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The 70-year -old Southern novelist and legendary author Pat Conroy who wrote bestselling works like The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini has been reportedly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in a public announcement Monday.

"I have recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. With the help of the wonderful people at M.D. Anderson I intend to fight it hard. I am grateful to all my beloved readers, my friends and my family for their prayers. I owe you a novel and intend to deliver it," wrote the South Carolina writer on his Facebook page as quoted by USA Today.

Mr. Conroy's publisher, Doubleday, thanked fans for prayers and good wishes as well as asking the public for privacy while the novelist fights the illness alongside his family.

"The Conroy family asks for privacy at this time as Pat fights this challenging illness with the same spirit of courage that has forged his writing career. Pat and his family are enormously grateful to all of his readers for their prayers and good wishes," the official statement from Doubleday reads as mentioned in a report by WBT.

Pancreatic cancer is considered as one of deadliest killers and can be extremely difficult to detect and treat. Apart from pancreatic cancer, Conroy also suffers from a slew of ailments including diabetes, failing liver, and high blood pressure in a report by the New York Post.

The immensely successful bestselling author have authored a number of well-known books such as Beach Music, My Reading Life, South of Broad, The Boo, The Lords of Discipline, The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life, and The Water is Wide. His works reflected much his own life from which he drew enormous amount of inspiration for many of his great writings.