Novelist and Teacher Frank Conroy Dies at 69
As the leader of the prestigious Iowa Writer's Workshop for 18 years, Frank Conroy shaped and encouraged many of today's novelists; as a writer he touched millions more. Conroy acheived literary fame with his first book, the memoir Stop-Time and wrote just four more novels in his lifetime. It would be eighteen years before his second book, Midair, was published, with good reason. "People thought I knew what I was doing when I wrote 'Stop-Time,' but I didn't," Mr. Conroy said last year. "I knew I was a very good writer, but it had all been an act of faith." While honing his formidable craft, Conroy worked as a magazine writer, a scallop fisherman, and a jazz pianist. Read more