This is condensed from Wikipedia.Winston Groom was raised in Mobile, Alabama where he attended University Military School (now UMS-Wright Preparatory School). His earliest ambition was to become a lawyer but instead, chose to become a author. Groom attended the University of Alabama, was a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity and the Army ROTC, graduating in 1965. He served in the Army from 1965 to 1969, including a tour of duty in the Vietnam War.Later he worked as a reporter for the Washington Star covering police and courtroom activities. Groom retired as a journalist at age 32, and wrote several novels. In 1985, Groom moved back to Mobile, where he began work on the novel Forrest Gump, published in 1986 but not making best-seller status until adaptation into this film. Then it eventually sold 1.7 million copies worldwide.Groom devotes his time to writing history books about American wars. He has lived most recently in Point Clear, Alabama, on Mobile Bay, and Long Island, New York with his wife, Anne-Clinton and daughter, Carolina.