The work, based in part on research in Africa, began with Mr. The ABC television mini-series fashioned from the book attracted millions of viewers early in 1977. "Roots," which was published in 1976, spurred an interest in genealogy among Americans of many ethnic heritages. He was scheduled to speak today at the Bangor Naval Submarine Base at Bremerton, Wash., 15 miles from Seattle. Haley's son, William Alexander Haley, said at a news conference in Seattle yesterday that his father had apparently suffered a heart attack and been taken to the He died of cardiac arrest, said a spokeswoman for the hospital, Jane Ann Wilder. He was 70 years old and had homes in Knoxville, Tenn., Norris, Tenn., and Seattle. Norrell offers the perfect opportunity to revisit his authorship, his career as one of the first African American star journalists, as well as an especially dramatic time of change in American history.Newspaper in Education (NIE) Teacher ResourcesįebruOBITUARY Alex Haley, 70, Author of 'Roots,' Dies By ERIC PACEĪlex Haley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Roots: The Saga of an American Family," which chronicled his ancestors' origins in Africa and their passage from slavery to freedom in America, died yesterday at Swedish Hospital MedicalĬenter in Seattle.
This deeply researched and compelling book by Robert J. Roots sold half a million copies in the first two months of publication, and the original television miniseries was viewed by 130 million people. The subsequent book and miniseries ignited an ongoing craze for family history, and made Haley one of the most famous writers in the country.
Roots was for Haley a deeper, more personal reach. At Playboy Magazine, Haley profiled everyone from Martin Luther King and Miles Davis to Johnny Carson and Malcolm X, leading to their collaboration on The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
It was in the Navy, that Haley discovered himself as a writer, which eventually led his rise as a star journalist in the heyday of magazine personality profiles. This first biography of Haley follows him from his childhood in relative privilege in deeply segregated small town Tennessee to fame and fortune in high powered New York City. They changed the way white and black America viewed each other and the country's history. It is difficult to think of two twentieth century books by one author that have had as much influence on American culture when they were published as Alex Haley's monumental bestsellers, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), and Roots (1976).
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