Pat Conroy

I have seen The Prince of Tides and loved it, but I didn't discover Pat Conroy's books until this year when a friend spoke at his 70th birthday in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Since then I have been devouring his words, so hearing that he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is terrible.

Books are almost always better than the movies that follow them, but I wasn't prepared for how much better Conroy's are.

His stories are hard. They are heart breakers told in a way that makes them a feast for the soul. I've been trying to decide what exactly it is that makes him so extraordinary. For one thing he is brutally truthful, insanely insightful, and those things come together in a rich vocabulary that draws me right in. I don't just read his words; I feel them, taste them, see them as if I am right there.

He says he will fight hard. I believe him. I cannot imagine losing such a great writer right after I find him.