Alex Haley's reputation in the literary world rests upon his much-acclaimed historical novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976). Haley's tracing of his Afro-American ancestry back to a tiny village in Gambia, West Africa, spawned one of the most ambitious television productions ever undertaken, and it inspired a generation of ancestor-seeking Americans. Eleven years before the appearance of Roots, Haley had also gained fame for writing Malcolm X's "as told to" autobiography. In addition to the two books, Haley has written many articles for popular magazines, appeared on countless television shows, and lectured throughout the country.

Alex Murray Palmer Haley was born 11 August 1921 in Ithaca, New York, and reared in the small town of Henning, Tennessee. He was the oldest of three sons born to Bertha George Palmer and Simon Alexander Haley. When he was born, both parents were in their first year of graduate school, Bertha...