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Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship
“Bernie Schein is the funniest man alive, or so he has dogmatically maintained during the burdensome decades I have known him. . . . [He is] by turns hysterically funny, wildly neurotic, uniquely sensitive, and heartbreakingly honest.”—Pat ConroyPat Conroy, the bestselling author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini among many other books, was beloved by millions of readers. Bernie Schein was his best friend from the time they met in a high-school pickup basketball game in Beaufort, South Carolina, until Conroy’s death in 2016.Both were popular but also outsiders as a Jew and a Catholic military brat in the small-town Bible-Belt South, and they bonded. Wiseass and smart aleck, loudmouths both, they shared an ebullient sense of humor and romanticism, were mesmerized by the highbrow and reveled in the low, and would sacrifice entire evenings and afternoons to endless conversation. As young teachers in the Beaufort area and later in Atlanta, they were activists in the civil rights struggle and against institutional racism and bigotry. Bernie knew intimately the private family story of the Conroys and his friend’s difficult relationship with his Marine Corps colonel father that Pat would draw on repeatedly in his fiction.A love letter and homage, and a way to share the Pat he knew, this book collects Bernie’s cherished memories about the gregarious, welcoming, larger-than-life man who remained his best friend, even during the years they didn’t speak. It offers a trove of insights and anecdotes that will be treasured by Pat Conroy’s many devoted fans.
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
May 28, 2019
I first read Pat Conroy’s The Great Santini when I was the young wife of a Marine Corps pilot. The book had just come out and I wasn’t aware at the time of Conroy’s earlier books, The Boo and The Water is Wide. The Great Santini was taken from the author’s own life as the son of a Marine Corps fighter pilot who drank to excess and regularly and brutally beat up his wife and children, both with his words and with his fists. The story took my breath away, because, unfortunately, I could relate all too well. I fell in love with the writer who had buried his pain and rage for so many years until he finally felt compelled to fictionalize it in a tender, funny, agonizing, and beautifully worded novel.
I fell more deeply in love with Pat Conroy after I read his next book, The Lords of Discipline, as he once again turned his past, this time his school years at The Citadel, into a novel depicting the beauty, brutality and racism he experienced or witnessed there. Through these two books, I learned how a man so deeply damaged and flawed by his past could still retain a love of words, of place and of honor, a man who didn’t think living these ideals made him less of a man. Sadly, I hadn’t ever really known that a male could be this way until, through his words, I met Pat Conroy. So in a way, he changed my life, or at least the way I viewed an essential part of it.
I continued to read, through the years, all his novels, and I learned more and more about the man through his writings. The Prince of Tides is probably my favorite in terms of the beauty of his language. Conroy could take a location, a thought, a feeling, and meld it into something so beautiful that the words would simply take your breath away.
Probably needless to say, after all this, is that he is my favorite writer. And most especially, my favorite Southern writer. He loved his South, his Lowcountry, so much that he could make anyone else love it, as well. However, I also know that the demons of his past still weighed heavily on him, and every novel he wrote reflects that in some way. It’s one of the great sorrows of my life that I never got a chance to meet Pat Conroy before he died a few years ago, but that fact brings me to how much I wanted to read this book by his best friend, Bernie Schein. (“Yes, finally, at last we get to the book review,” I’m sure you’re thinking.)
This is a good book about Pat Conroy. Not a great one, but very good. I learned so much more about him, his relationships with others, including his family, and the sorrow and joy they provided him, and that he, in kind, gave to those he loved or met.
The book gives a lot of detail about Pat’s marriages and children, rifts and broken relationships, tenderness and reparations. It explains how some of Pat's stories hurt family members who saw themselves in his characters. Yet, at no time did I sense that the book was gossipy or a tell-all. Pat himself had been honest through the years about the darkness in his life, and he laughed at much of it. He was honest about his father, about his beautiful mother and the grace and passion for words that she instilled in him. This is a deeply emotional book by a friend who still loves Pat dearly and wants the world to know him, his humor and his selflessness, and who knows just as Pat did that all of his pain made his writing more exquisite and relatable to the many readers who fell in love with him as I did.
