Winston Groom, Alabama grad and author of 'Forrest Gump,' dies at 77
Winston Groom, the writer, historian and University of Alabama graduate whose novel "Forrest Gump" became a pop-culture phenomenon, selling 1.7 million copies on the strength of its adaptation into an iconic, six-Oscar-winning 1994 movie, died Thursday at the age of 77. A representative of the mayor's office in Fairhope, where he had been living with his wife Susan, confirmed his passing.
As a proud Alabama alumnus, Groom also compiled and wrote the massive 2002 University of Alabama Press book "The Crimson Tide: An Illustrated History of Football at the University of Alabama" and an updated 2010 second version, "The Crimson Tide: The Official Illustrated History of Alabama Football, National Championship Edition."
Groom's other novels include "Better Times Than These," "As Summers Die," "Only," "Gone the Sun," "Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl" and the 2016 "El Paso," along with numerous nonfiction books largely based around military history.
But it was the 1986 "Forrest Gump" that gave Groom his major commercial success, a tale that became known around the world after an iconic portrayal by Tom Hanks, who won an Oscar for the title role.
Yet the novel "Forrest Gump" considerably is different from the film, darker and richer, Don Noble, University of Alabama professor emeritus of English, and a 40-year friend of Groom's, said.
Though scripts went through many iterations before finally going to camera, one facet of Groom's book director Robert Zemeckis kept was the framework of Gump narrating, looking back on his life.
Groom drew the idea for the book from a story his father told him about a neighbor's child who, despite mental challenges, displayed savant behavior. Inspired, Groom pushed aside another project and wrote "Forrest Gump" in a six-week burst of energy.
Born March 23, 1944, in Washington, D.C., and raised in Mobile County, Groom originally intended to follow his father into law but turned toward writing in college while penning humor and editing for the Alabama publication Mahout.
After graduation from Alabama with an English degree in 1965 and a tour of duty in Vietnam, Groom worked as a reporter for the Washington Star but retired from daily journalism to write fiction. After moving to New York City, he completed his first novel, "Better Times Than These," set in the Vietnam War, published in 1978. Following those were novels "As Summers Die" in 1980, and "Only" in 1984. With Duncan Spencer, he co-wrote 1983's "Conversations with the Enemy: The Story of PFC Robert Garwood," a work of creative nonfiction which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. "As Summers Die" also drew some attention from Hollywood, being adapted as a 1986 TV movie starring Scott Glenn, Jamie Lee Curtis and Bette Davis.
When Groom received the 2011 Harper Lee Award, Jeanie Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writers Forum, first-hand saw his graciousness as he engaged with readers at a signing after the awards ceremony.
"If they wanted to tell him a story about why somebody liked 'Forrest Gump,' or why somebody loved his football book, he would always stop and listen," Thompson said. "That doesn't always happen with famous writers."
Mark Cobb reports from Tuscaloosa for the USA TODAY network.