

In 2005, Groom released “1942: The Year That Tried Men’s Souls,” which chronicled the first year of U.S. Groom also wrote nonfiction on diverse subjects including the Civil War, World War I and Alabama’s Crimson Tide football.


They “took some of the rough edges off,” Groom told the New York Times in 1994. The film took away Gump’s size - Groom said he envisioned John Goodman playing him - along with his profanity and most of his sex life. Gump was not a math savant as he was in the book, and was a more saintly soul. The basic outlines of Gump’s life are the same as they are in the book: Gump plays football under Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama, serves in Vietnam and starts a major shrimp business.īut the film made major departures. 2 grossing film at the box office, second only to “The Lion King.” The film dominated the 1995 Academy Awards, winning six Oscars including best picture, best director for Robert Zemeckis and best actor for Hanks. “It touched a nerve,” Groom told the Tuscaloosa News in 2014. The movie, which also starred Sally Field, Gary Sinise, Robin Wright and Mykelti Williamson, became deeply embedded in the American psyche and has remained an enduring television staple and huge cultural phenomenon since.
