Who Is Alex Haley?

A brief history of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of

More on:

• Amazing People
• Authors
• Better America

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (1921-1992) was an African American writer who was best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Roots. A writer of distinction and a contributing editor for Reader’s Digest, Haley's first major work was The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published in 1965.

Growing up, Haley had heard stories about his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, and became interested in tracing his family to its deepest roots. It was Lila Acheson Wallace, cofounder of The Digest, who commissioned Haley to do the research that would create a groundbreaking article in the magazine. When Reader's Digest published the first excerpts from Roots in our May and June 1974 issues, we said it was an epic work, "destined to become a classic of American literature." That has proved to be an understatement.

In just five months after the book hit stores in 1976, more than one million hardcover copies were purchased. Since then, Roots has taken its place among the greatest bestsellers of all time as the number of copies has grown to over six million worldwide. Its impact on television was also historic: Some 130 million Americans watched at least part of the 12-hour drama, making it the highest-rated miniseries ever.

Roots changed the way we think about race in this country and profoundly affected the lives of many people, especially African Americans.

• What Roots Means to Me
• Halle Berry, B.B. King, Vernon Jordan, and others commemorate
• 

Sponsored Links