Alex Haley was born on this day in 1921
From Wikipedia:
One of Haley’s most famous interviews was a 1963 interview with Malcolm X for Playboy, which led to collaboration on the activist’s autobiography.
Haley later ghostwrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X, based on interviews conducted shortly before Malcolm’s death (and with an epilogue).
The book was published in 1965 and was a huge success, being later named by Time magazine one of the ten most important nonfiction books of the 20th century.
“The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley†(Ballantine Books)
In 1976 Haley published Roots: The Saga of an American Family, a fictionalized account of his family’s history, starting with the story of Kunta Kinte,
kidnapped in Gambia in 1767 to be sold as a slave in the United States. This work involved ten years of research, intercontinental travel and writing.
Haley went to the village of Juffure where Kunta Kinte grew up, which was still in existence, and listened to a tribal historian tell the story of Kinte’s capture.
He was also able to trace records of the ship, The Lord Ligonier, which carried his ancestor to America.
He also has a Coast Guard Cutter named after him
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