a fredeeky favorite...

rank Conroy, the author of the classic memoir "Stop-Time" and an influence on generations of young writers, died yesterday at his home in Iowa City. He was 69.

The cause was colon cancer, said his wife, Margaret.

Mr. Conroy, who headed the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa for 18 years, published just five books, a relatively small number for a writer of his reputation. But one of them was the lucid and evocative 1967 memoir that has been a model for countless young writers - the sort of book that is passed along like a trade secret.