Page 32 - August 2019

CONROY CENTER AND ANCHORAGE 1770 INN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OFFER WRITERS RETREAT WEEKEND
Contact: Maura Connelly / 843-379-7025
September 6–8
maura@patconroyliterarycenter.org
T The Conroy Center and the Anchorage 1770 Inn to Host
he nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary
Center and historic Anchorage
1770 Inn are partnering on
another exclusive writers retreat
a Southern Living Inspired Event: Cook the Book
weekend in the heart of beautiful Beaufort
by the sea,to be held on September 6-8.
With James Beard Award-winning Chef and Cookbook Author Cynthia Graubart
Participating writers will immerse themselves
in a collaborative experience certain to
inspire and enlighten.
BEAUFORT, SC - Southern Living, the Pat Conroy Literary Center, and the Anchorage 1770
During this Southern Living Inspired Event,
the distinguished faculty of award-winning
Inn are excited to announce the first Cook The Book: Sharing Recipes, Wine & Words, a
writers and publishing professionals will
,
share their insights and experiences in the
special event to be held Saturday, May 19 from 4:00–9:00 p.m. at the Anchorage 1770
same generous mentoring spirit as the late
(1103 Bay St., Beaufort, SC). The inaugural Cook the Book will be presented by renowned
Pat Conroy. In the retreat’s intimate setting,
writers will get to know one another as well
southern chef Cynthia Graubart, and will focus on recipes from her recent cookbook Sunday
as our instructors over a span of three days
and two nights of empowering workshops,
Suppers (2017). The event has three components: Cynthia will give a cooking demonstration
discussions, writing prompts, readings,
of three recipes from Sunday Suppers assisted by Anchorage chef Byron Landis, followed by
critiques, and social gatherings.
The all-star retreat faculty members are
agents Jeff Kleinman and Marly Rusoff. See
Civitas Award for Tourism Leadership, an
a book and apron signing with wine and appetizers on the veranda, and culminating with a
novelists Kimberly Brock (The River Witch), the full retreat schedule, including faculty affiliate of the American Writers Museum,
four-course dinner complete with hand-selected wine pairings in the dining room.
Carla Damron (The Stone Necklace),
and an American Library Association
biographies under the Events tab at www.
and Reavis Z. Wortham (Hawke’s Target); patconroyliterarycenter.org. United for Libraries Literary Landmark.
memoirist and humorist Harrison Scott Key Registration for the weekend is $1500 The Conroy Center is located at 905 Port
(Congratulations, Who Are You Again?);
per person and includes a two-night stay at
Republic Street in downtown Beaufort and
This new venture was inspired by Pat Conroy’s passion for cooking and his perennial search
biographer and book review editor Adam the Anchorage 1770 Inn on September 6-8, open to the public from noon to 4:00 p.m.
for a new recipe. Pat opens his 2004 cookbook with the words, “The subject of food is
Parker (Outside Agitator); and literary
all 10 retreat sessions, evening receptions on Thursdays through Sundays. Learn more
Friday and Saturday, breakfasts about the Conroy Center’s year-round
nearly a sacred one to me.” His lifelong passion for cooking was first ignited in 1969 and
educational programs, including the annual
on Saturday and Sunday, and
Pat Conroy Literary Festival, at www.
only became more intense as he grew older. Many of his readers are familiar with another
lunch on Saturday. Registration
is limited to just 15 participants. patconroyliterarycenter.org.
quote from his cookbook, “a recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.”
Please call the Anchorage 1770
Inn to reserve your spot today:
(877) 951-1770.
Cynthia Graubart is an ideal chef to launch the new Cook the Book series, which celebrates
Proceeds benefit the year-
round educational programming
foodways, writing, and fellowship. When Pat first began cooking in earnest, he turned to
of the nonprofit Pat Conroy
Literary Center, TripAdvisor's
Cynthia’s husband Cliff for guidance. It was 1969 and Pat’s first wife had appointed him
top-ranked destination in
family chef. He ventured to the Old New York Bookshop in Atlanta, asking for Graubart’s
Beaufort, winner of the 2019
help. According to Pat’s recollections, Cliff, fearing the Conroy clan demise by starvation,
32 August 2019 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com
handed Pat an edition of Auguste Escoffier’s cookbook. And so Pat’s culinary adventures
began, and he became the epicurean ‘magician’, the soup ‘sorcerer’, turning “the art of
stealing recipes into both a hobby and an art.”

Cynthia’s newest cookbook, Sunday Suppers extols the virtues of the Sunday supper. She
says the Sunday ‘supper’ was different than the Sunday ‘dinner’, a little less formal, but
always just as comforting because it’s always about family time spent at the dining table. In
her preface, Cynthia explains succinctly and lovingly, “Family mealtime is heralded by
educators, clergy, and grandmothers as an important part of a child’s growth and
development.”

Anchorage Chef Byron Landis, who will be assisting with the cooking demonstration and
meal preparation, concurs. “Food is important to not only physical sustenance, but also

spiritual and emotional nourishment. The stove is the hearth, the table the gathering place. I
learned that growing up in a family that had a catering business.”