5.0
Our Prince of Scribes
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesOur Prince of Scribes Reviews
5.0
“I'm at a loss as to how I can give credit to the amazing piece of literature that this is. In simple terms, friends and authors pay tribute to Pat Conroy after his death in 2016, but it was SO much more. Having been a big fan of Conroy, I knew how approachable he was because of the interviews I had read...but these submissions took that "a" word to a whole new level. He did everything he could to help new authors succeed.
He provided them with many, many "blurbs" from a famous author that would help sell their books. He remembered them and recognized them and interacted with them even with his high status as a top author. But here is my main takeaway. He befriended so many of these authors and had phone conversations with them on a regular basis. But if they didn't pick up...here was his message: "I'm working hard to keep this dying friendship alive." Sometimes there were expletives in front of the word "hard" but you get the point. He had REGULAR phone conversations with individuals that were not even a real part of his life. When is the last time I or you or whoever did that? It feels like we all keep up via facebook or text or insta or whatever...how can we truly ENGAGE?
There is SO MUCH about this book that is right. First of all...Pat Conroy. One of my all time favorite authors who I am even more endeared to because of his ability to reach out to others and assure them that their flaws are minimal and that their potential is HUGE.
I'm trying to explain this book, but I'm doing a terrible job. I loved that there were so many amazing intelligent conversations not only within his books, but within his dialogues with the individuals who contributed their material. I loved that the people actually RAN in circles...having the same bookshop/editor/etc. named more than once. And the variety of stories...unbelievable!
Bottom line. This book changed me. The legacy that Pat Conroy left behind was one to strive for. I want to be that person who has those phone conversations. I want to be that encourager and motivator. I loved that he took so many others under his wing, and somehow, someway, I want to be that person.
I don't care if you don't like Pat Conroy. I don't really even care if you like literature. If you like words and people, then this book will be SO much up your alley. And if you do like literature, especially Pat Conroy, then boy are you in for a TREAT!
One of my favorite parts of reading this was googling all of the folks who submitted...and I have already added at least 45+ books written by those individuals to my "to read" list on Goodreads. Such great literature that bloomed from the influence of Mr. Conroy himself.
No...I am not related to him. NO...I do not get a kickback from recommending him. He has simply been one of my all time favorites so reading this incredible compilation to pay him tribute has wrapped up all of the loose ends. I had the pleasure of visiting his grave in St. Helena Island where so many remembrances and letters were on his grave and I now want to ensure that I visit the library in Beaufort in his honor. Gentlemen like him are few and far between...esp when they are subject to what he went through. Many of us have similar stories.
Final note. I cannot wait to re-read all of his books. I cannot wait to start having REAL phone conversations with my friends. I cannot wait to pay more attention to details, like he did. And...maybe one day I will write something that is worthy of Mr. Conroy. And maybe I can think of him as Pat one day.”
“This book reads like a love letter....a series of essays sharing the authors’ love, admiration, and respect for Pat Conroy. Pat Conroy was more than just an outstanding, successful author; he was also a friend, a brother, a husband, a mentor, a father and a teacher. The authors of this book are not only a Who’s Who of the literary world, but also superstar entertainers, family members, and lifelong friends, who have one thing in common...a deep and abiding love for their Prince of Scribes. Their essays are intimate, funny, and heartwarming. This book belongs on the bookshelves of writers, teachers, and all lovers of stories.”
“I have been a fan of Pat Conroy from an early age. I remember when the movie Prince of Tides came out I ran to get the book. I am one of those weirdos that sometimes watches the movie first then picks up the book. I fell in love with Pat's imagery and characters. I devoured his books.
Pat was the King of Southern Literature and I know he inspired many to read and write in the genre. Not only was Pat the King of Southern Lit he was a teacher, mentor, friend, and loving husband. He would read an upcoming author no questions asked just to write a blurb for their book jacket. He would call an author up just to give them encouragement. Somehow he just seemed to know that author needed it.
I loved this book and how each person had a loving antidote to tell about Pat. The essays are intimate and funny only in a way a close friend or family member could tell it. I loved his wife's tidbits. They were bittersweet but also made me laugh out loud. I loved reading the essays of other authors I read regularly and seeing their connection with Pat.
This book is a must for fans of Southern Lit and Pat Conroy. This would make a great gift for the reader in your life.
Thank you Suzy Approved Book Tours and University of Georgia Press for the free book and the opportunity to read Our Prince of Scribes.”
“5 stars for a tribute to an author I loved
My reviews can be seen here: https://yayareadslotsofbooks.wordpress.com/
"There's no word in the language I revere more than 'teacher.' My heart sings when a kid refers to me as his teacher, and it always has. I've honored myself and the entire family of man by becoming a teacher." Even though Pat Conroy only taught for a year newly into his career, he always was a teacher. He taught us and me especially, such a love for his words, his sense of humor, his life and its accomplishments, and the joy he brought to me when reading his books.
"I was born and raised on a Carolina sea island and I carried the sunshine of the low-country, inked in dark gold, on my back and shoulders."
I have been a Pat Conroy fan for ages. I started my reading journey with him with his book The Prince of Tides. I was hooked and moved onto The Lords of Discipline savoring every word and every smile and tear I shed. Although I have read all of his books my favorite will always be Beach Music. I laughed out loud, I cried big ugly tears, and I found my love for this man increase with every page. In this love of Pat, I know I am not alone. This book points to that fact, as many wrote how and what they knew and felt about Pat. He was a master author, will always have that number one place in my heart.
For me, his death from pancreatic cancer at age seventy is ever so sad. I will never get to anxiously await a new novel of his, or be able to follow his work, and hope that some day he might come to my town. However, I do have all of Pat's books and have read each and every one, including his cookbook. savoring every word and page.
His boyhood was tragic, but he was able to move beyond it and never resort to victim hood. He moved forward, oftentimes painfully but with a hope that through his writing he might for a few hours touch another. I know he touched me in so many ways and I, too, join those who both contributed to this book as well as fellow Pat Conroy admirers.
Many thanks to the people who wrote this tribute, to University of Georgia, and to Edelweiss for a copy of this homage to an author I loved.”
About Nicole Seitz
NICOLE SEITZ is the author of seven novels, including, most recently, The Cage-Maker and Beyond Molasses Creek. She lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.JONATHAN HAUPT is the executive director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center and the founding director of the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival in Beaufort, South Carolina.NATHALIE DUPREE is a recipient of the Cordon Bleu Advanced Certificate. She has hosted more than three hundred top-rated television cooking shows on PBS, the Learning Channel, Star TV, and the Food Network. She founded Rich's Cooking School in 1972 and has taught more than ten thousand students around the world. She is the author of eleven cookbooks, including New Southern Cooking and Nathalie Dupree's Southern Memories (both Georgia) and her most recent, Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband, Jack Bass.TERRY KAY, the author of eleven books, was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2006. Nine of his books are novels, including To Dance with the White Dog and The Valley of Light, which received both the Best Fiction Award from the Georgia Writers Association and the Townsend Prize. Kay lives in Athens, Georgia.STEVE ONEY is the author of And the Dead Shall Rise, winner of the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award, the Southern Book Critics Circle Prize, and the National Jewish Book Award. Oney was educated at the University of Georgia and at Harvard, where he was a Nieman Fellow. He lives in Los Angeles.
Other books by Nicole Seitz
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