The one thing that kept me from giving the book a 5-star rating, or thinking that it’s a great book about Pat, is that Bernie Schein spends many pages talking about himself. To his credit, usually all those pages, at some stage, point back to Pat and the friendship between the two. Bernie also seems to love Bernie quite a bit, as well. I overlooked some of that, because he’s funny and just because I know Pat cherished him so much, but it did tend to get annoying when he seemed to be promoting himself here and there as the best, the brightest, the funniest, in all the world.
I’m glad I read this book. It was a wonderful tribute to Pat Conroy, a man who I believe more than any other writer I've read, excels in reaching down into our hearts to find truth and beauty among the bruised baggage that we’re so often afraid to lift the lid on in the light of day.
Thank you to NetGalley and Skyhorse and Arcade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
4 stars
I fell more deeply in love with Pat Conroy after I read his next book, The Lords of Discipline, as he once again turned his past, this time his school years at The Citadel, into a novel depicting the beauty, brutality and racism he experienced or witnessed there. Through these two books, I learned how a man so deeply damaged and flawed by his past could still retain a love of words, of place and of honor, a man who didn’t think living these ideals made him less of a man. Sadly, I hadn’t ever really known that a male could be this way until, through his words, I met Pat Conroy. So in a way, he changed my life, or at least the way I viewed an essential part of it.
I continued to read, through the years, all his novels, and I learned more and more about the man through his writings. The Prince of Tides is probably my favorite in terms of the beauty of his language. Conroy could take a location, a thought, a feeling, and meld it into something so beautiful that the words would simply take your breath away.
Probably needless to say, after all this, is that he is my favorite writer. And most especially, my favorite Southern writer. He loved his South, his Lowcountry, so much that he could make anyone else love it, as well. However, I also know that the demons of his past still weighed heavily on him, and every novel he wrote reflects that in some way. It’s one of the great sorrows of my life that I never got a chance to meet Pat Conroy before he died a few years ago, but that fact brings me to how much I wanted to read this book by his best friend, Bernie Schein. (“Yes, finally, at last we get to the book review,” I’m sure you’re thinking.)
This is a good book about Pat Conroy. Not a great one, but very good. I learned so much more about him, his relationships with others, including his family, and the sorrow and joy they provided him, and that he, in kind, gave to those he loved or met.
The book gives a lot of detail about Pat’s marriages and children, rifts and broken relationships, tenderness and reparations. It explains how some of Pat's stories hurt family members who saw themselves in his characters. Yet, at no time did I sense that the book was gossipy or a tell-all. Pat himself had been honest through the years about the darkness in his life, and he laughed at much of it. He was honest about his father, about his beautiful mother and the grace and passion for words that she instilled in him. This is a deeply emotional book by a friend who still loves Pat dearly and wants the world to know him, his humor and his selflessness, and who knows just as Pat did that all of his pain made his writing more exquisite and relatable to the many readers who fell in love with him as I did.
The one thing that kept me from giving the book a 5-star rating, or thinking that it’s a great book about Pat, is that Bernie Schein spends many pages talking about himself. To his credit, usually all those pages, at some stage, point back to Pat and the friendship between the two. Bernie also seems to love Bernie quite a bit, as well. I overlooked some of that, because he’s funny and just because I know Pat cherished him so much, but it did tend to get annoying when he seemed to be promoting himself here and there as the best, the brightest, the funniest, in all the world.
I’m glad I read this book. It was a wonderful tribute to Pat Conroy, a man who I believe more than any other writer I've read, excels in reaching down into our hearts to find truth and beauty among the bruised baggage that we’re so often afraid to lift the lid on in the light of day.
Thank you to NetGalley and Skyhorse and Arcade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
4 stars
August 14, 2019
Thanks to Netgalley for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.
Admittedly, it's my mother that is the Pat Conroy fan. She's read all his books many times. I, on the other hand, have only read Beach Music which IMHO is one of the best books I have ever read. But in reading this, it's not necessarily a need to be a fan of Pat Conroy. This book is more about the friendship (or bromance, if you so wish) between Irish-Catholic American Pat Conroy and Jewish American Bernie Schein, friends since their school years and both authors in their own right.
I liked that Schein was honest in who Pat Conroy the man was -warts and all. Although I wouldn't say this book was riveting, it was certainly informative.
