Winston Francis Groom Jr. (March 23, 1943 – September 17, 2020) was an American author. He is best known for his best-selling novel Forrest Gump (1986), which became a 1990s cultural phenomenon after being adapted as the film of the same name directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks. After the film was released, gaining a high box office and winning numerous awards, Groom's novel sold more than one million copies worldwide. Groom wrote a sequel, Gump & Co., published in 1995. His last novel was El Paso (2016).