Pat Conroy has died. The author (pictured, via) was 70 years old.
A message was posted on Conroy’s Facebook page to confirm the news. According to NPR, he devoted his career to writing memoirs and novels. Many would say that his most well-known books include The Great Santini (1976), The Lords of Discipline (1980), and The Prince of Tides (1986).
Here’s more from The New York Times: “With The Prince of Tides, Mr. Conroy hit the jackpot. His sprawling story of Tom Wingo, an unemployed high school teacher who confronts his past when he travels to New York to help his suicidal sister, sold more than 350,000 copies in hardcover and spent nearly a year on the best-seller lists. After Barbra Streisand directed and played a starring role in the film version, with Nick Nolte as the novel’s hero, Mr. Conroy moved to the front ranks of popular American writers.” (via The Huffington Post)