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Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed and ; his books The Water Is Wide, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini were made into films, the last two being nominated for Oscars. He is recognized as a leading figure of late-20th-century American Southern literature.
Conroy had said his stories were heavily influenced by his military brat upbringing, and in particular, difficulties experienced with his own father, a US Marine Corps pilot, who was physical abuse and emotional abuse toward his children. The pain of a youth growing up in a harsh environment is evident in Conroy's novels, which use autobiographical material, particularly The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides. While living in Orlando, Florida, Conroy's fifth-grade basketball team defeated a team of sixth graders, making the sport his prime outlet for bottled-up emotions for more than a dozen years. Conroy also cites his family's frequent military-related moves and growing up immersed in military culture as significant influences in his life (in both positive and negative ways).
A standout athlete, he was recruited to The Citadel to play basketball; his 2002 book My Losing Season focused on his experiences playing his senior year, and like The Lords of Discipline, also served as a retrospective of his cadet years.
His first book, The Boo, is a collection of anecdotes about cadet life centering on Lt. Colonel Thomas Nugent Courvousie, who had served as Assistant Commandant of Cadets at The Citadel from 1961 to 1968; Courvoisie was the inspiration for the fictional character Colonel Thomas Berrineau, a.k.a. "The Bear", in The Lords Of Discipline. Conroy began the book in 1968, after learning that Lt. Colonel Courvoisie had been removed from his position as assistant commandant and given a job in the warehouse; he paid to self-publish the book, borrowing the money from a bank.Robertson, Brewster Milton (March 4, 2016). " From the Archives: Pat Conroy's books capture his personal pain, and 'Beach Music' is no exception." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 5, 2016. Review of Beach Music, originally published in The Times on June 27, 1995.Conroy, Pat (May 3, 2006). " Pat Conroy's eulogy to Lt. Col. Thomas Nugent Courvoisie ." The Citadel Newsroom. The Citadel. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
After graduating from The Citadel, Conroy taught English studies in Beaufort, South Carolina; while there he met and married Barbara Jones, a young widow of the Vietnam War who was pregnant with her second child.Hoefer, Anthony D., Jr. (2008). " Conroy, Pat." The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Volume 9: Literature. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 228-229. He then accepted a job teaching children in a one-room schoolhouse on remote Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.
Conroy was fired at the conclusion of his first year on the island for his unconventional teaching practices, including his refusal to use corporal punishment on students, and for his lack of respect for the school's administration. He later wrote The Water Is Wide based on his experiences as a teacher. The book won Conroy a humanitarian award from the National Education Association and an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. It was also made into a feature film, Conrack, starring Jon Voight in 1974. Hallmark Cards produced a television version of the book in 2006.
In 1976, Conroy published his novel, The Great Santini. The main character of the novel is Marine fighter pilot Colonel "Bull" Meecham, who dominates and terrorizes his family. Bull Meecham also psychologically abuses his teenage son Ben. The character is based on Conroy's father Donald. (According to My Losing Season, Donald Conroy was even worse than the character depicted in Santini.Newsom, Jim. "Winter Reading", Port Folio Weekly, December 17, 2002.O'Neill, Molly. "Pat Conroy's Tale: Of Time and 'Tides'", The New York Times, December 22, 1991.)
The Great Santini caused friction within the Conroy family, who felt that he had betrayed family secrets by writing about his father. According to Conroy, members of his mother's family would picket his book signings, passing out pamphlets asking people not to buy the novel. The friction contributed to the failure of his first marriage. Barnes and Noble author biography page . Accessed 22 October 2009. However, the book also eventually helped repair Conroy's relationship with his father, and they became very close. His father, looking to prove that he was not like the character in the book, changed his behavior drastically. Pat Conroy interview, lcweekly.com; accessed July 13, 2023.
According to Conroy, his father would often sign copies of his son's novels, "I hope you enjoy my son's latest work of fiction." He would underline the word "fiction" five or six times. "That boy of mine sure has a vivid imagination. Ol' lovable, likable Col. Don Conroy, USMC (Ret.), the Great Santini."Conroy, Pat (2010). - My Reading Life (Chapter 6), Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group; . The novel was made into a film of the same name in 1979, starring Robert Duvall.
Publication of The Lords of Discipline in 1980 upset many of his fellow graduates of The Citadel, who felt that his portrayal of campus life was highly unflattering. The novel was adapted for the screenplay of a 1983 film of the same name, starring David Keith as Will McLean and Robert Prosky as Colonel "Bear" Berrineau. The rift was not healed until 2000, when Conroy was awarded an honorary degree and asked to deliver the commencement address the following year.
