Pat Conroy

He married three times in his life. The first was to a young widow, Barbara Jones in October 1969. She had two daughters from her previous marriage whom he adopted. The couple was blessed with a daughter. The relationship however did not work for long and the two separated in 1977.

In 1981, he tied the nuptial knot with Lenore Fleischer. He brought up two children from her first marriage and later a daughter that they were blessed with. The unison however did not last and the two divorced in October 1995.

He married his third wife and writer, Cassandra King in 1997. She has authored popular novels. They lived in Beaufort in South Carolina.

Pat Conroy was born as Donald Patrick Conroy to Marine Colonel Donald Conroy and former Frances "Peggy" Peck of Georgia in Atlanta, Georgia USA. He was the eldest of the seven children born to the couple.

His father was employed as a fighter pilot, which led young Conroy to live a strict disciplinarian military life. Due to constant transfer of his father from one base to the other, he was constantly on the move. By the time he turned 18, he had lived in 23 cities.

The military background and the culture at the camp greatly influenced much of his life and living. As a young boy, he was a victim of his father’s violent outbursts and abuses and channelized his anger by playing basketball.

He attained Citadel Military Academy. It was while studying at The Citadel that he penned and published his first ever book, titled The Boo. The book provides an insight about cadet life and on the life of Lt. Colonel Thomas N. Courvoisie, who had served as Assistant Commandant of Cadets at The Citadel.

Completing his education, he took up a teaching position in Beaufort, South Carolina. He taught English. After this stint, he moved to take up the profile of a teacher in the one-room schoolhouse on remote Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.

He did not last long at this school as he was fired for his offbeat teaching practices and denial towards using corporal punishment on students. Furthermore, his relations with the administration were soured which added to his termination.

Using his experiences as a teacher and the racism that was prevalent, he penned his next book, ‘The Water is Wide’ in 1972. The book earned him much appreciation both from masses and critics. The excellent reception led to the adaptation of the book into a film, Conrack in 1974.

Two years after the film adaptation of ‘The Water is Wide’, he came up with his debut novel, ‘The Great Santini’ in 1976. The plot of the novel revolved around Marine fighter pilot Colonel ‘Bull’ Meecham, who dominates and terrorizes his family. The character of Bull Meecham was inspired by his father.

Ironically, ‘The Great Santini’ mended his strained relations with his dad while other members of the family were annoyed with him for leaking the family secrets out to the public. His father on the other hand completely changed his attitude and behaviour to create an air of difference between Colonel Bull Meecham and himself.

This American writer authored the novels, ‘The Great Santini’ and ‘The Prince of Tides’ which were adapted into films that went on to receive Oscar nominations.