The Pat Conroy Literary Center is hosting a special screening of “The Great Santini” at the Tara Theatre on Oct. 27 to celebrate the novel’s 50th anniversary.
“The Great Santini,” written by Lewis John Carlino and starring Robert Duvall and Blythe Danner, is based on the 1976 novel by Conroy. The story follows a dogged Marine fighter pilot, Bull Meecham, and his family – particularly, his oldest son Ben (Michael O’Keefe) – as they struggle to gel with the rest of their small South Carolina town.
Conroy, who was born in Atlanta, shares a lot in common with the character of Ben. His father was also a Marine fighter pilot, and the family moved around constantly before settling in Beaufort, SC, where the Pat Conroy Literary Center is located today. And, much like Bull Meecham, Conroy’s own father was emotionally and physically abusive.
Family trauma is a theme that shows up in a lot of Conroy’s work, said Robert Gwaltney, executive director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
“As we celebrate the novel’s 50th anniversary in 2026, I think one of the most compelling things about ‘The Great Santini’ is that the conversations it invites are perhaps even more urgent today than they were when Pat Conroy first published it in 1976,” Gwaltney said in an email.
Conroy is known as one of the most important figures in 20th century Southern literature, and his other works includes novels like “The Prince of Tides,” which follows a former football player grappling with the traumatic events that have affected his family, and “The Lords of Discipline,” which is based on Conroy’s experiences at the military college the Citadel.
Much of Conroy’s work takes place in South Carolina. Gwaltney said that Conroy’s sense of place is one of the things that sets his writing apart.
“Place is part of who we are. It shapes our identities, influences our relationships,” Gwaltney said. “It holds our memories. Often it determines the things we spend our lives trying to understand or escape. For Pat Conroy, the Lowcountry wasn’t just where his stories took place. It was where his stories came from.”
The event at the Tara Theatre will include a discussion with O’Keefe, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film. Writer Cassandra King Conroy, who was married to Conroy from 1998 until his death in 2016, will also be in attendance, along with other members of the Conroy family, according to a press release.
The event will start at 6 p.m. and there will be a cash bar. Copies of “The Great Santini” and other books will be available for purchase at the event through A Cappella Books.
Although it’s been 50 years since the release of “The Great Santini,” Gwaltney said that the book’s universal themes are why it endures.
“‘The Great Santini’ remains relevant today because, beneath its story of a Marine fighter pilot and his family, it explores universal questions about love, power, masculinity, family trauma, and the courage required to break the patterns we inherit,” he said.
Tickets for the event are on sale at the Tara’s website. Proceeds will benefit the Pat Conroy Literary Center.
