The Water Is Wide is a 1972 autobiography

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

 http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780553268935 by Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy , is a New York Times bestselling author who has written several acclaimed novels and memoirs. Two of his novels, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, were made into Oscar-nominated films.-Early life:...

 and is based on his work as a teacher on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina

Daufuskie Island, South Carolina

Daufuskie Island is a residential "sea island" between Savannah, Georgia and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina about offshore. The total island surface is just within the maximum length of and maximum width of ....

, which is called Yamacraw Island in the book. A film adaptation, titled Conrack

Conrack (1974 film)

Conrack is a 1974 film based on the 1972 autobiographical book The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy, directed by Martin Ritt and starring Jon Voight in the title role, alongside Paul Winfield, Madge Sinclair, Hume Cronyn and Antonio Fargas...

, was created in 1974, starring Jon Voight

Jon Voight

Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....

. A Hallmark Hall of Fame

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...

 TV movie

Television movie

A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

 titled The Water Is Wide, starring Jeff Hephner

Jeff Hephner

Jeff Hephner is an American actor, known for his recurring role as Matt Ramsey during the third season of The O.C., and as the lead Morgan Stanley Buffkin in the 2008 television series Easy Money...

 and Alfre Woodard

Alfre Woodard

Alfre Ette Woodard is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Grammy Awards, 17 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.She is known for her role in films such as Cross Creek, Miss...

, was made in 2006.

Yamacraw is a poor, run-down island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 which has no bridges and little infrastructure. The book details Conroy's efforts to communicate with the islanders, who are nearly all directly descended from slaves and who have had little contact with the mainland or its people. He struggles to find ways to reach his students, ages ten to thirteen, some of whom are illiterate or innumerate, and none of whom know anything about the world beyond Yamacraw. Conroy (called "Conrack" by most of the students) does battle with the principal, Mrs. Brown, over his unconventional teaching methods and with the administrators of the school district, whom he accuses of ignoring the problems at the Yamacraw school.