Alex Haley on the Meaning of Life | 1991 Interview

In this unedited footage from 1991, Dallas-based producer Jim Ruddy sits down with author Alex Haley, best known for the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the autobiography of Malcom X. In the interview, Haley talks about his writing tools, his love for buffets like Luby's, and what he considers the meaning of life. He also discusses his visit to the Harry Ransom Center in Austin.
Watch the full interview here: bit.ly/3z8GeJ7
Contributed to the Texas Moving Image Archive Program by Jim Ruddy

[@melissagoodson2252]

From my understanding; his book/ miniseries "ROOTS" is based on his mother's side of his family and the book/ miniseries," QUEEN" is based on his father's side of his family.

[@conscioussouthernsoul]

No, you're wrong. Please do your research

[@As_Sulay]

0:09

[@Thisismyusername7]

Sadly he died the following year. He seemed sick here, in the speeches and interviews he gave in the last few years before his death he seemed very sick!

[@bubbaschwartz]

He was a con man with his fake story of Roots.

[@thejookking]

So... African and African American slavery was a fictional con??
Please elaborate.

[@conscioussouthernsoul]

​@@thejookkingDo your own research. This man was sued for plagiarism.

[@thejusticeavengers1]

@@conscioussouthernsoulof two paragraphs and even that is sketch

[@Simon-pl2zi]

@@thejookking Slavery in America was not fiction, but there were many claims by Haley that turned out to be complete fiction. In 1978 Haley was sued for plagiarizing a book, The African - the court found that Haley copied the plot, storyline and 81 passage verbatim. Haley paid a cash settlement to author Harold Courlander as compensation. While Haley was credited for his great writing style in Roots, it was actually a white man named Murray Fisher who was the ghost writer of Roots. Haley had worked with Fisher on other projects prior to Roots. In 1976 when Roots was first published, Haley claimed in articles and interviews that Roots was an accurate record of his ancestry based on careful genealogical research, and he also said it was a fact that Kunta Kinte was his direct ancestor. However, geneologists have been able to easily debunk Haley's claims. We now know that Toby Waller was not Kunta Kinte, and Chicken George was not the son of Tom Lea as Haley claimed. To date it has never been proven that Kinte or George every existed.