Pat Conroy, the best-selling novelist who blended tales of his childhood with vivid descriptions of life in South Carolina in books including “The Great Santini” and “The Prince of Tides,” has died at the age of 70. Conroy, who had announced in a Feruary 15 Facebook post that he had pancreatic cancer, died at his home in South Carolina surrounded by friends and family.

Pat Conroy

• Donald Patrick “Pat” Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was a New York Times bestselling American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs.
• Two of his novels, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, were made into Oscar-nominated films.
• Born in Atlanta, Georgia, 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” Peek of Alabama.
• Born in Atlanta, Georgia, 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” Peek of Alabama.