Associated Press
Happy Birthday, Alex Haley, Author of “Roots”
August 11, 2009
by
Jen O'Neill
Alex Haley was said to have “walked the walk and talked the talk.” Characterized by his slow, honeyed voice, he was one of America’s greatest oral and written storytellers. As “the father of popular genealogy,” his timeless novel, “Roots,” illuminates and humanizes America’s era of slavery and ultimately reflects the personal mantra visible in all his work: “Find the good and praise it.”
Alex Haley’s Early Days
On August 11, 1921, Alexander Murray Palmer Haley became the firstborn child to Simon Alexander, a professor who took over the family’s business, and Bertha Palmer Haley, a music teacher. Haley’s mother passed away when he was 10 years old and the family moved from Ithaca, N.Y., to Henning, Tenn., to live with relatives, cites the Kunta Kinte–Alex Haley Foundation. During this time Haley listened that his grandmother tell vibrant stories about their family’s ancestry. She spoke about “Kin-tay,” one of his grandfathers tracing back seven generations, whom she said was sold into slavery with other Gambian Africans in “Naplis” (Annapolis, Maryland).
Although he was considered a lax student, he graduated from high school at the age of 15. When he turned 17, he entered the U.S. Coast Guard, serving for the next 20 years, according to NationMaster.com. To alleviate his boredom he wrote love letters on behalf of his shipmates to send to their wives and girlfriends. He moved toward writing more professional pieces, which he submitted to magazines and newspapers, launching his writing career. Eventually, a new position was created for Haley; he was appointed chief journalist and manager for U.S. Coast Guard public relations.
Although he was considered a lax student, he graduated from high school at the age of 15. When he turned 17, he entered the U.S. Coast Guard, serving for the next 20 years, according to NationMaster.com. To alleviate his boredom he wrote love letters on behalf of his shipmates to send to their wives and girlfriends. He moved toward writing more professional pieces, which he submitted to magazines and newspapers, launching his writing career. Eventually, a new position was created for Haley; he was appointed chief journalist and manager for U.S. Coast Guard public relations.
Haley’s Notable Accomplishments
After retiring from the Coast Guard, Haley continued as a journalist, first as a writer and senior editor at Reader’s Digest. He also established the “Playboy Interview” feature, where he conversed with cultural icons including Martin Luther King Jr., Cassisus Clay (aka Mohammed Ali), Sammy Davis Jr. and Miles Davis. His interview with Malcolm X prompted the two to collaborate on “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” which was translated into eight languages and sold over 8 million copies.
Over the course of nearly three decades, Haley’s personal journey took him through three countries in an effort to trace his maternal family back to the small Gambian village of Juffure. During this period, says the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, he became a prolific lecturer at various universities and received many honorary degrees; he continued to write magazine articles, sharing what he learned about his family’s history in relation to slavery. In 1976, his most famous work, the novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” was published.
Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was adapted into a television miniseries, which aired eight nights in a row and drew over 80 million viewers. A diverse audience became engrossed in Alex Haley’s portrayal of his family’s passage into slavery from their home in West Africa, and finally to freedom. “Roots” was an overnight phenomenon and is considered to be “a potentially important bench mark in U.S. race relations”; Harvard sociologist Thomas Pettigrew compared it to the “aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination as a major television event,” reported Time magazine.
Over the course of nearly three decades, Haley’s personal journey took him through three countries in an effort to trace his maternal family back to the small Gambian village of Juffure. During this period, says the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, he became a prolific lecturer at various universities and received many honorary degrees; he continued to write magazine articles, sharing what he learned about his family’s history in relation to slavery. In 1976, his most famous work, the novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” was published.
Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was adapted into a television miniseries, which aired eight nights in a row and drew over 80 million viewers. A diverse audience became engrossed in Alex Haley’s portrayal of his family’s passage into slavery from their home in West Africa, and finally to freedom. “Roots” was an overnight phenomenon and is considered to be “a potentially important bench mark in U.S. race relations”; Harvard sociologist Thomas Pettigrew compared it to the “aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination as a major television event,” reported Time magazine.
The Rest of the Story
“Roots” had its critics—many complained that the novel was too heavily fictionalized, while others claimed some of the material was plagiarized. But despite these accusations, most reviewers maintain that Haley’s work has had a significant impact on American culture.
Haley’s fame rendered him awards, speaking engagements and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter ship named in his honor. Following the success of “Roots,” Haley starting working on the story of his paternal grandmother, Queen.
But on Feb. 11, 1992, Alex Haley died of a heart attack in Seattle, leaving behind the unfinished story. Following his death, his farm in Clinton, Tenn., was sold to Marian Wright Edelman’s Children’s Defense Fund, and still exists as a training and retreat center for youth workers. His legacy continues, the stories he shared are just as relevant today as the words he left behind: “We all suffer. If a man’s wise, he learns from it.”
Haley’s fame rendered him awards, speaking engagements and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter ship named in his honor. Following the success of “Roots,” Haley starting working on the story of his paternal grandmother, Queen.
But on Feb. 11, 1992, Alex Haley died of a heart attack in Seattle, leaving behind the unfinished story. Following his death, his farm in Clinton, Tenn., was sold to Marian Wright Edelman’s Children’s Defense Fund, and still exists as a training and retreat center for youth workers. His legacy continues, the stories he shared are just as relevant today as the words he left behind: “We all suffer. If a man’s wise, he learns from it.”
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
