Alex Haley
This famous writer authored the 1976 book “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” and as the co-author of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” died of a cardiac arrest at age 70 on February 10, 1992.
Roots was adopted as a miniseries by ABC and was aired to a record breaking 130 million viewers.
The TV series raised public awareness of African American history which sparked an interest in many to investigate their genealogy and family history.