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 October 28, 2021
I read "The Lords of Discipline" for the first time during the summer of my sophomore year in high school. I thought... "I'll never go to The Citadel - even if it is the last college on earth." Then I read it the following summer, and thought, "If they recruit me, I will go." I played soccer for The Citadel, and it was the only college to which I applied.
Pat's nephew, Ed Conroy was a fellow knob in my company, and oddly the cadet upperclassman I loathed the most was named McClain (same last name as the protagonist in TLoD). Before I knew it, I had changed my major to English (because Pat was an English major) and was trying to figure out if it were possible that Col Mathis (who was as large as a right whale) and Col Alexander (whom everyone called "Trashmouth") where the two characters the legendary professor "Alexander the Great" in TLoD was based on.
Anyway, I regretfully never met Mr. Conroy in person, but I think we would have gotten along well together. In one of his books, he claimed something akin to, "I don't write fiction - I just change the names of the characters so I don't get sued." I really grew to feel like I knew him, and most of his friends personally.
Like everyone else, I was devastated when I heard of his cancer diagnosis, and I felt like I'd lost a friend when when he passed. The world needs more Pat Conroys. When I meet a future cadet, I make it a point to gift them "The Lords of Discipline." That book changed the trajectory of my life, as I know it has many others.
Happy Birthday Pat Conroy.
Pat's nephew, Ed Conroy was a fellow knob in my company, and oddly the cadet upperclassman I loathed the most was named McClain (same last name as the protagonist in TLoD). Before I knew it, I had changed my major to English (because Pat was an English major) and was trying to figure out if it were possible that Col Mathis (who was as large as a right whale) and Col Alexander (whom everyone called "Trashmouth") where the two characters the legendary professor "Alexander the Great" in TLoD was based on.
Anyway, I regretfully never met Mr. Conroy in person, but I think we would have gotten along well together. In one of his books, he claimed something akin to, "I don't write fiction - I just change the names of the characters so I don't get sued." I really grew to feel like I knew him, and most of his friends personally.
Like everyone else, I was devastated when I heard of his cancer diagnosis, and I felt like I'd lost a friend when when he passed. The world needs more Pat Conroys. When I meet a future cadet, I make it a point to gift them "The Lords of Discipline." That book changed the trajectory of my life, as I know it has many others.
Happy Birthday Pat Conroy.
Agency Reply:
Messages like yours make me very emotional… since in my mind, I see the scenes people describe. I am certain you and Pat could’ve become friends.