THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407150062
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH MONROE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
HOW DOES IT feel for a veteran novelist to be struck by Hollywood lightning at age 51?
``It's good. It's better than the alternative, which is nothing,'' says Winston Groom, speaking from his home in Mobile, Ala. ``It's the kind of thing every writer with a brain hopes will happen.''
Groom's 1986 novel, ``Forrest Gump,'' has just opened big as a Tom Hanks film. It's the story of a rather simple young man who achieves great things.
Groom was born in Washington, D.C., in 1943 but grew up and attended college in Alabama. He rose to the rank of captain in Vietnam and worked for 10 years as a reporter for The Washington Star before turning to fiction in 1976. His first novel, ``Better Times Than These,'' was one of the earliest fictional treatments of Vietnam. He's written five novels to respectful reviews and respectable sales, but now through the medium of movies one of them has become a household name.
``These things are all flukes in a way. All of a sudden a jillion people are going to be reading about Forrest. And this is one of the few times mergers have worked in my favor.''
Several of Groom's publishers have perished in corporate mergers, but this time the studio that made the movie, Paramount, also owns the huge publishing conglomerate of Simon and Schuster, including the paperback imprint of Pocket Books. ``Not only have they published a new edition of `Forrest Gump,' '' says Groom, in his soft Southern drawl. ``But they had me up to New York to read it for an audio tape and asked me to author a little companion book.''
The little companion book is called ``The Wit and Wisdom of Forrest Gump.'' It's an 88-page collection of what Groom calls Gumpisms - sayings of the wise fool who is the title character of the book and movie. These aphorisms of an idiot come complete with an introduction by humorist P.J. O'Rourke.
``They only gave me two weeks, which is crazy. I thought I could use Forrest's sayings from the novel, but lifting witticisms out of the book didn't work. We only used three from the novel. So I sat down and wrote some and solicited friends. I told them if they liked me that within three days I needed 10 Gumpisms. Then we picked the best 125 of them.''
Now the novel's new paperback edition is in its third printing since June with 325,000 books on the shelves. The publisher says it started selling well even before the movie opened, and ``The Wit and Wisdom'' is also doing well.
Groom isn't a stranger to Hollywood. One of his books, ``As Summers Die,'' became an HBO movie that included one of Bette Davis' last performances. ``But several of my writing friends and I think it's often better if the movie doesn't get made. It's generally no good, after all, and the money stops. Whereas, if Hollywood keeps picking up options on a property without actually filming, they have to pay each time. It's like having an annuity.''
Of course, ``Forrest Gump'' is in a different league. It's been made by an A-list director, stars one of Hollywood's most bankable actors and is a certified summer hit. It didn't happen overnight.
`` `Forrest' has been through a lot of permutations and reincarnations. It was optioned before the book even appeared and I wrote several versions of the script, but we couldn't get it going at Warners. We got close, but it bounced around until two years ago when, at Paramount, it finally came together quite quickly.''
Groom is happy with the movie they've made while admitting it's somewhat different from the book he wrote. ``The novel is more of a satire and they've made more of the love interest than I did. They also left out many scenes, but the movies always do or they'd be five days long. I'd be a fool not to be happy. Now maybe the books will sell.''
His agent of 18 years, Theron Raines, agrees that ``becoming well-known certainly helps. Everything gets treated better.''
But Groom has no illusions. ``My next book may sell better just because of `Forrest,' but after that there won't be any carryover. So you've got to maintain standards.''
Groom admits he isn't making it easy for his publishers. No two books he's written are alike. ``They want you to write the same story over and over and I'm not good at that. They'd like to kill me because my next book is not even a novel, but a straight history of the last big campaign of the Civil War. It's called `Shrouds of Glory' and it's coming out in December from Atlantic Monthly Press.''
Even though he's moved on from ``Forrest Gump,'' Groom clearly maintains an affection for the character. They share Alabama and Vietnam and have similar names - Winston Groom, Forrest Gump. Groom even has an English sheepdog he's named Forrest. Is the character a kind of alter ego?
``That's a good question. I think in a way I would like to be the Forrest in the book, though I wouldn't want to be a retarded fellow. But I did become Forrest's persona when I was writing the book. I remember for a while when I was writing business letters I'd spell things the way Forrest would.''
Not surprisingly, the publishers are trying to persuade Groom to put on that same mask again and he seems intrigued. ``Simon and Schuster wants a `Forrest Gump II.' And I think I might, but I've got to get back into that persona. If I get two months into it and can't do it, I'll give the money back. For now, however, I'm just answering the phone and enjoying the ride. Hell, I'm just as happy as can be.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Author Winston Groom
Color photo
Tom Hanks portrays Forrest Gump in the movie version of Groom's
novel.
Graphic
GUMPISMS
``Let me say this: bein' an idiot ain't no box of chocolates.''
``Do not ever roll dice with a guy called `Bones.' ''
``Do not eat anything you do not know what it is.''
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY by CNB