Pat Conroy literary festival dates set

 

Pat Conroy — 1945-2016

Beaufort's prince, Pat Conroy, rests at home ☙ Pat Conroy’s last days ☙ State of Surprise: Pat Conroy’s love letter to South Carolina ☙ Pat Conroy literary festival dates set ☙ In his honor, Conroy’s ‘losing season’ teammates revisit the moment at The Citadel ☙ Cartoonist Robert Ariail's tribute to Conroy ☙ Pat Conroy mourned by dignitaries, cadets and friends with ‘personal grief’ ☙ Ervena Faulkner: A meal to mourn Pat Conroy ☙ SC lawmakers honor Conroy following funeral ☙ Kathleen Parker: Conroy’s writing made him the sexiest man alive ☙ Lauderdale: I could hear an ‘amen’ at Pat Conroy’s funeral ☙ Why graduates of The Citadel, class of 2001, united to attend Conroy funeral ☙ Hundreds pay respects to Pat Conroy, family in Beaufort ☙ How 10 minutes with Pat Conroy changed my life ☙ Lauderdale: Pat Conroy expects all the shrimp in Beaufort to be pickled for his funeral (+recipe!) ☙ Op-ed: 'Let something legendary' come from Pat Conroy ☙ Keyserling: Pat Conroy bonded with other 'orphans' who landed in Beaufort ☙ Real people inspired characters in Conroy's books ☙ Lowcountry remembers Pat Conroy ☙ How Pat Conroy made Beaufort a destination ☙ Pat Conroy on the silver screen ☙ Model for 'Prince of Tides' tiger lived in Columbia ☙ Photos: Pat Conroy and Beaufort ☙ Books written by Pat Conroy ☙ Quotes from Pat Conroy's works

Stories from Conroy's friends and admirers: Conroy's closest friends: Grateful now for last year's celebration of author's life ☙ Close encounters with Pat Conroy ☙ Lowcountry remembers Pat Conroy ☙ Sallie Ann Robinson recalls press tour with Pat Conroy ☙ Great Santini tells principal 'my son (Pat Conroy) will not be a secretary' ☙ Retired book seller: Decades after Daufuskie, Pat Conroy 'knew every (student's) name' ☙ Conroy book buffs: When you read his books, 'you are there'

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As Pat Conroy closed out his three-day birthday celebration last year, he marveled at his connection with readers throughout the years.

“I brought you to this place tonight because something about my work touched you and something about you coming has touched me to the quick of my soul,” Conroy said on stage at USCB Center for the Arts. “And I cannot thank you enough.”

The late Beaufort author, who died of cancer March 4, will continue bringing people to his city. The inaugural Pat Conroy Literary Festival will be held Oct. 20-22 in Beaufort, according to the “Pat Conroy at 70” Facebook page.

Details are still to come, but the event follows the successful birthday bash and literary festival that marked Conroy turning 70 last year. Southern authors and their books, literary experts, artists and Conroy’s family and friends were among those who attended.

Poetry readings, book signings, a screening of “The Great Santini” and a family roundtable discussion made up last year’s festival.

“Literary pilgrims” from all over traveled to Beaufort for the event, Jonathan Haupt, director of the University of South Carolina Press, wrote this month for The Beaufort Gazette and The Island Packet.

Conroy’s unscripted thanks to readers, family and friends for his writer’s life as a closing address felt like history in the making, Haput noted.

“Pat Conroy will never die out,” Haupt wrote. “It’s now up to all of us, readers and writers alike, to see to that. That poem (’For the Last Wolverine’) also includes the powerful call to action, ‘let something come from it, something gigantic, legendary.’ That’s what we must do for Pat, as he most certainly did it for us.”

The festival will include “The Cigar Factory,” a novel by Michele Moore published by Story River Books, Conroy’s imprint at USC Press, according to a Facebook post. Conroy wrote the book’s foreword.

Other details are yet to come, pending securing presenters, features and a date for ticket sales, Haupt said.

Last year’s event “filled up Beaufort,” Mayor Billy Keyserling said, and drew visitors from throughout the country.

“It’s a good substantive, cultural event,” he said. “Its size and scope and its message fit Beaufort very well.”

This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Pat Conroy literary festival dates set."