Author Q&A: Pat Conroy's widow, Cassandra King
South Carolina author Pat Conroy’s final book, published posthumously this month by Doubleday, is a gift to his loyal readers and admirers. “A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections of a Writing Life,” put together by his widow, author Cassandra King, is a collection of blog posts, letters, essays, speeches and other tidbits.
Conroy’s death in March brought a moving close to a writing career that spanned five decades and resulted in a dozen books that included memoirs, novels and even a cookbook. Along the way he acquired high critical praise, two Oscar-nominated films (based on his books “The Prince of Tides” and “The Great Santini”) and legions of devoted fans.
Just 200 pages into a new novel, Conroy had several other books he hoped to complete. His last completed book was his memoir “The Death of Santini,” in 2013.
Born in Atlanta, Conroy moved frequently with his military family during his childhood, and he eventually wound up in South Carolina, where he lived until his death. He and King, a former journalist and the author of five novels, made their home in Beaufort.
King will read from and sign copies of “A Lowcountry Heart” at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Eudora Welty House at 1119 Pinehurst St. in Jackson.
Please tell me about what life with Pat was like — as his friend, wife and fellow writer.
He was definitely intense — and vibrant and larger-than-life. Pat was a very sweet man, unfailingly good-natured, and could always tease me out of a bad mood. And he was as funny and witty as he is in his books. He was extremely thoughtful, and ... bragged that he was more romantic than me. I tried to deny it, but he was right.
As a writer Pat was strictly a professional. He labored over it. He was very particular about capturing exactly the right words, the right phrases, whether for a note he was sending or a speech he was writing. He’d disappear in his office to write a thank-you note and reappear hours later with three pages. He was extremely self-critical and would discard anything he’d written that didn’t please him. I’d give anything now to have some of the stuff he threw away.
I’ve often been asked how it was, having two writers in the same household. I think writers should only marry other writers. No one else can understand our craziness, and I can’t blame them. I think our marriage was so successful because we were both writers. When we were working he didn’t bother me, I didn’t bother him. I didn’t pout when he was working instead of spending time with me. Writers need solitude more than anything, I think. Understandably, that doesn’t work in most marriages. Pat and I understood each other.
RELATED: A review of Pat Conroy's 'A Lowcountry Heart'
Pat began a blog in August 2009 that he called “letters” to his readers, after a health scare that spring encouraged a sense of urgency about his writing. Why did he, as a man who wrote his books with a pen on a yellow legal pad, finally start this blog, and how did the health scare affect his writing pace?
OK, so Pat didn’t actually ‘blog’ as others do. He wrote actual letters to his readers, handwritten on legal pads, and sent them to his typist, who then sent them in to be posted. He never bought in to digital communication. He occasionally answered emails, but it was a labor of love. He couldn’t type, so composing a message took forever. Plus he didn’t know how to space or anything. His messages just all ran together.
His publisher asked him to ‘blog’ and he said no. But he told them he’d write letters if they’d shut up about it. The health scare definitely slowed down the pace of his writing. Looking back, it’s like he had a premonition. He often told me he’d never live to a ripe old age.
Why do you think Pat was so well loved by his loyal readers?
Pat has the most devoted readers I’ve ever seen. It was a joy to see him with them. I cannot begin to tell you how many letters he got from readers. They came in every day. I doubt Brad Pitt got as much fan mail. He would get the most moving letters imaginable. And so many of them said that his writing had changed their lives. His readers loved him because he wrote about subjects everyone related to, in one way or another. And when they met him, they loved him because he was truly interested in them, and appreciative of them. He adored his readers.
Tell me how “ A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections on a Writing Life,” came together, and why.
Pat’s agency created and managed his Facebook page – he didn’t even know he had one for years. When they posted his death, over 4 million responses came in, from all over the world. It was so touching.
But many of them lamented that they’d never have another Conroy book to read. His agent, publisher, and I began to gather his unpublished works to make up a collection. We realized we had a gem with the blogs, because they were on some many different subjects, some profound, some just ramblings and musings. I felt like his readers would like to have the book as a sort of memento of his last writings.
Pat had begun another novel, and was just 200 pages into it. Would it be possible for someone (maybe you?) to bring it to fruition, using your own instincts about his direction for the book?
I’m heartbroken this book wasn’t written. I often told him to write the stories he told me about his first year teaching, at Beaufort High School. His first year of college, he taught with three other young men, just out of college. They became close friends, spent the summer together in Europe, and had some hilarious adventures. To my knowledge, no one had ever written a book like that, about male friendships, first-year teachers starting their adult lives, all in the background of the Vietnam war years.
So that’s what he was writing. Trust me, the 200 completed pages are SO good. As he was writing, I couldn’t wait for him to finish a section because I couldn’t put it down. No one else writes like Pat, so it won’t be finished. But I think it can be published unfinished, with some other material about that time of his life. That’s not my decision, however, but his publisher’s. I’d like to see it happen.
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What would you most like people to know and remember about Pat Conroy?
Pat was the most generous person I’ve ever known. I’ve found canceled checks I never knew about, folks he helped out, a lot of writers down on their luck. If he knew of a need, he’d respond in any way he could. He had a truly amazing generosity of spirit.
Tell me about the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
After Pat died, there was talk of erecting a statue of him in Beaufort. I could only imagine how Pat would’ve made fun of a statue of himself. Some of us got together to discuss a living legacy instead, that was more in tune with who he was. He’d really enjoyed working with the University of South Carolina press, on the Story River imprint for which he was editor at large.
So the idea formed to carry on his legacy not with a press, but with a writing center where all people interested in the written word could come together. It would be a cultural and educational institute of learning, fostering writers, promoting reading, outreach into the community, involvement in the arts. The Literary Center is the perfect way to carry on where Pat Conroy left off. (For information, visit patconroyliterarycenter.org.)