Alex Haley

Journalist and author Alex Haley (1921-1992) was born in New York. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard while simultaneously beginning to write short stories, which were published much later. In 1959, he left the service and started working as a journalist, collaborating with major magazines such as "Reader's Digest" and "Playboy." "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" (1965) was his first book, and he spent the next twelve years searching in Africa for the roots of his mother's family, who were descended from slaves abducted by slave traders in The Gambia. This research culminated in the internationally renowned book "Roots," which sold nearly five million copies within two years, was translated into 23 languages, and became a successful television series.