 Novelist Pat Conroy used his father as the inspiration for the fictitious character Marine Lt. Col. "Bull" Meecham in "The Great Santini" (spelled "Meechum" in the 1979 movie version starring Robert Duvall).Pat Conroy wrote another autobiographical book called "My Losing Season", and as in "The Great Santini", talks about how his father was very violent and abusive both towards him and his siblings.