Pat Conroy (born October 26, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia), is a New York Times bestselling author who has written several acclaimed novels and memoirs. Born Donald Patrick Conroy, he was the eldest of seven children (five boys and two girls) born to Marine Colonel Donald Conroy, of Chicago and the former Frances "Peggy" Peck of Georgia. Conroy's stories have been heavily influenced by his upbringing.

His father, a US Marine Corps pilot, was physically and emotionally abusive toward his children, and the pain of a youth growing up in such a harsh environment is evident in Conroy's novels, particularly The Great Santini. The military life also pushed the family from post to post, and Conroy claims to have moved 23 times before he was 18. His association with Beaufort, South Carolina began when he was 15 and had already been in two high schools elsewhere.

As he started again in Beaufort, he determined to change his feeling of rootlessness and make a home for himself in Beaufort.

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