‘Forrest Gump’ Author Winston Groom Dead at 77

Winston Groom, author of "Forrest Gump," the book on which the film was based, signs copies of "Gump & Co.," the sequel to "Forrest Gump," at a bookstore in New York City, N.Y., on Aug. 21, 1995. Anders Krusberg/AP Photo

FAIRHOPE, Ala.—Winston Groom, the writer whose novel “Forrest Gump” was made into a six-Oscar winning 1994 movie that became a soaring pop cultural phenomenon, has died at age 77.

Mayor Karin Wilson of Fairhope, Alabama, said in a message on social media that Groom had died in that south Alabama town. A local funeral home also confirmed the death and said arrangements were pending.