Author, Alexander Murray Palmer Haley Was Born In Ithaca, New York, On August 11, 1921. He Is Best Known As The Author Of Roots: The Saga of an American Family And The Autobiography Of Malcolm X.
After Dropping Out Of Alcorn State University, Haley Enlisted In The Coast Guard On May 29, 1939, Where He Served For The Next 20 Years.
It Was While In The Coast Guard That He Honed His Writing Craft. One Of The Ways He Did This Was By Writing Love Letters For The Other Sailors Who Had Girlfriends -- A Service For Which He Was Paid. He Later Worked As A Journalist For The Coast Guard.
After Leaving The Service In 1959, Haley Began Reader's Digest And Later For Playboy Magazine, Where He Interviewed Such Notable People As Miles Davis, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cassius Clay (Now Muhammad Ali), Jim Brown, Johnny Carson, Sammy Davis, Jr. Melvin Belli, Quincy Jones And American Nazi Party Leader, George Lincoln Rockwell And Malcolm X. The Malcolm X Interview Led To The Collaboration On The Activist's Autobiography, The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
In 1976, Haley Published Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The Story Begins In A Village In Gambia, West Africa, With Haley's Own Forefather, Kunta Kinte. While Hunting For Material To Make A Drum, Kunte kinte Was Captured And Brought To Maryland As A Slave. Roots Traces The Lives Of Kunta Kinte's Offspring. The Book Was Eventually Made Into A History-Making Miniseries On ABC.
In The Late 1980s, Haley Began Working On a Second Historical Novel Based On Another Branch Of His Family, Traced Through His Paternal Grandmother, Queen—The Daughter Of A Black Slave Woman And Her White Master.
Haley Died In Seattle, Washington, February 10, 1992, Of A Heart Attack With The Story Unfinished. He Was Buried Beside His Childhood Home In Henning, Tennessee.
At His Request, The Book Was Finished By David Stevens And Published As Alex Haley's Queen. It Was Subsequently Made Into A TV Movie In 1993.
Scene From ROOTS
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
Haley reminded so many of us to search and find our and remember our roots! Nice post!
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 4:23PM
MIISRAEL Bride
Thank You MIISRAEL!! :-)
Tuesday, August 11th 2009 at 4:42PM
Hugh Gaddy
Thanks for the blog Brother! I've only been able to view this movie once and that was when I was younger. Although I have the DVD, I never have been able to watch it. I also have the "Passion of the Christ" on DVD and I not been able to watch it except once. Some things cause me too much pain to view... Oh well thanks again for the blog. Alex Haley did a great work although some want to discredit him. God rest his soul.
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 10:28AM
Jen Fad
I understand, Jed. I have Roots and Roots: The Next Generation on DVD, too. I haven't watched either in a long, long time. As far a people wanting to discredit Haley's work, I think it's more than a bit hypocritical to bash him for historical inaccuracies when white historians have been doing this for centuries. I always heard that Abe Lincoln was the the "Great Emancipator," of Black folk, but NEVER that he, like Washington, Jefferson, etc, was a segregationist who believed that Blacks were inferior beings. Hollywood presents Cleopatra, A woman of color, in the image of Liz Taylor and people STILL believe that's an accurate depiction. As a former editor/reporter, I understand the need for accuracy in writing. I also understand that fact often gives rise to fiction. If nothing else, Haley's book, the Willie Lynch Letter, etc., even with their PART fictional content, exspose cruel legacy of slavery and its lasting impact on the lives of Black Americans. That, for me, gives the work validity.
Wednesday, August 12th 2009 at 12:20PM
Hugh Gaddy
Among some of my most prized posessions are the pictures taken of the day Mr. Haley came to speak at one of our black history class' at UCD amd his autographs in my two books of his: Roots and Malcom X.
He and my class' professor Patrica Turner were personal friends. Naturally the main questions to him was how does one start with tracing ones family history. His answer was start with the family Bible as there can be a lot of history written in them about births and deaths and go to the oldest people in your family and listen to what they have to say...This was in 1991.
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
We have our family reunion on my father's side every 5 years. Here is where we show the latest research that we have been doing on our family's history in America.This is so beautiful and rewarding and one day we will be far enough back to start on our roots in Africa.Oh, the greates problem so far that we have experienced is when the ansestors got a last name change. but, we were able in time to work this out...
This can be done much faster but we want all of us to not only know about our ansestors but to hear our living African-American history and have it all recorded for future generations.
The history researchis done by the age group choosen during the family reunion which is also fun.(smile)
On my mother's side we have a reunion every two years and we do our family history a totally different way.I am still never not able to get over the suprises of family I never even knew we had all over every where with facinating storys to tell...
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
That is so true Jen and Hugh. A good example of this need to miseducate us by way of the movies is OLD GLORY.
The person they showed stealing boots was the very person wheo wrote about this venure in lettes home. Their mission was to never allow that flag to touch the ground or be aboust in any way...but, the greats lie was that Fedrick Dougless and his sons were NOT the ones who trained these men in warfare...ONLY IN AMERICA(smile)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
