Two great Southern writers have died in the past month. Harper Lee died on February 23, 2016 and Pat
Conroy died on March 4, 2016. Read my
blog entry below, written on February 23, for more information on Harper Lee.
Pat Conroy, born Donald Patrick Conroy on October 26, died at the age of
70 of pancreatic cancer. His father was
a Marine Corps fighter pilot, and his family moved often in Pat’s childhood. His writing is heavily influenced by his
identity as a military brat and by the influence his father had on his
life. His father was physically and
emotionally abusive to his children.
Conroy revealed the pain of growing up with His father in his first
novel, The Great Santini, published
in 1976. The main character, Colonel
Bull Meecham, is based on his father.
This revelation of his family’s dynamics caused great upheavals in his
family. The movie the Great Santini ,
starring Robert Duvall, was released in 1979 and won two Oscars.
In 1986 he wrote another novel dealing with his violent past. The
Prince of Tides focuses on Tom Wingo and his twin sister, Savannah. Savanna, a poet, has attempted suicide, and Tom
goes to New York to meet with her psychiatrist and help her deal with their
past. The book was made into a movie in
1991.
Conroy wrote a memoir in October 2013, The Death of Santini, which reveals the difficult relationship he
had with his father, until his father’s death in 1998. His father did attempt to change his behavior
after his faults were so publicly revealed in the Great Santini!
Conroy spent most of his adult life in South Carolina. He graduated from Citadel, the military
college in South Carolina. In 1980, he
published The Lords of Discipline, based
on his experience at the Citadel. The
main character, Will McLean, like Conroy, did not want a military career, but
attended the college because of a promise to his father. Conroy describes the brutal atmosphere of the
college, especially the hazing of junior cadets. Conroy
was criticized by many alumni for portraying the military college in a negative
light. The novel was made into a movie
in 1983.
Conroy’s writing legacy includes novels and memoirs about being a
military brat, life in the South, and growing up in an abusive family. He summed up the connection of his family
life to his writing in an interview:
“One of the greatest gifts you
can get as a writer is to be born into an unhappy family,” Mr. Conroy told the
writer John Berendt for a Vanity Fair profile in 1995. “I could not have been
born into a better one.” He added: “I don’t have to look very far for
melodrama. It’s all right there.”
Thank you, Pat Conroy, to your
contribution to American, Southern literature.
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