Goodreads review published 01/08/19
Publication Date 03/09/19
Admittedly, it's my mother that is the Pat Conroy fan. She's read all his books many times. I, on the other hand, have only read Beach Music which IMHO is one of the best books I have ever read. But in reading this, it's not necessarily a need to be a fan of Pat Conroy. This book is more about the friendship (or bromance, if you so wish) between Irish-Catholic American Pat Conroy and Jewish American Bernie Schein, friends since their school years and both authors in their own right.
I liked that Schein was honest in who Pat Conroy the man was -warts and all. Although I wouldn't say this book was riveting, it was certainly informative.
Goodreads review published 01/08/19
Publication Date 03/09/19
October 4, 2019
A beautiful tribute to Pat Conroy and a beautiful ode to friendship.
October 26, 2019
An honest and insightful memoir about the author’s lifelong friendship with writer Pat Conroy. He explores their relationship in sometimes painful detail but never with malice or bitterness, and the portrait of Conroy that emerges is vivid and sympathetic. An enjoyable and entertaining read.
September 12, 2019
There are biographies, undertaken with acidulous application to facts and data, years of research and then a coalescing of all that into a readable text -- and then there are personal accounts (call it a memoire biography) that give the reader a true feel of the subject. This is the latter. Each may be equally valuable when seen 200 years from now. However, each have a different appeal to a different audience. Both may be non-fiction, but the memoire biography is not only an engaging read but allows a closer relationship, in this case, with Pat Conroy - engendering admiration, understanding and, yes, a desire to revisit his wonderful stories. In that sense, this wonderful book becomes a journey into hours of reading pleasure that otherwise would have been colored differently. It is a unique way for a biography to serve such a function.
August 27, 2019
Having just listened to Pat Conroy read his own book on reading I so wanted more time with Conroy and there was the opportunity to read this book. Be clear it's about Bernie Schein and his relationship with Conroy but if like me you just love all things Conroy this is a worthwhile read. You'll gain additional insight into Conroy and his relationships--not all of it is happy but you knew that if you read Conroy. I've read Conroy's telling of his life in his stories and enjoyed this telling from a different perspective.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
November 13, 2019
I read The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy in graduate school and decided to read it a second time as an adult with more experience in education. As I expected the memoir meant even more to me now and I wanted to learn more about Pat Conroy so then I chose to read Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship written by Bernie Schein. In this biography, Schein’s words drives the reader from Conroy’s high school years, careers, social activism, friendships, relationships, family life and death in 2016. The book takes the reader through the breadth of Pat Conroy’s life and friendship with Bernie Schein and is a must-read for Conroy fans who want a glimpse into the life of one of the South’s most beloved and admired authors.
Pat Conroy and Bernie Schein became friends while attending high school during turbulent times in the South where activists were fighting for an end to institutional racism. Schein being Jewish and Conroy being an implanted Catholic and military child in Beaufort I believe could relate to the feeling of being on the outside of a Southern town’s inner circle. Schein goes into detail exploring the events during this time and the influence it had on Conroy and how he (Conroy) fought for equal rights among races especially in terms of public education. Pat Conroy was a teacher and had a first-hand view of how racism affected public education. It was during these difficult times that his teaching career ended and he became a writer.
As a budding writer penning The Water Is Wide Pat Conroy writes about his experiences as a teacher on Daufuskie Island. Soon after a movie based on the book, Conrack, is made and his writing career bloomed from there. Schein discusses other works written by Conroy and the movies that followed suit. Reading through the biography there are often quotes from Conroy’s major works such as The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, etc. The author also goes into detail about the relationship between Pat Conroy and his editors which helps one understand the life of a professional writer.
I found Schein’s biography very Conroy in that the happiest times and darkest times of life are discussed in terms of friendships, relationships, careers, relocation, depression, and addiction to name a few. Schein’s writing is emotionally raw at times showing the true love and honor he had/has for his best friend. He allows the reader to meet Conroy’s circle of friends, learn some logistics of a Jewish owned grocery store of the South and the dichotomy of public schools within one region. New friends, separated friendships, friendships where the water becomes wide but narrow again are all part of Conroy’s life that Schein writes about. Certain passages in the biography are a walk through SC history from local Beaufort politics, the Columbia Esso station, how desegregation shaped daycare needs, nutrition, and health for southern children.
