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Alex Haley (with Neck Tie)
Alex Haley
1921 - 1992

Journalist, writer; born in Ithaca, N.Y. He grew up in Henning, Tenn., studied at Elizabeth City (N.C.) Teachers' College (1937-39), and became a journalist while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard (1939-59). Retiring from the service, he established himself in Los Angeles as a free-lance writer, distinguished by his Playboy interviews. He first gained some national attention as the collaborator-editor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965). His highly acclaimed work, Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976, Pulitzer Prize) turned out to be a mixture of fact and fiction but was definitely based on his African-American roots; he had spent 12 years researching his ancestry and claimed to trace it to a Kunte Kinte, brought as a slave to America from Gambia in 1767. The book was the basis of a phenomenally successful television miniseries (1977), for which he received a special Pulitzer Prize and the Spingarn Medal. A sequel, Queen (1993), also appeared as a book and television miniseries.

Above bio from Cambridge Encyclopedia Database. Copyright (c) 1997, AND Reference Data Ltd., Oxford, UK. and The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, edited by J S. Bowmen. Copyright (c) 1995 Cambridge University Press.
 

Roots (Four-Disc -30th Anniversary Edition) (1977)
 
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Directors: Marvin J. Chomsky, John Erman
Format: Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English
Number of discs: 4
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video 
DVD Release Date: May 22, 2007
Run Time: 573 minutes

Read an AALBC.com DVD Review

Plot Synopsis: Based on Alex Haley's best-selling novel about his African ancestors, Roots followed several generations in the lives of a slave family. The saga began with Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton), a West African youth captured by slave raiders and shipped to America in the 1700s. The family's saga is depicted up until the Civil War where Kunte Kinte's grandson gained emancipation. Roots made its greatest impression on the ratings and widespread popularity it garnered. On average, 130 million - almost half the country at the time - saw all or part of the series.

Actors: Ben Vereen, Brad Davis, Cicely Tyson, Ed Asner, Georg Brown, John Stamos, Le Var Burton, Leslie Uggams, Lloyd Bridges, Louis Gossett, Jr., Lynne Moody, Madge Sinclair, Maya Angelou, Robert Reed, Sandy Duncan
Other Talent: Alex Haley, David L. Wolper, Quincy Jones, Stan Margulies
Synopsis:

Special Features: Audio Commentary, Documentaries, Electronic press kit, Featurette, Interviews

Awards:

Emmy - Directing for a Miniseries
Emmy - Film Editing
Emmy - Outstanding Miniseries
Emmy - Outstanding Music Composition
Emmy - Outstanding Supporting Actor
Emmy - Outstanding Supporting Actress
Emmy - Outstanding Writing
Golden Globe - Best Miniseries
Golden Globe: Best Actress in miniseries
Peabody Award Winner - Best Miniseries


RootsRoots
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Hardcover: 688 pages
Publisher: Doubleday;
Reissue edition (September 17, 1976)
ISBN: 0385037872
Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 2.0 inches

This "bold . . . extraordinary . . . blockbuster . . ." (Newsweek) begins with a birth in 1750, in an African village; it ends seven generations later at the Arkansas funeral of a black professor whose children are a teacher, a Navy architect, an assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency, and an author.

From The Publisher:
"It begins with a birth in 1750, in an African village; it ends seven generations later at the Arkansas funeral of a black professor whose children are a teacher, a Navy architect, an assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency, and an author. The author is Alex Haley. This magnificent book is his."

 

El-Haji Malik ShabazzAutobiography of Malcolm X: With the Assistance of Alex Haley
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Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books;
Reissue edition (October 12, 1987)
ISBN: 0345350685

A major resurgence in Malcolm X interest has led to the publication of this special commemorative edition of the black leader's autobiography. With a new epilogue written by Alex Haley just priot to his death, this book stands as the definitive statement of a movement and a man whose work was never completed, but whose message is timeless. (Ballantine Books)

From the Publisher
"Through a life of passion and struggle, Malcolm X became one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century. In this riveting account, he tells of his journey from a prison cell to Mecca, describing his transition from hoodlum to Muslim minister. Here, the man who called himself "the angriest Black man in America" relates how his conversion to true Islam helped him confront his rage and recognize the brotherhood of all mankind.

An established classic of modern America, The Autobiography of Malcolm X was hailed by the New York Times as "Extraordinary. A brilliant, painful, important book." Still extraordinary, still important, this electrifying story has transformed Malcom X's life into his legacy. The strength of his words, the power of his ideas continue to resonate more than a generation after they first appeared."
 

 

Alex Haley's Queen: The Story of an American Family
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Hardcover: 670 pages
Publisher: William Morrow & Co;
1st ed edition (May 1, 1993)
ISBN: 0688063314

A sequel to Roots, Queen is a history of Haley's father's family. Part of this work appeared as a TV series.

 

Related Links

Haley -- The Master Storyteller Whose `Roots' Ran Very Deep
http://the-tech.mit.edu/V112/N4/haley.04w.html




 














 

 

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