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Winston Groom is the author of ten books, including the
bestselling
Forrest Gump,
GUMP & CO., and
Gumpisms : The Wit and Wisdom of Forrest Gump.
Born and raised in Mobile,
Alabama, Groom was expected to become a
lawyer like his father, but after editing a literary magazine while
attending the University of
Alabama, he rejected his family’s
expectations and pursued a career as a writer. His plans, however, were
abruptly pushed aside when he was called to serve in the Vietnam War.
He served from 1966 to 1967, and his first two novels were a result of
his experience during that time.
Upon his return from the War, he landed a job at the Washington Star
covering police and the courts. He had no formal journalism
training, but learned quickly. Later, he quit his job and dedicated all
of his time to writing his first novel, Better Times Than These.
His second novel,
As Summers Die won him awards and recognition, as did
Shrouds of Glory: From Atlanta to Nashville : The Last Great Campaign of
the Civil War, and
Conversations With the Enemy: The Story of Pfc Robert Garwood, which
he co-authored with Duncan Spencer. Conversations With the Enemy
was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
He
returned to his native state of
Alabama in 1986 and created his now
world-famous character, Forrest Gump. The novel had respectable sales,
but it was not a best-seller and Groom had long since moved on to other
projects. In 1994, the novel was made into one of
America’s most popular and successful movies in 1994. The novel was
then re-released and sold 1.7 million copies. Groom has since written a
sequel, Gump & Co.,
Groom now lives in Point Clear, on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay,
where he and his wife Anne Clinton have built a house.
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