Pat Conroy
David Patrick Conroy is the oldest of the 7 children born to Marine Colonel Donald Conroy and Francis “Peggy” Peck. His upbringing was not an easy one with life on military bases, an abusive father, and over 20 moves by the time he was 18 years old.
 In The Boo, Conroy wrote about his time at the Citadel. However, he was unable to find a publisher for the book so he paid for it himself. After his time at the Citadel, Conroy moved to Beaufort, SC where he married a widow and adopted her 2 children. He supported the family by teaching at a one room school house on Daufuskie Island. Unfortunately, the school fired Conroy after one year due to his disregard for traditional teaching and discipline practices.
As a result f his experience as a teacher, Conroy wrote The Water Is Wide
and was awarded a humanitarian award from the National Education Association. The book was also made into a movie, Conrack, in 1974.
In 1976, Conroy, wrote The Great Santini which reflects his upbringing. The book’s parallelism resulted in fissure within his family and ultimately led to the demise of his first marriage. The novel, was well received by those outside the family fold and eventually was made into a movie of the same name in 1979.
Conroy continued to write books based on his life experiences. Some of the books were received with pleasure by those who saw themselves in the storyline while others were not. However, regardless of one’s stance, Conroy continues to be one of the great writers of South Carolina.
Today, he lives on Fripp Island, SC with his 3rd wife, author Cassandra King. He has been instrumental in the lives of authors like Terry Kay of Georgia and political cartoonist Doug Marlette and his works have been compared to those of Fanni Flagg, Walker Percy and Eudora Welty.
Books by Pat Conroy
|
