Photo: Robert C. Clark Photo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Pat Conroy, born on October 26, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, was a basketball player, novelist and screenwriter. Death is recorded on March 4, 2016, at the age of 70. Pat Conroy was educated at Gonzaga College High School. Awards on record include Lillian Smith Book Award (1981) and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (1973). Credited works include The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline and The Prince of Tides.
My Take
What draws me to Pat Conroy is the unlikely arc of his life: a basketball player molded by the rigid discipline of The Citadel who became one of the most emotionally generous voices in Southern literature. I find his work compelling precisely because that tension between hardness and tenderness runs through everything he wrote. The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini reached the screen and the Oscars, but for me his real achievement is how unflinchingly he mined family pain for something universal. He turned private wounds into shared catharsis, and that, I think, is why readers still return to him with such loyalty.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Pat Conroy
- Name (Japanese)
- パット・コンロイ
- Reading
- ぱっと・こんろい
- Born
- October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Rooster
- Origin
- Atlanta, Georgia, United States
- Occupation
- basketball player / novelist / screenwriter / writer / prose writer
2. Background
- High school
- Gonzaga College High School
- University
- Gonzaga College High School
Awards & achievements
- 1981 Lillian Smith Book Award
- 1973 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
3. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | The Great Santini | — | |
| Notable work | The Lords of Discipline | — | |
| Notable work | The Prince of Tides | — |
4. Links
- Official sitehttps://www.patconroy.com/
- Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat%20Conroy
- Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2451348
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-21
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Pat Conroy born?
Born October 26, 1945.
When did Pat Conroy die?
Died March 4, 2016, aged 70.
Where was Pat Conroy from?
Pat Conroy was from Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
What did Pat Conroy do?
Pat Conroy worked as basketball player, novelist, screenwriter, writer, prose writer.
What was Pat Conroy known for?
Notable works include The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides.
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