Pat very much enjoyed hearing from his readers and was often moved and inspired by your comments.
As you know, Pat Conroy died on March 4, 2016. This site continues to be managed by his longtime friends and literary agents. You may join in a community of his readers by sharing your comments about Pat’s books or anything else that comes to mind in this guest book. We, the family, the agents and the friends are deeply moved by the outpouring of love you, his beloved readers, wrote here… Much gratitude to you all; Thank you.
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wrote on July 27, 2020
So many of Pat's books have spoken to me since I first read Lords Of Discipline and The Water Is Wide at the suggestion of my daughter. But I recently had an even more enjoyable experience than Pat's fiction when I stumbled upon The Pat Conroy Cookbook. Not only were the recipes great, but the personal stories and anecdotes which accompanied them were wonderful. I alternately laughed and cried.
I wanted to live in Rome, I wanted to careen down a mountain road in Puglia, I wanted to sit at a patio table in Paris and see John Hemingway giving an interview at the next table. I wanted to learn to gig a flounder, to roast a whole hog in a pit in Atlanta (after seeing it stored in the bathtub of a Jewish friend because there wasn't room in the refrigerator ) and fib about being up all night to "mop and sop" it, and to plan an extraordinary wedding out of Southern Living in beautiful Beaufort, where I had once stayed in one of those Bay street mansions.
Such stories of a man living his life with so much gusto!! Took my breath away. Nemaste, Pat Conroy. You will be sorely missed.
I wanted to live in Rome, I wanted to careen down a mountain road in Puglia, I wanted to sit at a patio table in Paris and see John Hemingway giving an interview at the next table. I wanted to learn to gig a flounder, to roast a whole hog in a pit in Atlanta (after seeing it stored in the bathtub of a Jewish friend because there wasn't room in the refrigerator ) and fib about being up all night to "mop and sop" it, and to plan an extraordinary wedding out of Southern Living in beautiful Beaufort, where I had once stayed in one of those Bay street mansions.
Such stories of a man living his life with so much gusto!! Took my breath away. Nemaste, Pat Conroy. You will be sorely missed.
Agency Reply:
Anita, indeed some of the essays are pearls of Pat's best writing - I laughed in tears again at the scene with the pig in Cliff Graubart's bathtub. I know Cliff well, he is one of the most hilarious people I've known... so is Bernie and the others... I popped up the word file for that chapter and read it again now... (I put this book together myself from Pat's manuscript... he'd do it long hand on his yellow legal pads, then Cassandra would transcribe and email it to me, next some formatting then passed to the editor at Random House..) Thank you for bringing this up, it was fun.