Pat Conroy, the first really well-known author I ever met, has died.

I met Pat at a B. Dalton bookseller (or maybe it was Waldenbooks?) at Myrtle Square Mall in Myrtle Beach, SC back in 1994. He asked me if I wanted to be a writer. Years later I discovered that there really was a writer in me and published four novels. Now Pat Conroy, like the Myrtle Square Mall, is gone.

Last time I was in Myrtle Beach, I saw the empty lot that had once been a lively shopping mall with a huge neon clock over the food court. I spotted a small tree growing on the site where I met Pat. I hope that tree is still there.