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.
Read what others are saying or click the button to add your own thoughts
wrote on December 2, 2021
I first read Pat Conroy in my high school English class when I was 16 years. We read The Prince of Tides. TPoT completely changed my life. Anyone who knows me knows my deep and great love for Pat Conroy.
There truly is something for everyone in his books. I love his floral vocabulary, descriptive imagery, writing style, and the way that Pat painted the most realistic and intricate depiction of the South. He knew the South Carolina that I had grown up in even though we grew up 50 years apart. Although he wrote about the South of his youth, I had seen the same things and felt similar ways. I thought being a Southerner was a shame, but I held on to Pat’s words and devoured his entire collection of work.
I tried to run from South Carolina. I moved to Los Angeles to study Fine Art and I brought Pat Conroy with me. Despite my attempt to reinvent myself and reject the place I grew up (doesn’t everyone do this in their late teens-early 20’s???), I realized the landscape of South Carolina haunted me. It came out in everything I did and in the art that I made/make.
I kept going back to Pat’s books- reading them as I maneuvered life in new places, through college and life after college, through loss, hardship, and love. I realized I longed to get back home to sweet South Carolina and when I really couldn’t bare it, I would settle into one of Pat’s books. His books continue to remind me why I love the landscape and magic of South Carolina. It’s been almost 10 years since I first read The Prince of Tides and I will never get over the beauty and truth that Pat breathed into the pages of his books. I wish I could have met him before he was gone.
I was devastated when he passed because I felt like I knew him, and I had come to truly love him like all of his readers do. Thank you, Pat, for your words. I am only 25 but you continue to change the way I see, love, create, and of course, read.
There truly is something for everyone in his books. I love his floral vocabulary, descriptive imagery, writing style, and the way that Pat painted the most realistic and intricate depiction of the South. He knew the South Carolina that I had grown up in even though we grew up 50 years apart. Although he wrote about the South of his youth, I had seen the same things and felt similar ways. I thought being a Southerner was a shame, but I held on to Pat’s words and devoured his entire collection of work.
I tried to run from South Carolina. I moved to Los Angeles to study Fine Art and I brought Pat Conroy with me. Despite my attempt to reinvent myself and reject the place I grew up (doesn’t everyone do this in their late teens-early 20’s???), I realized the landscape of South Carolina haunted me. It came out in everything I did and in the art that I made/make.
I kept going back to Pat’s books- reading them as I maneuvered life in new places, through college and life after college, through loss, hardship, and love. I realized I longed to get back home to sweet South Carolina and when I really couldn’t bare it, I would settle into one of Pat’s books. His books continue to remind me why I love the landscape and magic of South Carolina. It’s been almost 10 years since I first read The Prince of Tides and I will never get over the beauty and truth that Pat breathed into the pages of his books. I wish I could have met him before he was gone.
I was devastated when he passed because I felt like I knew him, and I had come to truly love him like all of his readers do. Thank you, Pat, for your words. I am only 25 but you continue to change the way I see, love, create, and of course, read.
Agency Reply:
Brooke, you are so young and yet your heart and mind is so sensitive... I suppose that's why you are in "arts" and not, say, in fishing...
My partner (and wife) calls me the "weeping guy" because I can't help letting go by the feel every word of such overwhelming love coming to this page... so I weep, suddenly memories of words and images overwhelm me...
You are clearly an artist in your own right; at 25 you have a lifetime ahead of you; we hope it is rich and full of love.
The marshes with their rivers are still here waiting whenever you do decide to return...
My partner (and wife) calls me the "weeping guy" because I can't help letting go by the feel every word of such overwhelming love coming to this page... so I weep, suddenly memories of words and images overwhelm me...
You are clearly an artist in your own right; at 25 you have a lifetime ahead of you; we hope it is rich and full of love.
The marshes with their rivers are still here waiting whenever you do decide to return...