Beaufort author Pat Conroy to be celebrated at public memorial event
Fans and friends of late Beaufort author Pat Conroy will have another chance to say goodbye next month.
Conroy will be celebrated with a public memorial at 5 p.m. May 14 in Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park. Conroy’s wife, Cassandra King, as well as friends and fellow writers Bernie Schein, Ellen Malphrus, Patti Callahan Henry, John Warley and historian Walter Edgar are expected to attend and participate. Singer Marlena Smalls will perform some of Conroy’s favorite songs.
Conroy died March 4 at age 70 following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Planning for the public memorial began about the time of his funeral.
People who weren’t able to make the funeral or stayed away fearing the large crowd will now have another setting to remember Conroy, said University of South Carolina Press director Jonathan Haupt, who worked closely with Conroy through his Story River Books imprint and helped organize the memorial.
“Certainly the need has not gone away,” Haupt said. “The loss still seems raw and new for a lot of people.”
The best-selling novelist will also be recognized with the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival, held Oct. 20-23 this year in Beaufort.
The schedule for the festival should be complete in the next few days, Haupt said. After a successful days-long celebration for Conroy’s 70th birthday this past fall, organizers decided to continue the event.
The lineup looks to be as much a celebration of Conroy as it is a nod to the Southern writing and novelists he worked to foster.
“He was a very generous person,” USC Beaufort Center for the Arts director Bonnie Hargrove said.
As opposed to the weekend-long celebration in the fall that will feature a full slate of fellow writers and family members, the list of presenters for the May memorial needed to be short.
Haupt wanted people who could speak directly of what Conroy meant to his friends and fans and keep the program within about an hour. All the participants were willing, he said.
Warley is Conroy’s friend, author and former classmate at The Citadel. Conroy met Malphrus during a trip to Maine, pushed her to finish her book “Untying the Moon” and was there as Malphrus co-chaired his birthday festival last year.
Callahan Henry was also a participant in the birthday festival and is a fellow best-selling author.
“He crossed that wide river and with him he took so much light, so much brightness, a brokenness that he turned to beauty,” she wrote on her Facebook page after Conroy’s death. “The world is better for having him and dimmer without him.”
Any fear of the outdoor memorial becoming too somber should be erased when Conroy’s longtime friend and noted jokester Schein begins to speak.
Schein was fond of telling people he actually wrote Conroy’s books, once told Conroy the president wanted the author to visit the White House and caused Conroy to dodge calls from Barbara Streisand — fearing a Schein prank — when she wanted to turn his “Prince of Tides” into a movie.
“I think we’re all still mourning in our own way, but there is a need to laugh and celebrate and remember,” Haupt said.
Remembering Pat Conroy — 1945-2016
Beaufort's prince, Pat Conroy, goes home ☙ Conroy's wife organizes memorial event at Waterfront Park ☙ Pat Conroy’s last days ☙ State of Surprise: Pat Conroy’s love letter to South Carolina ☙ Pat Conroy literary festival dates set ☙ Pat Conroy in his high school years in Beaufort: A tribute from principal Bill Dufford ☙ 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'
Stephen Fastenau: 843-706-8182, @IPBG_Stephen
This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 9:10 AM with the headline "Beaufort author Pat Conroy to be celebrated at public memorial event."