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CONRACK (1974). THE WATER IS WIDE by Pat Conroy has been a favorite book for almost 50 years. Conroy went to Yamacraw Island (when I went there, it was called Dafuskie) near Hilton Head SC to teach at an all Black school where all the children were seriously lacking in any educational skills. He eventually got through to them by an unorthodox method of teaching, all but ditching the syllabus and angering his principal and the Board of Education.
This tries very hard, but I find Jon Voight extremely bland and several events in the film did not happen in the book as well as the timeline out of sync. You truly learn to appreciate what Conroy tried do, but read the book instead. **
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