- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDonald Patrick Conroy
- Pat Conroy was born on October 26, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was a writer, known for The Prince of Tides (1991), Conrack (1974) and The Lords of Discipline (1983). He was married to Cassandra King, Lenore Fleischer and Barbara Jones. He died on March 4, 2016 in Beaufort, South Carolina, USA.
- SpousesCassandra King(May 1998 - March 4, 2016) (his death)Lenore Fleischer(1981 - October 26, 1995) (divorced, 1 child)Barbara Jones(October 10, 1969 - 1977) (divorced, 1 child)
- His English teacher at Beaufort (SC) High School encouraged him to be a writer. Conroy returned to the school as an English teacher himself. He also taught for a year at a two-room schoolhouse on Daufuskie Island, off the South Carolina coast.
- Because of his father's career as a Marine Corps pilot, the family moved constantly, and Pat attended 11 schools in 12 years.
- His father pressured him to accept a scholarship to the Citadel, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1967.
- [speaking of his wife, author Cassandra King] 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.
- [Talking to his mother on her death bed] Oh, Mama, oh, mother of mine, you who opened up the universe for me with all the stuff of language, I'll make you so beautiful. Because you made me a writer and presented me the tongues and a passion for language, I can lift you off that bed, banish the cancer from your cells forever.
- He signed longer inscriptions than I would. He'd write, "I hope you enjoy my son's work of fiction," and he'd underline "fiction" five or six times, and sign it, "Ol' lovable, likable Donald Conroy". [on his father attending his book signings for "The Great Santini"]
- One of the greatest gifts you can get as a writer is to be born into an unhappy family. I could not have been born into a better one. I don't have to look very far for melodrama. It's all right there.
- I write a straight story line, and I guess that's what they need. The dialogue also seems to be serviceable in a Hollywood way. But most important, I do the thing that Southerners do naturally - I tell stories. [on his book "The Water is Wide" being made into a movie Conrack (1974)]
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content