Short profile of Alex Haley in 1977, after the novel Roots made him a household name. Previously best known as an ace interviewer for Playboy, Haley would later face charges of having plagiarized passages (which the author copped to as part of an out-of-court settlement). Whatever the origins of the work and despite a simplification of the subject, the novel and subsequent TV miniseries had a powerful effect in awakening America to its past.

Read also:

• Haley interviews George Lincoln Rockwell. (1966)

• Haley interviews Miles Davis. (1962)