State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love

by Pat Conroy (foreword), Pat Conroy (Foreword)

A collection of heartfelt recollections of place from a pantheon of Palmetto State writers

Genres: Essays

223 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 10, 2013

About the author

Pat Conroy (1945 - 2016) was the New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs and seven novels, including The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, and The Lords of Discipline. He is recognized as a leading figure of late-20th century Southern literature.

Born the eldest of seven children in a rigidly disciplined military household, he attended the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. He briefly became a schoolteacher (which he chronicled in his memoir The Water Is Wide) before publishing his first novel, The Boo. Conroy lived on Fripp Island, South Carolina until his death in 2016.

Conroy passed away on March 4, 2016 at his home from Pancreatic Cancer. He was 70 years old at the time of his death.

Reviews

[Helga Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book to cherish and savor if you love South Carolina as I do. It has some wonderful contributors who write about the places in SC that they love. Some of the contributors in this book are the late great Pat Conroy who wrote an eloquent forward, Nathalie Dupree a great chef and the epitome of Southern Cooking and poetry by our local poet Marjorie Wentworth. There are some excellent essays by many local authors and photographs and artists who contributed their talents from across the state. There were stories by sports writers, playwrights, and historians who wrote about some of the places now gone and stories about people, places and memories. I enjoyed this book and found it to be a book from the heart.

[Myra Flowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute gem of a book. Wonderful concept of SC writers writing about places and experiences in SC. I have read some works either by the author's or by works cited in the book such as " My Paddle to the Sea" by John Lane, Rachel Carson's " Silent Spring", several by Tom Poland, Ben Robertson's "Red Hills and Cotton:an Upcountry Memory," and of course Pat Conroy. This book goes right along with my reading interests. My favorite entries kept changing. First this one and then no it's this one and on and on. I did love "the Musty Smell of Books" by Robin Asbury Cutler and "Transformation" by Sam Morton. I want to jump in my car and visit Cape Romaine, or Ellicott Rock, or the Dark Corner, or, or, or .... A must for lovers of SC.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love the state of South Carolina, and I do, and think she is a beautiful being, then you will cherish this book. It's worth it for Pat Conroy's foreward and I am more than aware that Conroy can often overwhelm with words. Here, he is eloquent. As are all the other contributors. It is a book you will check again and again as you visit different parts of the palmetto state. I am even interested in going to North Augusta, for heaven's sake.

[Chris Worthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the surface, this looks like a quick read. If you love South Carolina as I do, you will want to savor and consider each of these essays. As varied and wonderful as the people and places of our state, the stories included here are individual love letters, each presenting a bit of "behind the curtain" history that should be preserved. These are the stories told from front porches and over Sunday dinners. Read, enjoy and learn more about the personal history of this place we love.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each essay is a visual fest and journey of the heart.