A theme throughout this work is family. Schein writes about Conroy’s nuclear family, three marriages, children, stepchildren and the challenges and love of family life. Learning about Conroy’s family allows the reader to understand his books since his familial relationships often provided inspiration for his writing.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Schein mentions that everyone can be a narcissist when grieving. If you have dealt with grief or are doing so now this book may console you as a reader as it did myself. Many of us have loved and lost and Schein by writing this book is working his way through the emotions of losing his best friend.
I fell in love with Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship by Schein because it is about one of my favorite authors and is a story of an underdog surviving the hardships of life while experiencing the joys and success life can bring.
I find a James Joyce influence to Schein’s writing and would love an index to be included in the work.
Pat Conroy and Bernie Schein became friends while attending high school during turbulent times in the South where activists were fighting for an end to institutional racism. Schein being Jewish and Conroy being an implanted Catholic and military child in Beaufort I believe could relate to the feeling of being on the outside of a Southern town’s inner circle. Schein goes into detail exploring the events during this time and the influence it had on Conroy and how he (Conroy) fought for equal rights among races especially in terms of public education. Pat Conroy was a teacher and had a first-hand view of how racism affected public education. It was during these difficult times that his teaching career ended and he became a writer.
As a budding writer penning The Water Is Wide Pat Conroy writes about his experiences as a teacher on Daufuskie Island. Soon after a movie based on the book, Conrack, is made and his writing career bloomed from there. Schein discusses other works written by Conroy and the movies that followed suit. Reading through the biography there are often quotes from Conroy’s major works such as The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides, etc. The author also goes into detail about the relationship between Pat Conroy and his editors which helps one understand the life of a professional writer.
I found Schein’s biography very Conroy in that the happiest times and darkest times of life are discussed in terms of friendships, relationships, careers, relocation, depression, and addiction to name a few. Schein’s writing is emotionally raw at times showing the true love and honor he had/has for his best friend. He allows the reader to meet Conroy’s circle of friends, learn some logistics of a Jewish owned grocery store of the South and the dichotomy of public schools within one region. New friends, separated friendships, friendships where the water becomes wide but narrow again are all part of Conroy’s life that Schein writes about. Certain passages in the biography are a walk through SC history from local Beaufort politics, the Columbia Esso station, how desegregation shaped daycare needs, nutrition, and health for southern children.
A theme throughout this work is family. Schein writes about Conroy’s nuclear family, three marriages, children, stepchildren and the challenges and love of family life. Learning about Conroy’s family allows the reader to understand his books since his familial relationships often provided inspiration for his writing.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Schein mentions that everyone can be a narcissist when grieving. If you have dealt with grief or are doing so now this book may console you as a reader as it did myself. Many of us have loved and lost and Schein by writing this book is working his way through the emotions of losing his best friend.
I fell in love with Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship by Schein because it is about one of my favorite authors and is a story of an underdog surviving the hardships of life while experiencing the joys and success life can bring.
I find a James Joyce influence to Schein’s writing and would love an index to be included in the work.
December 31, 2020
Enjoyable
So very interesting because it is about Pat Conroy and his tumultuous life. What an exceptional friendship he and Bernie shared.
So very interesting because it is about Pat Conroy and his tumultuous life. What an exceptional friendship he and Bernie shared.
May 31, 2019
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was an entertaining and interesting read. I'm not sure it will appeal to anyone who isn't already a Pat Conroy or Bernie Schein fan. I happen to be a Pat Conroy fan so as soon as I saw the title, I was interested. I enjoyed seeing their friendship and history through Bernie's eyes. Reading about people I was already familiar with through Pat from a different point of view helped me see a fuller picture of their experiences. I also feel like this book is both a wonderful tribute to Pat and a heartfelt tale of friendship which shows the love and messiness that can come with deep, long-lasting relationships, especially when at least one of the friends has lived through deep trauma.
There were a couple of typos that I couldn't get past: "ya'll" should be "y'all," It's a somewhat common mistake but a mistake nonetheless; "Paris Island" is mentioned several times - I'm also from the lowcountry and it's "Parris;' "form" for "from" when he was discussing the writing of Storms of Aquarius; and ""now" for "know" further down when he was discussing Pat spilling the beans to Clark & Seltzer.
Bernie Schein's "Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship" is a book about their friendship. It's not merely a biography of Pat Conroy. This is a memoir where Bernie's life, growth, and relationships factor in as much as if not more than his experiences with Pat. Expecting otherwise may lead to disappointment.
I received this complimentary ARC via NetGalley to read and review.
