941 to 1979. His diverse interests included deviant behaviour, the sociology of science, and mass communications, and he generally advanced a functionalist approach to the study of society. He was awarded a National Medal of Science in 1994. Among his writings are Mass Persuasion (1946), Social Theory and Social Structure (1949), On the Shoulders of Giants (1965), and The Sociology of Science (1973). See also bureaucracy; functionalism.
Merton, Thomas later Father M. Louis (b. Jan. 31, 1915, Prades, France—d. Dec. 10, 1968, Bangkok, Thai.) U.S. monk and Roman Catho¬ lic writer. Educated in England, France, and the U.S., Merton taught English at Columbia University before entering a Trappist order in Ken¬ tucky. In 1949 he was ordained a priest. His early works, on spiritual themes, include poetry collections; the autobiographical Seven Storey Mountain (1948), which brought him international fame and led many readers to the monastic life; and The Waters of Siloe (1949), a history of the Trappists. In the 1960s his writings tended toward social criticism, Eastern philosophy, and mysticism. He was accidentally electrocuted at a monastic convention in Thailand.
Merv Ancient city, Central Asia. Lying near the modem town of Mary (formerly Merv) in Turkmenistan, it is mentioned in ancient Persian texts as Mouru and in cuneiform inscriptions as Margu and was the seat of a satrapy (province) of the Persian Achaemenian dynasty. Under the Arabs in the 7th century ad, it was rebuilt and served as a base for Muslim expansion into Central Asia. A great centre of Islamic learning under the caliphs of the 'Abbasid dynasty, it reached its zenith under the Seuuq sul¬ tan Sanjar (r. 1118-57). It was destroyed by the Mongols in 1221 and was rebuilt in the 15th century. It was occupied by the Russian Empire in 1884.
Merwin, W(illiam) S(tanley) (b. Sept. 30, 1927, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. poet and translator. He attended Princeton University and earned critical acclaim with his first poetry collection, A Mask for Janus (1952). He became known for the spare style of his poetry, which often expresses concerns about the natural environment and our relation to it. His volumes include The Lice (1967), The Carrier of Ladders (1970, Pulitzer Prize), and Travels (1993). His translations, often collaborations with others, range from plays of Euripides and Federico Garcia Lorca to epics to ancient and modern works from Chinese, Sanskrit, and Japanese.
Mesa Vma-S3\ City (pop., 2000: 396,375), south-central Arizona, U.S., located near Phoenix. It was settled in 1878 by Mormons who used ancient Hohokam Indian canals for irrigation (see Hohokam culture); it was incor¬ porated as a town in 1883 and as a city in 1930. A Salt River reclamation project enabled the community to grow fruit and raise other crops. The city grew rapidly through industrialization after World War II. It is the site of Mesa Community College and Mesa Southwest Museum.
mesa Vma-soV (Spanish: “table”) Flat-topped tableland with one or more steep sides, common in the Colorado Plateau regions of the U.S.; a butte is similar but smaller. Both are formed by erosion; during denudation, or downcutting and stripping, areas of harder rock in a plateau act as flat protective caps for portions of underlying land situated between such places as stream valleys, where erosion is especially active. This results in a table mountain (mesa) or fortress hill.