A writer of magnificent prose dies...R.I.P #PatConroy And a video tribute sent to me from Open Road Media.

I was so saddened to see that Pat Conroy died on March 4th, 2016 at 70 years of age. He was one of my favourite writers, and wrote my favourite book, Beach Music (1995). I re-read it at least once a year, which is the sign of a book that resonates. Each time I find something different to love. When I heard the news I was gutted that there'd be no more Conroy magnificence to adore. Selfish of me.

Conroy himself said:
'Without music, life is a journey through a desert.'

So enamored am I about Beach Music that I shared it for the WEP challenge of Spectacular Settings in 2015. Any fan of Pat Conroy will know what I'm talking about. His poetic lyricism comes to the fore when he describes the settings he so loved--in Beach Music they are South Carolina and Italy. 

If I’d just opened a random page from this novel, I could have found some amazing setting to share with you. Chapter 1 begins with such a sensuous description of the Piazza Farnese in Rome you have to blink to make sure you’re not actually there, so strong is the smell of freshly-brewed coffee and so vivid the descriptions of the morning activity in the Piazza. And I’m sure South Carolina never had prettier words written to describe it. But the descriptions that never leave me are found in the Prologue. I have taken excerpts from pp. 19-23, where the teenage Jack is sky larking with a group of his graduate high-school classmates who have gathered in a condemned house on St Michael’s Island, South Carolina on the night it was predicted the house would break up and fall into the sea. This section is reminiscent of the whole novel, where Conroy, a master of setting as character, parallels the coming together of himself and his great love, Shyla, against the backdrop of the raging Atlantic Ocean. 

This of course, foreshadows one of many tragedies which are to come...

Here is an excerpt from the Prologue of Beach Music. I love Prologues when they're done this well! They capture my imagination and add suspense to the story.

"THE sea rose invisibly beneath us and the moon shone smooth and bright. A glossy flute of light, like velvet down a bridal aisle, lit the marlin scales and the backs of whales migrating a hundred miles at sea. The tides surged through the marsh and each wave that hit the beach came light-struck and broad-shouldered, with all the raw power the moon could bestow. Magically, an hour passed and we, ocean dancers and tide challengers, found ourselves listening to the sea directly beneath us as the waves began to crash in earnest against the house...

I looked around to see Shyla Fox in the moonlight. She looked as though she had dressed for this moment with the help of the moon…

We danced toward the central motion of our lives. The winds roared and a strange love rose like a tide between us and rested in the crown of waves that was loosening the frame of the house. Alone we danced beneath the full moon…

I heard the house shudder and push off as it took its first primal step towards the sea. The house tilted, then fell forward as though it were prostrating itself before the power of this tidal surge.

We went out to the newly imbalanced balcony, holding hands. The moon lit the sea in a freeway of papery light and we watched the boiling white caps feeding on the broken cement scattered beneath the house. We continued to dance while the house kept its appointment with the long tide and I blazed with the love of this young girl. 

Our love began and ended with seawater."

If you love this excerpt you can read the full Prologue here. 

“One of the greatest gifts you can get as a writer is to be born into an unhappy family,” Conroy said. And his childhood was mined mercilessly in his novels. Which is why they resonate.

Go with God, Mr Conroy. Thank you for the music.

• Have you read any of Pat Conroy's books?
• If you have read any of his books, what is your favourite?