.

He recalled in a 1977 Ebony magazine interview, "I asked myself, what right had I to be sitting in a carpeted high-rise apartment writing about what it was like in the hold of a slave ship?"

In an attempt to answer this question, he booked passage on a ship from Liberia to America and spent his nights lying on a board in the hold of the ship in nothing but his underwear.

At the time of his birth, Haley's father, Simon, a World War I veteran, was a graduate student in agriculture at Cornell University, and his mother, Bertha, was a musician and teacher.

For the first years of his life, Haley, who was called Palmer during childhood, lived with his grandparents Cynthia and Will in Henning, Tennessee, while his father finished his studies.

To relieve his boredom while on the ship, Haley bought a portable typewriter and typed out love letters for his less articulate friends. With an uncommon ability to sing and his unconditional passion for music, it didn’t take long for Haile Roots to become a household name after he dropped his album 'Chiggae' in the Ethiopian market in late 2011.

A write-up in The New York Times Book Review stated, "No other novelist or historian has provided such a shattering, human view of slavery," and Roots won a 1977 Special Citation Pulitzer Prize.

Haley maintained that the goal of his writing and life was to uphold the experiences of Black communities. Although he published many articles during these years, the pay was barely enough to make ends meet.

In 1962, Haley got his big break when an interview he conducted with famous trumpeter Miles Davis was published in Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine.

The result, two years later, was The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Writer Margaret Walker also unsuccessfully sued Haley for allegedly plagiarizing her 1966 novel, Jubilee.

However, the fallout did not end there. After one year at Alcorn, he transferred to Elizabeth City State Teachers College in North Carolina.

Genealogists claimed that Haley's story about his alleged ancestor Kinte was false, citing many chronological and historical inconsistencies. Haley ultimately received a number of military honors, including the American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal and an honorary degree from the Coast Guard Academy. He later wed Myra Lewis, to whom he remained married for the duration of his life, though the two were separated at the time of his passing.

He is widely known for 'Roots' and 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X.'

Industries

• Fiction and Poetry
• Journalism and Nonfiction

Astrological Sign: Leo

Schools

• Alcorn A&M; College (Alcorn State University)
• Elizabeth City State Teachers College

Death Year: 1992

Death date: February 10, 1992

Death State: Washington

Death City: Seattle

Death Country: United States

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us!

• Article Title: Alex Haley Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/alex-haley
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: August 7, 2020
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

---

• Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.
• The money I have made and will be making means nothing to me compared to the fact that about half of the Black people I meet—ranging from the most sophisticated to the least sophisticated — say to me, 'I'm proud of you.' I feel strongly about always earning that and never letting Black people down.
• In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
• I was into the whirl of traveling, speaking, making appearances, autographings, various other things, all very flattering, meanwhile all extremely time-consuming.

  When Haley finally published Roots in 1976 — in what would later be seen as part-fictionalized story, part-richly detailed historical account — the book caused a national sensation and went on to sell millions of copies. Instead, Haley embarked on a hugely ambitious new project to trace and retell the story of his ancestors' journey from Africa to America as enslaved people, and then their rise from slavery to freedom.

  While some critics have condemned Haley for his fiction masquerading as historical facts, others perceive him as an important storyteller who, despite his wrongdoings, was able to reveal broader truths.