There were a couple of typos that I couldn't get past: "ya'll" should be "y'all," It's a somewhat common mistake but a mistake nonetheless; "Paris Island" is mentioned several times - I'm also from the lowcountry and it's "Parris;' "form" for "from" when he was discussing the writing of Storms of Aquarius; and ""now" for "know" further down when he was discussing Pat spilling the beans to Clark & Seltzer.
Bernie Schein's "Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship" is a book about their friendship. It's not merely a biography of Pat Conroy. This is a memoir where Bernie's life, growth, and relationships factor in as much as if not more than his experiences with Pat. Expecting otherwise may lead to disappointment.
I received this complimentary ARC via NetGalley to read and review.
December 26, 2019
A MUST read for all Pat Conroy fans.
Quote: p. 261
"I want to close by saying to everyone whose heart Pat Conroy has touched, whose soul he has comforted, and whose mind he has expanded, to all he has understood, inspired, and loved through words and his actions, to all his readers...you have been in the presence of greatness, you have been in the presence of one who dared to be great. Pat, you will live forever in our hearts, souls, minds. And I pray we are worthy to live now in yours."
p.271
I look around the graveyard (Brick Baptist Church Cemetery in Beaufort), but I can't get past the gravesite right next to him, only a few feet away, directly to his left. Buried right next to him, sleeping right next to him for all eternity, is Agnes Sherman. Like Pat said, there's always more to the story."
Quote: p. 261
"I want to close by saying to everyone whose heart Pat Conroy has touched, whose soul he has comforted, and whose mind he has expanded, to all he has understood, inspired, and loved through words and his actions, to all his readers...you have been in the presence of greatness, you have been in the presence of one who dared to be great. Pat, you will live forever in our hearts, souls, minds. And I pray we are worthy to live now in yours."
p.271
I look around the graveyard (Brick Baptist Church Cemetery in Beaufort), but I can't get past the gravesite right next to him, only a few feet away, directly to his left. Buried right next to him, sleeping right next to him for all eternity, is Agnes Sherman. Like Pat said, there's always more to the story."
January 18, 2020
Pat Conroy is probably my favorite author. His writing is so beautiful. Since he has passed, I have enjoyed reading books written by others about him. This book by Bernie Schein doesn't disappoint. You get the good, the bad, the ugly,and the absolutely wonderful about Pat as your read this memoir. Bernie and Pat became friends in high school, so there are many stories to share.
April 10, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS WHO NEEDS ENEMIES! MORE LIKE A GOSSIP COLUMNIST
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What led me to read this book was that “THE GREAT SANTINI” was one of my favorite movies of all-time… and the author of the book “THE GREAT SANTINI” that the movie was based on was Pat Conroy. (He of course wrote many other classic pieces of literature such as “The Prince of Tides”… “The Lords of Discipline”… “My Losing Season”… and others.) The pre-release teaser was that the author of this book was Bernie Schein… self-proclaimed “best-friend” of Pat’s for a lifetime and beyond. I expected to learn loving behind the scenes details of Pat Conroy… for after all… his “best-friend”… was going to share why he and Pat loved each other so much… and any mortal person could only imagine the loving tribute and insight… to a lifelong best friend… it would be akin to a letter of recommendation… with perhaps a few quirks here and there… to convince G-d to let his friend into heaven with open arms. You would expect that a best friend would rail at any grungy- cheap- shot- gossip writer… that invariably takes cheap shots and attempts to denigrate a non-living celebrity… that has no way of fighting back. But… what would happen if the cheap shot artist is the same guy bragging that he’s the deceased celebrity’s best friend of all-time?
This is the taste that’s left in my mouth after reading this book. Let me be clear… the author does describe many good qualities of his “best-friend”… along the way… but all the negative… personal… situations… have no positive reason to be disclosed after his death. Unless you’re one of the aforementioned gossip columnist types. If I were Pat… looking down from heaven and reading this book… a quote from an old Bob Seger song comes to mind…. “SURROUNDED BY STRANGERS I THOUGHT WERE MY FRIENDS.” The author also spends just as much… if not more time on his own detailed life… than on Conroy’s. If you’re looking for the awful childhood events that formed the crux of Conroy’s writing… the stories and the characters… you will be enlightened on that… and it will make you want to go back and re-watch the movies or re-read some of his books. There are some very interesting portions… and some portions that drag to a halt. The author also makes countless comments about certain traits of his because he’s Jewish… and certain comments about Pat because he’s Irish. They are not slanderous statements… but it gets very repetitive and old… and could have certainly been left out ninety-per-cent of the time. In fact since such a large part of the book is about battles with editors… or appreciation of certain editors… it’s very easy for a reader to see… whoever edited this book… should have been more aggressive with his editing scalpel on this book.
