What author, who died on Feb 10, 1982, is best known for his novel Roots, detailing the struggle of his African American family, right back to the slave trade, which was subsequently made into one of the most popular miniseries ever?
Roots: The Saga of an American Family Roots: The Saga of an American Family Roots: The Saga of an American Family is a novel written by Alex Haley and first published in 1976. It tells the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as an adolescent, sold into slavery in Africa, transported to North America; following his life and the lives of his descendants in the United States down to Haley. The release of the novel, combined with its hugely popular television adaptation, "Roots" (1977), led to a cultural sensation in the United States, and it is considered to be one of the most important U.S.
Roots: The Saga of an American Family Haley had plagiarized from her Civil War-era novel "Jubilee" (1966). Legal proceedings in each case were concluded late in 1978. Courlander's suit was settled out of court for $650,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) and an acknowledgment from Haley certain passages within "Roots" were copied from "The African". The court dismissed Walker's case, which, in comparing the content of "Roots" with that of "Jubilee", found "no actionable similarities exist between the works". Haley called his novel "fiction" and acknowledged most of the dialogue and incidents were fictional. However, he claimed to have traced his family lineage back to Kunta