On Monday, August 25, at 6:00-8:00 p.m., Village Social will host Pat Conroy: An Introduction to a Lowcountry Legend, presented by Jonathan Haupt, executive director of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center. This special event is the first in a series of collaborative lectures and author discussions to be held in partnership between Village Social and the Conroy Center from August through February.
Internationally acclaimed writer Pat Conroy (1945-2016) is best remembered as the author of The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides, each also adapted for film. Conroy has become as synonymous with his adopted lowcountry as pluff mud or Spanish Moss. Join the Conroy Center executive director—and one of Pat’s many protégés—for an engaging hour of stories, photos, and videos introducing Conroy’s origin story, the beginnings of his writing and teaching life and exploring some of the major themes of his work, and how the nonprofit literary center established in his memory continues his legacy
The $25 registration fee includes the presentation, refreshments, and a donation in support of the year-round educational mission of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center.
About Our Presenter:
Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center, the past director of the University of South Carolina Press, and co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, winner of 17 book awards. He is a frequent guest book reviewer for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Post and Courier. He has been honored with the Doug Marlette Literacy Leadership Award, and the South Carolina Association of School Librarians President’s Award. Under Jonathan's leadership, the Conroy Center has been recognized as an American Library Association Literary Landmark, an affiliate of the American Writers Museum, and winner of the Civitas Award for Tourism Leadership. With Claire Bennett, Jonathan also serves as co-mentor to the student leaders of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization, who in turn have been recognized with a national commendation from the American Association of School Librarians, the South Carolina Education Association's Richard W. Riley Award for Human and Civil Rights, and an honorable mention for the South Carolina Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Award.