PCR188

​1977 - ROOTS Trade print Ad - Alex Haley

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was born on August 11th, 1921 in Ithaca, New York. Haley enlisted into the army after pressure from his father after he decided to drop out of college. He remained in the U.S. Coast Guard for 20 years before retiring. After leaving the service Haley began a journalism career becoming a senior editor for Readers Digest. In 1965 he wrote his first book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. He later the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family which became a miniseries on ABC in 1977 where the audience of 130 million people who tuned in broke records. The series was very impactful for its depiction of African-American history and inspired interest in genealogy and family history.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Haley and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots_(1977_miniseries)
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