The Boo by Conroy, Pat - 1970

Verona, Virginia: McClure Press, 1970. First Printing. Hardcover. Good/good. Octavo. [5], 174 pages. Frontispiece pictures of Lt. Colonel Thomas Nugent Courvoisie (The Boo). Illustrated with a few photographs and several drawings. Light blue cloth hardcover with title in white on the front cover and spine. White pictorial dust jacket with photograph and title on the front. Moderate foxing and browning to the front and rear end sheets. Light foxing to the verso of the dust jacket, title page, and text edges. Dust jacket is chipped head of the spine and partially split on the inner front fold. Light foxing to the blue cloth covers. This copy is signed by Pat Conroy and "The Boo" on the right front flyleaf. Previous owner name of Florence B. Moore written in pen top of the right front flyleaf. A short pencil note under her name states "typed manuscript for book". Inside the book are two pieces of ephemera: an order form for the book from McClure Press and a hand written note stating this copy "was given to me by the husband of Mrs. Florence Moore." Pat Conroy self published this book in 1969. This copy is the stated first printing from McClure Press. From Pat Conroy dot com: In 1961, Lt. Colonel Nugent Courvoisie accepted the job as assistant commandant of cadets at The Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. During the next seven years, The Boo, as the cadets called him, was in charge of meting out punishment to those young men accused of breaking Citadel law. The Boo was a harsh guardian of justice, but he was also an extremely compassionate and sensitive individual who cared deeply about the young men placed under his jurisdiction. If he was often stern and uncompromising, he was also concerned and understanding. He possessed a special ability in dealing with the problem cadet; the boy who found The Citadel too difficult or too confining; the boy from the broken home, or the boy forced to go to a military college by parents who had failed him. He empathized with cadets who were stifled by the system and, in his own way, tried to guide them through the obstacles that inevitably littered the path to graduation. The Boo was many things to many people. During the years as assistant commandant, he was part analyst, part confessor, part detective, part father, part son of a bitch, and all soldier. This is the story of the Boo and the story of The Citadel from 1961-1968. It is the story of young men and the man they turned to for laughter, for help, and for inspiration. Note: This copy was owned by the personal secretary of Pat Conroy, Florence B. Moore, who typed the manuscript for Conroy.