English, ’65

Winston Groom graduated from The University of Alabama in 1965 and served in the Army from 1965 to 1969, including a tour of duty in the Vietnam War. Once he returned to the United States, he worked as a reporter for the Washington Star before turning his attention to a career writing novels.

His biggest seller, Forrest Gump, was later turned into a movie in 1994, featuring Tom Hanks. The film became a cultural phenomenon and won six Academy Awards. He published a sequel, Gump and Co., in 1995. He has also written numerous non-fiction works on diverse subjects, including the American Civil War and the Great War. His Conversations with the Enemy was a Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction finalist in 1984.