Pat Conroy, Bestselling Author of 'Prince of Tides', Dies After Battle With Cancer

BEAUFORT, S.C. - Pat Conroy, the bestselling author whose brutal upbringing and personal experiences served as inspiration for his novels including "The Great Santini" and "The Prince of Tides," died Friday at his home in Beaufort, South Carolina. He was 70.

Conroy's cause of death was pancreatic cancer, a diagnosis he had revealed in October 2015.

“The water is wide and he has now passed over,” his wife and novelist Cassandra King Conroy said in a statement issued through his publisher, Doubleday.

“Pat has been my beloved friend and author for 35 years, spanning his career from 'The Prince of Tides' to today,” his longtime editor and publisher, Nan A. Talese said in a statement. “He will be cherished as one of America’s favorite and bestselling writers, and I will miss him terribly.”

Conroy was born in Atlanta and moved constantly due to his father's career in the marines. He attended 11 schools in 12 years before his father was assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort. He graduated from The Citadel, South Carolina's famed military academy. His experiences at the college served as inspiration for two of his works.

In a blog post from October 2015 on his website, Conroy wrote how all the hardships he had seen and endured in his life gave him the material to write the books he had always dreamed of writing since he was a boy.

"Though I find a perfect comfort zone in all forms of chaos, I’ve never shown a similar ease when I discover any intrusion of joy, or God forbid, happiness inviting me to a party at their house," Conroy wrote in the post discussing a birthday party in honor of him at the University of South Carolina.

His works include "The Boo", "The Water is Wide", "The Great Santini", " Lords of Discipline", "The Prince of Tides", "Beach Music", "My Losing Season", "The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life", "South of Broad", "My Reading Life" and "The Death of Santini".

Funeral arrangements are pending.

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