Frank Conroy (January 15, 1936 – April 6, 2005) was an American author. He published five books, including the highly acclaimed memoir ''

Stop-Time In tap dance, tap dancing, jazz, and blues, stop-time is an accompaniment pattern interrupting, or stopping, the meter (music), normal time and featuring regular accent (music), accented attacks on the first beat (music), beat of each or ever ...

''. Published in 1967, this ultimately made Conroy a noted figure in the literary world. The book was nominated for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

Early life and education

Frank Conroy was born on January 15, 1936, in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, to an American father and a Danish mother. Conroy graduated from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

, and was director of the influential

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

for 18 years, from 1987 until 2005, where he was also F. Wendell Miller Professor. He was previously the director of the literature program at the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

from 1982 to 1987.

Writing

Conroy's published works include the memoir ''

'' (1967); a collection of short stories, ''Midair'' (1985); a novel, ''Body and Soul'' (1993), which is regarded as one of the finest evocations of the experience of being a musician; a collection of essays and commentaries, ''Dogs Bark, but the Caravan Rolls On: Observations Then and Now'' (2002); and a travelogue, ''Time and Tide: A Walk Through Nantucket'' (2004). His fiction and nonfiction appeared in such journals as ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', '' GQ'', ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', ''Glamour'', ''Parenting'', and ''

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a left-wing small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affi ...

''. He was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.

Jazz piano

In addition to writing, Conroy was an accomplished jazz pianist, winning a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 1986 for liner notes. His book ''Dogs Bark, But the Caravan Rolls On: Observations Then and Now'' includes articles that describe jamming with

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

and with

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

and

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

. The latter session occurred when Conroy was writing about the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

for ''Esquire''. Conroy had arrived at a mansion for the interview, found nobody there, and eventually sat down at a grand piano and began to play. Someone wandered in, sat down at the drums, and joined in with accomplished jazz drumming; then a fine jazz bassist joined in. They turned out to be Watts and Wyman, whom Conroy did not recognize until they introduced themselves after the session.

Death and recognition

Conroy died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

on April 6, 2005, in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

, at the age of 69. The Frank Conroy Reading Room in the Dey House, the home of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was named in his honor. Conroy is the subject of ''Mentor: A Memoir'' by Tom Grimes, his former student at the Iowa Writers Workshop and longtime friend.

External links

*
Identity Theory interview with Frank Conroy
* Lacy Crawford (Fall 2004)
A Final Conversation
with Frank Conroy, '' Narrative Magazine''.
Two Frank Conroy manuscripts
are housed at the University of Iowa Special Collections & University Archives.
1994 Whiting Writers' Award Keynote Speech

Tom Grimes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conroy, Frank 1936 births 2005 deaths Deaths from colorectal cancer in the United States 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American memoirists University of Iowa faculty American travel writers Haverford College alumni Grammy Award winners American people of Danish descent Deaths from cancer in Iowa Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery American male novelists American male essayists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Iowa