Alexander Murray Palmer "Alex" Haley

 Alexander Murray Palmer "Alex" Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992)

He was the author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and aired it in 1977 to a record-breaking audience of 130 million viewers. In the United States the book and miniseries raised the public awareness of African American history and inspired a broad interest in genealogy and family history. Haley's first book was The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published in 1965, a collaboration through numerous lengthy interviews with the subject, a major African-American leader. He was working on a second family history novel at his death. Haley had requested that David Stevens, a screenwriter, complete it; the book was published as Alex Haley's Queen. It was adapted as a film of the same name released in 1992. Haley died from a heart attack that year, age 70, and is buried beside his childhood home in Henning, Tennessee.