Pat Conroy exhibit on display at USC library

Fans of renowned South Carolina author Pat Conroy have an opporunity to learn more about his personal life and influences for his writing at a new exhibit unveiled this week at the University of South Carolina.

Conroy, who turned 70 last month, is a New York Times best selling author with several movies based on his books.

The “Pat Conroy: A Retrospective” exhibit, is on display through the end of March in Hollings Library’s Irvin Department Gallery, which is typically open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The exhibit is free and open the public.

Archivist Jessica Crouch curated the exhibit and listed and has categorized all the items since the library received them in May 2014. Materials from Conroy will continue to come to the libraries as long as he continues to write.

The exhibits include a large poster used to promote Conroy’s first novel “The Great Santini,” and 14 display cases filled with photographs, manuscripts, first-edition books, screenplays, scrapbooks, correspondence, posters, book art and illustrations.

Some cases are dedicated to Conroy’s experiences in South Carolina that influenced his work, such as his time as a cadet at The Citadel, his time teaching on Daufuskie Island and his time living in Beaufort.

The collection also includes about 100 family scrapbooks compiled by his father Donald Conroy.

For more information, visit library.sc.edu/p/libraries/Hollings.