In 1986, Conroy published The Prince of Tides about Tom Wingo, an unemployed South Carolina teacher who goes to New York City to help his sister, Savannah, a poet who has attempted suicide, to come to terms with their past. The novel was made into a film of the same name in 1991. Directed by Barbra Streisand, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
In 1995, Conroy published Beach Music, a novel about an American expatriate living in Rome who returns to South Carolina upon news of his mother's terminal illness. The story reveals his attempt to confront personal demons, including the suicide of his wife, the subsequent custody battle with his in-laws over their daughter, and the attempt by a film-making friend to rekindle old friendships which were compromised during the days of the Vietnam War.
In 2002, Pat Conroy published My Losing Season where he takes the reader through his last year playing basketball, as point guard and captain of the Citadel Bulldogs. The Pat Conroy Cookbook, published in 2004, is a collection of favorite recipes accompanied by stories about his life, including many stories of growing up in South Carolina. In 2009, Conroy published South of Broad, which again uses the familiar backdrop of Charleston following the suicide of newspaperman Leo King's brother, and alternates narratives of a diverse group of friends between 1969 and 1989.
In May 2013, Conroy was named editor-at-large of Story River Books, a newly created fiction division of the University of South Carolina Press. In October 2013, four years after being first publicized, Conroy published a memoir called The Death of Santini, which recounts the volatile relationship he shared with his father up until his father's death in 1998.
Conroy was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame on March 18, 2009.
Conroy contributed a now widely circulated ten-page essay on American military childhood, including his own childhood, to Wertsch's book, which was used as the introduction. It included the following:
The documentary ends with a quote of Conroy about the invisibility of the military brat subculture to the wider American society. Conroy wrote, "We spent our entire childhoods in the service of our country, and no one even knew we were there."
Conroy then married Lenore (née Gurewitz) Fleischer in 1981. He became the stepfather to her two children, Gregory and Emily, and the couple also had one daughter,Knadle, p. 471. to whom he dedicated his 2010 book My Reading Life, "This book is dedicated to my lost daughter, Susannah Ansley Conroy. Know this: I love you with my heart and always will. Your return to my life would be one of the happiest moments I could imagine." Conroy and Fleischer divorced on October 26, 1995, Conroy's 50th birthday.Conroy, Pat (2002). My Losing Season, New York: Nan A. Talese, p. 10; . Conroy married his third wife, writer Cassandra King, in May 1998.
A friend of Conroy, political cartoonist Doug Marlette, died in a car accident in July 2007. Conroy and Joe Klein eulogized Marlette at the funeral. Independent Weekly, "Goodbye, Doug Marlette" , indyweek.com, July 18, 2007. There were 10 eulogists in all, and Conroy called Marlette his best friend, and said: "The first person to cry, when he heard about Doug's death, was God".
Conroy lived in Beaufort with wife Cassandra until his death. In 2007, he commented that she was a much happier writer than he was: "I'll hear her cackle with laughter at some funny line she's written. I've never cackled with laughter at a single line I've ever written. None of it has given me pleasure. She writes with pleasure and joy, and I sit there in gloom and darkness."
As an adult, Conroy suffered from depression, had several breakdowns and contemplated suicide. He attempted suicide in the mid-1970s while writing The Great Santini.
Pat Conroy is buried in St. Helena Memorial Gardens cemetery (Ernest Drive, Saint Helena Island 29920) near the Penn Center.
The Pat Conroy Literary Center hosts a number of educational activities and cultural events, including an annual literary festival. Twice a year, published or unpublished authors of all genres can apply for the center's writer's residency, which includes a cottage for inspirational, creative space.
The author George RR Martin has praised Conroy's writing, calling him "one of his favorite living novelists for a long, long time," and naming The Prince of Tides "one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century" and one of his favourite books.
Death
On February 15, 2016, Conroy stated on his Facebook page that he was being treated for pancreatic cancer. He died on March 4, 2016, at 70 years old. Conroy's funeral was held on March 8, 2016, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Legacy
Located in Beaufort, South Carolina, the Pat Conroy Literary Center was incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization on March 19, 2016. The center, which houses a collection of Conroy memorabilia, seeks to "continue his legacy in the magnificent coastal landscape where his storytelling began and beyond, supporting a vibrant literary community that reflects Pat Conroy’s undying delight in the power of the human voice." In 2017, the Pat Conroy Literary Center was designated a Literary Landmark by the American Library Association. The same year, it became the first site in South Carolina to be selected as an affiliate of the American Writers Museum.
Works
Awards
Other contributions
See also
External links
Categories: Official Website, 1945 Births, 2016 Deaths, Gonzaga College High School Alumni, The Citadel Bulldogs Baseball Players, The Citadel Bulldogs Basketball Players, Deaths From Pancreatic Cancer In South Carolina, Writers From Atlanta, Novelists From South Carolina, Writers Of American Southern Literature, 21st-century American Novelists, American Male Novelists, 21st-century American Male Writers, Novelists From Georgia, American Men's Basketball Players, 20th-century American Sportsmen
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