Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy (born October 26, 1945 in Georgia) is a New York Times bestselling author who has written such acclaimed works as The Lords of Discipline, Beach Music, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, The Water is Wide, The Boo, My Losing Season, and . Conroy's stories have been heavily influenced by his upbringing and by tragedies in his family over the years. His father, Marine Colonel Donald Conroy, was a very violent and abusive man, and the pain of a youth growing up in this environment is evident in Conroy's novels, The Great Santini in particular. Conroy is a graduate of The Citadel, and his experiences there provided the setting, if not the plot, for The Lords of Discipline.

External Links

• 1986 audio interview of Pat Conroy by Don Swaim of CBS Radio, RealAudio