The Faith of Pat Conroy, May 18
Free Community Outreach Event Hosted by
First Presbyterian Church and the Pat Conroy Literary Center
“When I thought God had abandoned me, I discovered that He had simply given me a different voice to praise the inexhaustible beauty of the made world.” — Pat Conroy, My Losing Season
photos by SUSAN DELOACH
Acclaimed southern storyteller Pat Conroy (1945-2016) is best remembered as the author of a dozen beloved books, including The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides. The free public lecture The Faith of Pat Conroy explores the famed author’s spiritual and humanistic faith as reflected in his turbulent life and bestselling books—from his Roman Catholic upbringing to The Citadel’s honor code to themes of spirituality in his writings to his life of service as a mentor to his fellow writers to his connections to his “second church,” First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort.
The Faith of Pat Conroy will be presented by Jonathan Haupt and Holland Perryman on Wednesday, May 18, at 6:00 p.m. in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church at 410 Church Street in downtown Beaufort. Hosted by First Presbyterian Church, in partnership with the non-profit Pat Conroy Literary Center, this special community outreach event is free and open to the public. All are welcome.
About the Presenters
The grandson of a Methodist minister, Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the non-profit Pat Conroy Literary Center and the former director of the University of South Carolina Press, where he created the Story River Books fiction imprint with his mentor, Pat Conroy. Jonathan’s book reviews and author interviews have appeared in the Charleston Post and Courier, Lowcountry Weekly, Beaufort Lifestyle, Savannah Morning News’ Beacon magazine, Southern Review of Books, and Southern Writers Magazine’s Suite T blog. He is co-editor of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, the recipient of seventeen book awards. In 2020, he was recognized with the Doug Marlette Literacy Leadership Award of the Pulpwood Queens, the largest book club in the U.S.
The daughter of First Presbyterian Church’s senior pastor Rev. Patrick Perryman, Beaufort High School senior and student body president Holland Perryman is the founder of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization and the winner of the second annual Ann Head Literary Prize for Short Story. Her book reviews and author interviews have been published in the Charleston Post and Courier, Lowcountry Weekly, and the Southern Review of Books. Holland is the first student intern of the Pat Conroy Literary Center and the Friends of South Carolina Li-braries. She will begin her studies at Vanderbilt University as a Chancellor’s Scholar in the fall of 2022.
Learn more about First Presbyterian Church at www.firstpresbeaufort.org. And learn more about the Pat Conroy Literary Center at www.patconroyliterarycenter.org.
