Pat Conroy
Pat Conroy
Donald Patrick "Pat" Conroywas a New York Times bestselling American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs. Two of his novels, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, were made into Oscar-nominated films. He is recognized as a leading figure of late-20th century Southern literature...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth26 October 1945
CityAtlanta, GA
CountryUnited States of America
father childhood parent
I loved my parents... but that can never change the fact that my father's violence ruined my childhood.
people lenses shy
Cameras are a lifesaver for very shy people who have nowhere else to hide. Behind a lens they can disguise the fact that they have nothing to say to strangers.
life-changing writing thinking
Good writing is the hardest form of thinking. It involves the agony of turning profoundly difficult thoughts into lucid form, then forcing them into the tight-fitting uniform of language, making them visible and clear. If the writing is good, then the result seems effortless and inevitable. But when you want to say something life-changing or ineffable in a single sentence, you face both the limitations of the sentence itself and the extent of your own talent.
army compassion walks
But no one walks out of his family without reprisals: a family is too disciplined an army to offer compassion to its deserters.
august afternoon late
Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of August was like walking through gauze or inhaling damaged silk.
winning tragedy world
Losing prepares you for the heartbreak, setback, and the tragedy that you will encounter in the world more than winning ever can. By licking your wounds you learn how to avoid getting wounded the next time.
humanity inhumanity
Humanity is best described as inhumanity.
book museums ideas
Her library would have been valuable to a bibliophile except she treated her books execrably. I would rarely open a volume that she had not desecrated by underlining her favorite sections with a ball-point pen. Once I had told her that I would rather see a museum bombed than a book underlined, but she dismissed my argument as mere sentimentality. She marked her books so that stunning images and ideas would not be lost to her.
south-carolina states cult
South Carolina is not a state; it is a cult.
mistake feelings century
In Charleston, more than elsewhere, you get the feeling that the twentieth century is a vast, unconscionable mistake.
mean home different
I had come to a place where I was meant to be. I don't mean anything so prosaic as a sense of coming home. This was different, very different. It was like arriving at a place much safer than home.
intellectual south-carolina roles
The University of South Carolina has always played a role in my life and the intellectual life of South Carolina.
memories
Except for memory, time would have no meaning at all.
library looks shows
A library could show you everything if you knew where to look.