Nicole Seitz - Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy

OUR PRINCE OF SCRIBES

Writers Remember Pat Conroy

EDITED BY Nicole Seitz and Jonathan Haupt
FOREWORD BY Barbra Streisand
AFTERWORD BY Cassandra King Conroy

Published with the generous support of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame

Published by the University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
www.ugapress.org
2018 by Nicole Seitz and Jonathan Haupt
All rights reserved
Designed by Erin Kirk New
Set in 10.7 on 15 Minion Pro
Printed and bound by Thomson-Shore, Inc.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

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Printed in the United States of America
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2018018091
ISBN: 9780820354484 (hardcover: alk. paper)
ISBN: 9780820354491 (ebook)

, by Barbra Streisand

, by Nicole Seitz

, by Jonathan Haupt

, by Cassandra King Conroy

BARBRA STREISAND

Pat Conroy was a force for good in our world. With courage and grace, he brought the gifts of the devastating beauty of his writing and his transcendent vision of the human heart to the lives of the readers he touched and the writers he inspired. Long after his days in the classroom had ended, Pat continued to teach all of us through his generous example of how an artist can live in service and gratitude to others. In bravely telling his story, as only he could, Pat emboldened others to see the difficult truths of their own lives, but he also welcomed us to glimpse the possibility of transformation and salvation through love and loss. In October 2015, just before Pats seventieth birthday, what would tragically be his last, I wrote him the following letter, sent from my heart to his. The words still ring true. As writers gather in these pages to honor Pat with our collective remembrances of him and of the lessons he passed on to us, I am delighted for this opportunity to share my letter to Pat once morein recognition of my teacher, my student, my dear friend, our prince of tides.

October 1, 2015

Dear Pat,

First, I fell in love with your book, and then I fell in love with you.

I started reading The Prince of Tides and couldnt put it down. Im always drawn to stories about transformationlove and lossand the secrets that can destroy you until you bring them into the light. I responded to the theme of forgivenessbeing able to accept people with all their flaws. And I personally believe in the healing power of therapy.

As soon as I finished the book, I started to visualize it as a movie.

I wanted to know everything about the characters. I wanted to know Tom. How could I know Tom? By getting to know the man who created him.

So I invited you to come see me in New York, and we spent two wonderful weeks together. I just wanted to hear your storiesabout your father, your mother, your family, your whole life. I was greedy for any detail that would help me flesh out the characters and understand the world of the movie. Im far from a southerner, but one of your wives was Jewish, from Brooklyn, so I took that as a good sign. I knew youd understand me.

From the first moment we started talking, you were so generous and kind, humble and loving. I vividly remember you teaching me how to do the Shag. Its a dance that was mentioned in the book, so I said, Could you show me how to do it?

Well, talk about transformation! Suddenly this rather shy, courtly southern gentleman turned into a hip-shaking hepcat. Loose as a goose. Boy, you could really fling that tush around! Im shy, tooanother reason we got alongand I rarely get up and dance. But we had such fun, dancing the Shag in my office. I dont think I was even doing the right steps but it didnt matter because you were so good. You took my hand and swung me in and out and I just followed you. I was so impressed with your footwork!

You were such a joy to work with, Pat. I was so honored that you entrusted your beautiful book to me. And besides the book, you gave me another gift.

My son Jason wanted to play Bernard but I thought that might be complicated. Could he take direction from me, his mom? So I had hired someone else. But then you saw a photograph of Jason in a crystal frame on the piano in my den and you looked at it and said, Thats Bernard. Dark, curly hair, expressive eyes, full lips, and prominent nose (like his mother), just as you describe him in the book. It says Bernard weighs 140 pounds. I called Jason up and asked, How much do you weigh?

Jason said, One hundred forty pounds. Why?

I said, Youre hired.

Because of your encouragement, I got to work with my son. It was you, Pat, who made that happen. And Jason was wonderful in the role. He was Bernard, in a way. And he learned how to play that very difficult violin piece in the middle of Grand Central Station. I was so proud. Thank you.

I once read an interview where you were quoted as saying that working with me was like working with the goddess Athena. That was extremely generous of you.

Well, if Im Athena, youre my Apollothe god of poetry, truth, and music. Your natural language is poetry. You write sentences that are like an incantation. You observe every nuance of human behavior and dig deep down to the truth, presenting it in all its glorious and stubborn complexity. And as far as music goes, lets just say you can come back and dance with me any time!

Im sending you all my love and gratitude,

Barbra Streisand

P.S. Happy Birthday!

NICOLE SEITZ

My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call.
Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides

To say Pat Conroy has impacted the southern literary landscape is an understatement. The Prince of Tides himself created lasting ripples that impacted writers and readers not only in the South but also throughout our country. As we edited this anthology, structuring this varied web of memorials and tributes proved no easy task; in the end we decided to order the essays loosely by Pats own chronology, each of them winding along his story river, stopping at important ports of call. Cities he called home and longed to visit, along with each book he birthed, became characters as equally important as the people he touched and loved along the way. Pat, the undeniable hero in this story, was a complex man, often becoming his worst antagonist. His relationships werent always easy, and people and places he thought hed left behind often circled back in his life at crucial moments.

Each author in this collection of essays knew a slightly different facet of Pat. Through many voices, a portrait of him seems to be spoken to life in a vibrant, multifaceted way that sheds new light on the writer and man so revered. He was a fellow student to some, a teacher or mentor to others, and he became family or friend to many. They connected with Pat through the love of words or food, or through the shared sufferings of childhood or existential questioning.