Two quotes in this book that stand out to me… are one about the overall temperament of Pat… “PAT LOVED PEOPLE EVEN MORE THAN HE HATED THEM”… and the second one… referring to educating children which was of utmost importance to both Bernie and Pat… “THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IS IN THE HEART AND SOUL OF EVERY CHILD.”
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What led me to read this book was that “THE GREAT SANTINI” was one of my favorite movies of all-time… and the author of the book “THE GREAT SANTINI” that the movie was based on was Pat Conroy. (He of course wrote many other classic pieces of literature such as “The Prince of Tides”… “The Lords of Discipline”… “My Losing Season”… and others.) The pre-release teaser was that the author of this book was Bernie Schein… self-proclaimed “best-friend” of Pat’s for a lifetime and beyond. I expected to learn loving behind the scenes details of Pat Conroy… for after all… his “best-friend”… was going to share why he and Pat loved each other so much… and any mortal person could only imagine the loving tribute and insight… to a lifelong best friend… it would be akin to a letter of recommendation… with perhaps a few quirks here and there… to convince G-d to let his friend into heaven with open arms. You would expect that a best friend would rail at any grungy- cheap- shot- gossip writer… that invariably takes cheap shots and attempts to denigrate a non-living celebrity… that has no way of fighting back. But… what would happen if the cheap shot artist is the same guy bragging that he’s the deceased celebrity’s best friend of all-time?
This is the taste that’s left in my mouth after reading this book. Let me be clear… the author does describe many good qualities of his “best-friend”… along the way… but all the negative… personal… situations… have no positive reason to be disclosed after his death. Unless you’re one of the aforementioned gossip columnist types. If I were Pat… looking down from heaven and reading this book… a quote from an old Bob Seger song comes to mind…. “SURROUNDED BY STRANGERS I THOUGHT WERE MY FRIENDS.” The author also spends just as much… if not more time on his own detailed life… than on Conroy’s. If you’re looking for the awful childhood events that formed the crux of Conroy’s writing… the stories and the characters… you will be enlightened on that… and it will make you want to go back and re-watch the movies or re-read some of his books. There are some very interesting portions… and some portions that drag to a halt. The author also makes countless comments about certain traits of his because he’s Jewish… and certain comments about Pat because he’s Irish. They are not slanderous statements… but it gets very repetitive and old… and could have certainly been left out ninety-per-cent of the time. In fact since such a large part of the book is about battles with editors… or appreciation of certain editors… it’s very easy for a reader to see… whoever edited this book… should have been more aggressive with his editing scalpel on this book.
Two quotes in this book that stand out to me… are one about the overall temperament of Pat… “PAT LOVED PEOPLE EVEN MORE THAN HE HATED THEM”… and the second one… referring to educating children which was of utmost importance to both Bernie and Pat… “THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IS IN THE HEART AND SOUL OF EVERY CHILD.”
May 31, 2019
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was an entertaining and interesting read. I'm not sure it will appeal to anyone who isn't already a Pat Conroy or Bernie Schein fan. I happen to be a Pat Conroy fan so as soon as I saw the title, I was interested. I enjoyed seeing their friendship and history through Bernie's eyes. Reading about people I was already familiar with through Pat from a different point of view helped me see a fuller picture of their experiences. I also feel like this book is both a wonderful tribute to Pat and a heartfelt tale of friendship which shows the love and messiness that can come with deep, long-lasting relationships, especially when at least one of the friends has lived through deep trauma.
There were a couple of typos that I couldn't get past: "ya'll" should be "y'all," It's a somewhat common mistake but a mistake nonetheless; "Paris Island" is mentioned several times - I'm also from the lowcountry and it's "Parris;' "form" for "from" when he was discussing the writing of Storms of Aquarius; and ""now" for "know" further down when he was discussing Pat spilling the beans to Clark & Seltzer.
