“No man or woman has the right to humiliate children, even in the sacrosanct name of education. No one has the right to beat children with leather straps, even under the sacred auspices of all school boards in the world.” – The Water Is Wide, Pat Conroy
Last November, my husband and I spent 5 weeks in South Carolina, and we had the opportunity to visit The Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort and the school where the author taught for one year on Daufuskie Island. Later, I read The Water Is Wide, his memoir about his experience teaching on the island (that he renamed Yamacraw Island). I also met one of his former student, Sallie Ann Robinson, who is now a tour guide on the island and who also writes cookbooks. Here are a few things I learned during my visit and after:
- Pat Conroy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in an Irish Catholic family. His father, a hard and violent man, was a marine fighter pilot. By the time the author was 16 years old, his family had moved 23 times. He eventually fell in love with South Carolina’s lowcountry and settled in Beaufort.1
- Pat Conroy was shocked by the level of learning his 18 black students had on Daufuskie Island. He was teaching Grade 5 to 8, but most students could not read or write, or do basic math. They did not know who the US president was or what was the name of the ocean where Daufuskie Island was located. The author used unconventional methods to teach his students to prepare them for life outside the island. He got fired for his troubles.
- The wonderful Sallie Ann Robinson, who was a former student of Pat Conroy, gave us a tour of Daufuskie Island, talking about the history of the island and the Gullah culture. We visited the Daufuskie History Museum, the Gullah Learning Center, the Oyster Union Society Hall, the Mary Field Cemetery (a Gullah cemetery), the First Union African Baptist Church (where she sang us an hymn) and the Mary Field School (where Pat Conroy taught). She is passionate about Daufuskie Island and its history. In her cookbook Gullah Home Cooking the Daufuskie Way, she has traditional Gullah recipes, but you can also learn to cook deer, rabbit, squirrel, raccoon and even possum!
- The Water Is Wide was Pat Conroy’s favourite of all his books.2 It was made into a movie in 1974 called “Conrack” and starring Jon Voight.3 They also made a musical and a TV movie.
- The Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort is a museum about the author’s life, but it also offers writer’s workshops and events, as well as an annual festival.4
- Pat Conroy died of pancreatic cancer in 2016. He was 70 years old. He chose to be interred in St. Helena Memorial Garden, a Gullah cemetery on St. Helena Island.5
1 Source: South Carolina ETV
2 Source: Pat Conroy’s website
3 Source: IMDb
4 Source: The Pat Conroy Literary Center
5 Source: The Island Packet
