became a pop-culture phenomenon, selling 1.7 million copies on the strength of its adaptation into an iconic, six-Oscar-winning 1994 movie, has died at the age of 77. A representative of the mayor's office in Fairhope, Alabama, where he had been living with his wife Susan, confirmed his passing.
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 byYet the novel"Forrest Gump" is considerably different from the film, darker and richer, said Don Noble, University of Alabama professor emeritus of English, and a 40-year friend of Groom's."You can make a lot of money as a comic writer, but you can't get no respect," Noble said, laughing.
“It’s a farce, and that’s hard to do. The French do it well, but we don’t,” said Groom, in a 2014 phone interview with The Tuscaloosa News. As host of long-running public television series"Bookmark," and a reviewer for The Tuscaloosa News, Noble interviewed and wrote about Groom more than a dozen times. When Groom was honored at UA’s Clarence Cason awards in 2006, Noble spoke about his impact.
After graduation from UA 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.
When the AWF inducted Groom into the Alabama Writers' Hall of Fame 2018 class, Groom was charming through the whole process.
Very very sad love Forrest Gump so much RIP
That movie, Forrest Gump, was the beginning of the celebration of the idiot. A marker in our culture that has culminated in an idiot as POTUS.
His Vietnam novel “Better Times Than These” and his history of John Bell Hood’s western Confederate army in 1864-65, 'Shouds of Glory,' were great books. RIP
the rare case where the movie was better than the book.
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