Bernie Schein's "Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship" is a book about their friendship. It's not merely a biography of Pat Conroy. This is a memoir where Bernie's life, growth, and relationships factor in as much as if not more than his experiences with Pat. Expecting otherwise may lead to disappointment.
I received this complimentary ARC via NetGalley to read and review.
There were a couple of typos that I couldn't get past: "ya'll" should be "y'all," It's a somewhat common mistake but a mistake nonetheless; "Paris Island" is mentioned several times - I'm also from the lowcountry and it's "Parris;' "form" for "from" when he was discussing the writing of Storms of Aquarius; and ""now" for "know" further down when he was discussing Pat spilling the beans to Clark & Seltzer.
Bernie Schein's "Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship" is a book about their friendship. It's not merely a biography of Pat Conroy. This is a memoir where Bernie's life, growth, and relationships factor in as much as if not more than his experiences with Pat. Expecting otherwise may lead to disappointment.
I received this complimentary ARC via NetGalley to read and review.
October 11, 2019
"Pat Conroy, Our Lifelong Friendship" by Bernie Schein is a fabulous, loving and insightful book about Pat Conroy. We attended Beaufort H.S. in Beaufort, S.C. Bernie and I were the Class of '62 and Pat was the Class of '63. We were truly blessed to have Pat as a friend. Pat and I were Marine Corps brats, so we lived near each other, near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. Pat was President of the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) and I was V.P. , but Pat was usually practicing basketball, so I was in charge of the class. Pat was also an altar boy at the base chapel. He cut a fine figure in his altar boy vestments. Bernie had me laughing at sooo many things in his book...and crying at others. Pat had demons, but I never saw them; he was such a kind, caring...and good looking young. He came to a book signing at Barnes and Noble, in Virginia Beach, in '96. I hadn't seen him since we left Beaufort in '66, when my dad was transferred to the Chicago area. I wrote to Pat in the various cities, where he lived while writing his books. When we saw each other at the book signing, for "Beach Music", he knew exactly who I was, gave me a kiss and I have a photo of him. There will NEVER be another Pat Conroy, nor will there be another Bernie Schein. They made going to class, every day, an adventure!!!
I was lucky to be mentioned in Chapter One of Bernie's book. What an honor!!! Gretchen Maas-Scott
I was lucky to be mentioned in Chapter One of Bernie's book. What an honor!!! Gretchen Maas-Scott
September 14, 2019
Tics off all the memoire boxes for me!
I received this book from the publisher prior to an interview I'm doing with the author in November. I gobbled it. It has all the things I want from a memoire: honesty, courage, gritty anecdote, love, and terrific humor. I met a Pat Conroy in those pages I didn't know, though I may have seen a sign or two of his darker side; they didn't come into sharp focus until I read this. The friendship he and Bernie Schein shared was as unique as it was strong. Their story here reads almost like a love story rather than one about a friendship. Schein excels in providing the rich back-drop of the revolutionary era known as the 60s and 70s, of the pre and post civil rights South. One love he shared with Conroy, the love of education (excuse me) shines through. So does a surprising cast of writers, teachers, politicians, and folks.
It's easy to see why Pat Conroy and Bernie Schein developed their bromance. The wounded Irishman, the gruff but tender Jew - it was a natural. There is a price one pays to have The Great Man as friend, especially a wounded one though, and the author lays it bare to the bone. It broke my heart. It made me want to re-read Conroy. And in between, boy, did it make me laugh.
Come November, I've got some questions for Bernie Schein.
I received this book from the publisher prior to an interview I'm doing with the author in November. I gobbled it. It has all the things I want from a memoire: honesty, courage, gritty anecdote, love, and terrific humor. I met a Pat Conroy in those pages I didn't know, though I may have seen a sign or two of his darker side; they didn't come into sharp focus until I read this. The friendship he and Bernie Schein shared was as unique as it was strong. Their story here reads almost like a love story rather than one about a friendship. Schein excels in providing the rich back-drop of the revolutionary era known as the 60s and 70s, of the pre and post civil rights South. One love he shared with Conroy, the love of education (excuse me) shines through. So does a surprising cast of writers, teachers, politicians, and folks.
It's easy to see why Pat Conroy and Bernie Schein developed their bromance. The wounded Irishman, the gruff but tender Jew - it was a natural. There is a price one pays to have The Great Man as friend, especially a wounded one though, and the author lays it bare to the bone. It broke my heart. It made me want to re-read Conroy. And in between, boy, did it make me laugh.
