The Lost Prince: A Search for Pat Conroy

Mewshaw, who has written fiction, memoir, and literary biography (e.g., Sympathy for the Devil: Four Decades of Friendship with Gore Vidal), first came to know the late novelist Pat Conroy (The Prince of Tides; The Great Santini) when they were both young writers living in Rome. Their wives and children were close, and the two men seemed to develop a friendship based on their shared experience as American authors living abroad. Mewshaw recognized Conroy's talents and understood his personal failings quite intimately, and this aspect of their relationship is documented here as Mewshaw grapples with the impact of Conroy (1945–2016) requesting a most unpleasant favor of his friend. After the incident, the two men never saw each other again, but Conroy did later encourage Mewshaw to write about him. This book results as a promise Mewshaw made to Conroy, as he discusses without sentimentality or blame the complexities and difficulties of long-term friendships.