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Pat Conroy biography

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Pat Conroy is a New York Times bestselling author who is best known for The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, both of which were adapted to film.

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American novelist Pat Conroy grew up as a military brat, the son of a U.S. Marine Corps pilot. This history helped shape much of his writing, particularly his novel The Great Santini which describes his father as abusive and dominant. He is best known for his work The Prince of Tides which was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1991 featuring Nick Nolte and Barbara Streisand.

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Writer. Born October 26, 1945, in Atlanta, Georgia. The first of seven children born into a military family, Pat Conroy was the victim of his father??s violence and abuse from a young age. The family moved constantly during his youth, and it was while attending Citadel Military Academy in Charleston, South Carolina, that Conroy wrote and published his first book, The Boo, about a favorite teacher.

Conroy became a teacher himself after graduation, taking a job in a one-room schoolhouse. The racism and deplorable conditions he witnessed became the subject of his next work, 1972??s The Water is Wide. The book earned wide critical praise and was made into a film starring John Voigt. His next book, The Great Santini, delved head first into Conroy??s past and examined the mix of love, anger and betrayal he felt toward his father. The book was widely acclaimed but came at great personal cost, his own divorce and that of his parents, as well as anger from many of his family members.

Pat Conroy continued to mine his past for his work, including 1980??s The Lords of Discipline about his years at Citadel and 1986??s The Prince of Tides, which remains Conroy??s most celebrated work with more five million copies in print. The novel was made into a film starring Barbra Streisand and Nick Nolte, who earned an Oscar nomination for his performance. Other bestsellers followed, including 1995??s Beach Music and the memoir My Losing Season.

Pat Conroy has been married three times. He lives in Fripp Island, South Carolina, with his current wife, author Cassandra King.

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