It’s the birthday of novelist and nonfiction author Winston Groom (b. 1944), best known as the author of Forrest Gump. Groom was a would-be writer who felt he had nothing to write about until he served in Vietnam.

Groom was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Mobile County, Alabama. He intended to become a lawyer and attended University Military School, then the University of Alabama, graduating in 1965 with a degree in English. His experience working at the literary magazine at UA convinced him to ditch the lawyer plan and become a writer. (Because the one thing the world needs more than lawyers is writers.)

Groom went from ROTC at the university to the U.S. Army, where he spent a year in Vietnam and achieved the rank of captain. He then worked as a reporter in D.C. before moving to New York City, quitting journalism for good in 1976 to write novels full time. His first novel, Better Times than These (1978), drew heavily on his experiences in Vietnam, while his next two novels, As Summers Die (1980) and Only (1984), explored other territory. During this time he also collaborated on a non-fiction book about Vietnam, Conversations with the Enemy: The Story of PFC Robert Garwood (1983), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer for General Non-Fiction. The book tells the story of an American soldier who escapes a POW camp and then deserts, getting arrested 14 years later. (Mmm: dessert. Sorry. Tired.)

In 1986, Groom published Forrest Gump, and a mere eight years later became famous when the novel was made into the eponymous film. (Okay, I just wanted to use the word “eponymous,” which I don’t think I’ve ever done before. Bucket list!) After the movie’s huge success, Groom’s novel sold 1.7 million copies worldwide, and Groom brought out several more Gump-related books, including two cookbooks. He also wrote Gone the Sun (1988), a novel about a Vietnam vet returning home to Alabama, and Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl (1998). He then took a break from novel-writing for almost 20 years and focused on writing historical nonfiction; his book Vicksburg, 1863 (2010) was very well reviewed. He said in an interview: “I think that every novelist of the kind of novels that I write has in them maybe one really good book, but the trouble with so many novelists is that they keep on writing novels even when they run out of ideas” (Tom Vitale, “Why It Took ‘Forrest Gump’ Author Nearly 20 Years to Write a New Novel,” All Things Considered, Oct. 3, 2016).

Finally another idea grabbed Groom: a friend had described Pancho Villa attacking his family’s ranch in northern Mexico in 1916 and kidnapping the children. The resulting novel is El Paso (2016) and imagines the chase to rescue the children from Pancho Villa.

Have a pleasant Friday completely devoid of manhunts and stay scrupulously honest to the data.