“s life, including his assassination in New York”
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Alex Haley
Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and aired it in 1977 to a record-breaking audience of 130 million viewers. In the United States, the book and miniseries raised the public awareness of black American history and inspired a broad interest in gen…
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culture · American writer (1921–1992) · journalist · writer · historian · novelist · military personnel · screenwriter · also Alex Haley, Haley
Born 11 August 1921 · Died 10 February 1992 · Q296069
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2026· 1 entry
2023· 1 entry
Jonathan Eig suggested that Haley had made a number of fabrications in his 1965 Playboy interview with Martin Luther King Jr
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2016· 1 entry
History aired a remake of the original miniseries
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2002· 2 entries
Also celebrates the preservation of African-American heritage and family history
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The Republic of Korea (South Korea) posthumously awarded Haley its Korean War Service Medal (created in 1951), which the U
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1999· 1 entry
The Coast Guard honored Haley by naming the cutter USCGC Alex Haley after him
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1998· 2 entries
Time magazine ranked The Autobiography of Malcolm X as one of the 10 most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century
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Gates acknowledged the doubts surrounding Haley's claims about Roots, saying, "Most of us feel it's highly unlikely that Alex actually found the village whence his ancestors sprang
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1993· 1 entry
Immediately across the street from the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC), one of the area's prominent community centers
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1992· 5 entries
Died 1992-02-10.
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“In my writing, as much as I could, I tried to find the good, and praise it.”
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“The family is our refuge and our springboard; nourished on it, we can advance to new horizons. In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”
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“Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.”
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“Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.”
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1979· 1 entry
ABC aired the sequel miniseries, Roots: The Next Generations, which continued the story of Kunta Kinte's descendants
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1978· 2 entries
Awarded Bancarella Literary Prize for Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1978).
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And paying Courlander $650,000 (equivalent to $3,208,546 in 2025)
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1977· 7 entries
Won Spingarn Medal (1977).
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Awarded Lillian Smith Book Award for Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1977).
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Awarded Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards for Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1977).
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Haley received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, for his exhaustive research and literary skill combined in Roots
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To a record-breaking audience of 130 million viewers
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Haley earned a Pulitzer Prize Special Award for Roots ("Alex Haley, For Roots, the story of a black family from its origins in Africa through seven generations to the present day in America
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Haley received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
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1976· 1 entry
Haley published Roots: The Saga of an American Family, a novel based on his family's history, going back to the time of slavery
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1973· 1 entry
Haley wrote his only screenplay, Super Fly T
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1967· 1 entry
When he stood at the site in Annapolis, Maryland, where his ancestor had arrived from Africa in chains exactly 200 years before
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1966· 2 entries
Awarded Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards for The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1966).
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Haley received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for The Autobiography of Malcolm X
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1965· 2 entries
A collaboration through numerous lengthy interviews with Malcolm X
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“s Digest. They met again when Haley interviewed Malcolm X for Playboy. The initial interviews for the autobiography frustrated Haley. Rather than discussing his own life, Malcolm X spoke about Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam; he became angry about Haley”
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1962· 1 entry
“s struggles to succeed as one of the first black students at a Southern law school. Playboy magazine Haley conducted the first interview for Playboy magazine. Haley elicited candid comments from jazz musician Miles Davis about his thoughts and feelings on racism in an interview he had started, but not finished, for Show Business Illustrated, another magazine created by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner that folded in early 1962. Haley completed the interview and it appeared in Playboy”
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1960· 1 entry
When Haley wrote an article about the Nation of Islam for Reader's Digest
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1939· 1 entry
Alex Haley began what was to become a 20-year career in the United States Coast Guard
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1921· 3 entries
Born 1921-08-11.
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And was the eldest of three brothers (the other two being George and Julius) and a half-sister (from his father's second marriage)
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“Neal. Roots In 1976, Haley published Roots: The Saga of an American Family, a novel based on his family”
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