Come November, I've got some questions for Bernie Schein.
June 18, 2019
Bernie Schein's Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship was quite simply beautiful with shades of ugliness, pain, and suffering. This was an excellent read about a man and his friendships, family and his life and Lowcountry roots. For those of us who identify with Pat Conroy, Bernie Schein's book touched our very souls in many ways. Would definitely recommend this book to Pat Conroy's readers, literary peers, writers and written and spoken word aficionados. Absolutely amazing!
November 4, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed "Pat Conroy: Our Lifelong Friendship". The honesty, style, voice, and humor had me laughing out loud. There were also times where there are pages in this book that are covered in tears. Thank you Mr. Schein, for sharing so much of your friendship and life with Pat Conroy. You too have "great love"!
May 2, 2020
A difficult read for one who loves the writings of Pat Conroy. Parts of the book come across as much too critical, but if it is truth, should it not be told? Several times I came close to tossing the book aside, but my desire to know more about the author I have respected for years kept me turning page after page.
July 5, 2020
Love from a sometimes tortuous friendship shines
The beginning of this book is drought with aqua
Ward
The beginning of this book is riddled with awkward phrasing and run on sentences. But it either got better or I quit noticing as Schein writes of his deep and conflicted love for Pat Conroy.
The beginning of this book is drought with aqua
Ward
The beginning of this book is riddled with awkward phrasing and run on sentences. But it either got better or I quit noticing as Schein writes of his deep and conflicted love for Pat Conroy.
September 12, 2020
A look at Pat Conroy through the eyes of his best friend. Filled with memories and stories from their friendship that began in high school. It was insightful and interesting, but also felt choppy. I often felt that chapters ended abruptly, making it difficult to see the overarching point he was trying to make.
Read
January 21, 2021Loved it! Whereas Conroy's wife's account of his life was romantic, and the famous biographer who channeled his life was historical but interesting, this one was refreshingly different. Filled with stories that MUST be true (because people would be to embarrassed to make such things up!) this is a book only a best friend could write---and could only publish it posthumously.
Totally enjoyed it!
Totally enjoyed it!
January 27, 2021
A bit disappointing. Given the subject matter I expected a more engaging and challenging read. Ironically a book that discusses editing and literary judgment at some length, it needs to be much more concise and less repetitive.
I don’t doubt the quality of the friendship but the book seems to be trading on Conroy’s reputation, with claims and anecdotes he can no longer refute.
I don’t doubt the quality of the friendship but the book seems to be trading on Conroy’s reputation, with claims and anecdotes he can no longer refute.
January 11, 2024
I really loved this book by Pat Conroy’s best friend and colleague. They met in high school and had a wonderfully close and brutally honest relationship. It was fun to view Pat through Bernie’s experiences and rapport with him. I feel like I have a better understanding of one of my favorite authors!
September 15, 2019
This must have been so hard to write. It was raw and personal. It was fun and funny. I loved Pat Conroy and yet I never met him. Bernie I loved your book and I am so sorry for your loss. Some people live a lifetime without having a friendship like the two of you shared.
February 23, 2020
What a beautiful tribute to a special friendship. This book was different than most of the books about Pat Conroy because it allowed us to see the real man with warts and flaws and still adore him. You can feel the love from the author for the beloved author and man.
September 8, 2020
Catching up on Pat Conroy and finding this memoir by his fine friend, Bernie Schein a very good read. Now about half way through Conroy's works, I've been introduced to Bernie multiple times and it was grand to read his account of their lives together over many years!
October 30, 2020
While I normally enjoy Jewish humor, Schein's comments often seemed...misguided? unkind? Or maybe he is funnier in person than on paper. I don't know if he needed to vent or just tell his story, but here it is~
October 6, 2025
The book makes you want to have known Pat Conroy personally. It is really sad that Conroy had to work his whole life to try to come to terms with his childhood. If you have enjoyed his books, this is a great one to read!!
November 27, 2019
Amazing Look into the South's Author. What a poignant and real look at Pat Conroy. Wonderful.
December 23, 2019
This is by no means a literary work of art, but Conroy fans will appreciate Bernie's description of Pat and their sometimes tumultuous friendship.
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