'Link to the past; bridge to the future'

 

“Inmy writing, as much as I could, I tried to find the good, and praise it.”–  Alex Haley 
Born on this date in 1921, Haley wrote one of thepre-eminent books on the African American experience with his massivebest-seller Roots: The Saga of an American Family.  The 1976 book has been in continous printsince it’s appearance, bolstered by two critically acclaimed televisionadaptations – the first in 1977 and the second in 2015.  The first adaptation established arecord-breaking audience of over 130 million viewers.
The book and mini-series raised the publicawareness of African American history and inspired a broad interest ingenealogy and family history for all races causing Haley to say that was one of hisproudest accomplishments.   ”In every conceivable manner," he said,  "the family is link to ourpast, bridge to our future.”

A native of New York, Haley's first book, whichcatapulted him onto the national scene, was The Autobiography of Malcolm Xpublished in 1965.
A Coast Guard veteran from bothWorld War II and the Korean War, he was self-taught as a writer in order to“report” on things to folks back home, writing both for individuals and for hiscommunity newspapers.  After his CoastGuard career, he expanded his reportorial efforts, which eventually led him tohis biographical writing.  While heachieved some recognition for his other works, it was Roots that always dominated. 
“(But) I look at my books the way parents look at their children,” Haley said.  “The fact that one becomes more successfulthan the others doesn't make me love the less successful one any less.”