Winston Francis Groom Jr.<!--source for M.initial is Ext link LCCN which cites one 1943 birth year--> (March 23, 1943 – September 17, 2020) was an American author. He is best known for his best-selling novel Forrest Gump (1986), which became a 1990s cultural phenomenon after being adapted as the film of the same name directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks. After the film was released, gaining a high box office and winning numerous awards, Groom's novel sold more than one million copies worldwide. Groom wrote a sequel, Gump & Co., published in 1995. His last novel was El Paso (2016).

Groom wrote a total of fifteen nonfiction works on such varied subjects as the American Civil War and World War I, including five multiple biographies.

Early life and education

Winston Francis Groom Jr. was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Ruth (Knudsen), an English teacher, and Winston Francis Groom Sr., a lawyer at the Pentagon. His family returned to Mobile, Alabama, where the senior Groom practiced law. His earliest ambition was to become a lawyer like his father. Groom attended the University of Alabama, where he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity The book was about a rifle company in the Vietnam War whose patriotism and lives are shattered. According to P. J. O'Rourke, a journalist and political satirist, and a friend of Groom, Better Times Than These was "the best novel written about the Vietnam War."

In 1985, Groom moved back to Mobile, Alabama, where he began to work on the novel Forrest Gump. Years before, Groom's elderly father had told him about a mentally disabled boy he had known as a child. Groom wrote the novel in six weeks; it was published in 1986. Several years later, it was adapted by screenwriter Eric Roth as a 1994 film of the same name, starring Tom Hanks in the title role of Forrest Gump. The film received six Academy Awards and numerous others; its popularity propelled the novel to best-seller status, and it sold 1.7 million copies worldwide.

Groom was paid $350,000 for the movie rights to the book, but disputed accounting by Paramount Pictures related to profits from the film. He contended the company used Hollywood accounting methods to deflate profitability numbers; as a result, Groom received no share of the profits, although he held a three percent net profit share. He eventually settled with Paramount in 1995 in an agreement that included a seven-figure sum for the film rights to Gump and Co., plus a percentage of the gross profits. As of 2025 the film has not been made, and no release date has been announced; the film is said to be in "development hell".

In November 2011, Groom published Kearny's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846–1847, which describes how Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny's quest for westward adventure<!-- Surely there was some other nominal goal --> coincided with the expansionist desires of U.S. President James K. Polk. The book opens in mid-summer 1846, in the period of the Texas Annexation, the Mexican–American War, and brewing issues related to the American Civil War fifteen years in the future. Groom weaves into Kearny's March mountain man and guide Kit Carson, Brigham Young and his Mormon followers, and members of the Donner Party.

In 2016, Groom published El Paso, his first novel in nearly 20years.

At the time of his death in 2020, Groom was waiting for publication of The Patriots, his biography of American leaders John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson.

Works

Novels

  • As Summers Die (1980),
  • Forrest Gump (1986); Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, reprint 2012,
  • Gone the Sun (1988); 1996,
  • Gump and Co. (1995)
  • Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl (1998)
  • El Paso (2016)

Nonfiction

  • Conversations with the Enemy: the story of P.F.C. Robert Garwood (1982, with Duncan Spencer)
  • Shrouds of Glory: From Atlanta to Nashville: The Last Great Campaign of the Civil War (1995)
  • The Crimson Tide: An Illustrated History of Football at the University of Alabama (2002)
  • A Storm in Flanders: The Triumph and Tragedy on the Western Front (2002)
  • 1942: The Year that Tried Men's Souls (2004)
  • Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle of New Orleans (2006)
  • The Crimson Tide: The Official Illustrated History of Alabama Football, National Championship Edition (2010)
  • Kearny's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847 (2011)
  • Ronald Reagan: Our 40th President (2012)
  • (2012),
  • The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight (2013)
  • The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and the Winning of World War II (2015)
  • The Allies: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II (2018)
  • The Patriots: Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the Making of America (2020), published posthumously.

See also

  • List of people with surname Groom

References

  • at the Southern Literary Review
  • Audio interview with Winston Groom at National Review Online
  • A Storm in Flanders: The Ypres Salient, 1914–1918—Tragedy and Triumph on the Western Front, Booknotes interview with Groom, September 1, 2002