October 26, 2020, marks what would have been Pat Conroy's 75th birthday if Pat had not died in March 2016 at age 70. Pat wasn't the most prolific author in the world, but he left behind some of my favorite books, and I will be forever grateful to him for that.
The man, in fact, only published eleven books during his forty-year career, sometimes going six or seven years between books, and in the process, driving his fans to the point of nerd-hysteria when a new title was finally announced. There was even a fourteen-year stretch between his last two novels, Beach Music and South of Broad. Five of the eleven books are novels (unless The Boo is counted as a novel, and honestly, I'm still not entirely certain how to classify that one), one is a memoir of his college basketball team days, one is a cookbook, one a memoir about his early days as a school teacher, another is a book about his own favorite books and how he became a reader and writer, and the last one published before his death tells of his long overdue reconciliation with his father.
A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections on a Writer's Life, a 12th book, was published a few months after Pat's death. This one is a collection of the author's interviews, speeches, letters, and the like, and collectors of Conroy's work should definitely have it on their shelves. It includes a touching introduction by Casandra King, the author's wife, and it includes tributes from some of the people whose lives Pat impacted with his own.
This is what Pat Conroy left behind:
- The Boo - 1970
- The Water Is Wide - 1972
- The Great Santini - 1976
- The Lords of Discipline - 1980
- The Prince of Tides - 1986
- Beach Music - 1995
- My Losing Season - 2002
- The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life - 2004
- South of Broad - 2009
- My Reading Life - 2010
- The Death of Santini - 2013
- A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections on a Writing Life - 2016
I miss him, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for him and his family and friends that he seemed to have a better grip on his personal life by the time he died.
DeleteIt's always sad to see the good ones go.
ReplyDeleteIt is, for sure, and since I'm a near-contemporary of so many of these writers, it almost seems like I'm losing some old friends I've known most of my life.
DeleteHe is missed for sure; such a loss to the literary world.
ReplyDeleteHe was such a tortured soul, too, Diane. Sometimes I think the best art comes from people who endure the kind of things Pat went through.
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