Our Prince of Scribes
This photo of Pat Conroy speaks volumes to those of us who have loved him and his beautiful novels for many years. He had so many friends and so many of them wished to write a tribute to him. After all, Pat Conroy was one of the greatest writers of all time. Period.
I discovered Conroy one Saturday morning many years ago when I was at my local library in Bonita Springs. I was perusing the cart with new books being prepared for shelving. Spotted BEACH MUSIC.
Beach Music signed by Pat Conroy
Never once looked back. I devoured that book. Could not believe I had not read other books by Pat. More than ten years later I was trying to decide what book to take with me on a trip to Italy. It had to be a book I could be assured would be great. BEACH MUSIC came to mind. Rereading it for the second time was even better. Then a couple years later Pat spoke before a huge crowd at the Miami Book Fair. I was in the audience with a dear friend who is also a huge Conroy fan. We were the lucky ones getting to meet Pat Conroy and have our books signed. He was and will continue to be a giant in the book world.
This wonderful book has a foreword by Barbra Streisand and an afterward by his wife Cassandra King Conroy. If you are a fan you will want to include this book in your Conroy library. I pick mine up almost daily to read one of the essays written by friends and family who loved Pat. Some of the stories are funny. But they are all worthy of reading over and over again.
Pat Conroy will live on in his reader’s hearts and in his many heartfelt and amazing novels and even a cookbook.
Rick Bragg says,” I never met anyone like Pat. He could write with an elegance that made most writers either envious or hopeless, yet was generous and encouraging, a champion.”
Barbra Streisand says,” Pat Conroy was a force for good in our world. with courage and grace, he brought the gifts of the devastating beauty of his writing and his transcendent vision of the human heart to the lives of the readers he touched and the writers he inspired.”
We’re about to jump into the gift-giving season. Perfect present for the reader on your list.
My review copy came from UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESS. Thanks, guys!
Maurice on Books 
About 15 years ago, I heard Pat Conroy speak at the National Book Festival in Washington DC. He was there to promote “My Losing Season” – he talked instead about his tortured and complex relationship with his father, the “Great Santini”. As a big fan of his books, this insight revealed so much about the honesty of his storytelling. An American treasure.