Winston Groom

Biography:

Winston Francis Groom Jr. (March 23, 1943 – September 17, 2020) was an acclaimed American author, renowned for his notable work, Forrest Gump (1986), which achieved cultural significance through its adaptation into a 1994 film of the same name starring Tom Hanks. Following the film’s success, which garnered high box office earnings and numerous awards, Groom’s novel witnessed global sales exceeding one million copies. Groom penned a sequel, Gump and Co., released in 1995, and his final novel, El Paso, was published in 2011.

In addition to his fiction, Groom authored fifteen non-fiction works covering diverse topics such as the American Civil War and World War I, including five multiple biographies. Born in Washington, D.C., to Ruth (Knudsen) and Winston Francis Groom, a Pentagon lawyer, Groom was raised in Mobile, Alabama, where he attended the University Military School. Despite initially aspiring to become a lawyer like his father, Groom discovered his passion for writing while serving as a literary editor at the University of Alabama. He graduated with honors in 1965.

Groom served in the United States Army from 1965 to 1967, including a tour of duty in the Vietnam War. Upon returning, he worked as a reporter for the Washington Star before relocating to New York to pursue a writing career. His debut novel, Better Times Than These (1978), centered on a rifle company in the Vietnam War and received acclaim as “the best novel written about the Vietnam War” by P.J O’Rourke.

Groom’s subsequent works, including As Summers Die (1980) and Conversations with the Enemy (1982), garnered recognition and accolades, with the latter being a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1984. In 1985, Groom moved back to Mobile and began crafting the novel Forrest Gump, inspired by a story his father shared about a mentally disabled boy. The novel, published in 1986, later became the basis for the highly successful film.

Groom faced disputes with Paramount Pictures regarding profits from the Forrest Gump film, accusing the studio of using Hollywood accounting practices. Despite holding a 3% profit share, he received no payment until settling with Paramount in 1995. Groom’s final history book, Kearny’s March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846–1847, was published in 2011, exploring Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny’s westward expedition.

In 2016, Groom released El Paso, marking his return to fiction after nearly two decades. At the time of his death in 2020, he was awaiting the publication of The Patriots, a biography of American leaders John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. Groom, married three times with one daughter and three stepchildren, passed away at his Fairhope home on September 17, 2020, at the age of 77, reportedly due to a suspected heart attack.