Folks from across Knoxville gathered to celebrate the life of a literary pioneer. From his farmhouse in East Tennessee, to his statue in Morningside Park, "Roots" author Alex Haley's legacy touches many parts of our region.
Haley would have turned 95 today, and his family hopes people will celebrate his legacy by researching their own.
"For us it reminds us of the magnitude of his contribution to the world,” Bill Haley said.
Bill Haley lives in California and traveled to Knoxville to be a part of this celebration.
"I’m now in a position where I’m sharing the story of my family with my children in a very personal way. It's an honor for me to be here, because I feel like it's continuing on in the spirit of what he would have wanted to do,” Bill Haley said.
The writer lived in East Tennessee toward the end of his life and died in 1992. The Children's Defense Fund works to keep his legacy alive, sharing Haley’s work and helping those trying to continue in his footsteps.
"We were all reminded of our own heritage and how we should be reaching back to bring back all the stories of our grandparents and our great grandparents,” Ken Libby said.
Tonight the group shared stories and vowed to continue the work laid out in Hailey's book, "Roots."
"'Roots' is about the story of family and understanding and knowing about the stories of our family,” Bill Haley said.
The Children's Defense Fund will hold a book talk Sunday at Alex Haley Farm to discuss the Haley biography, "The Book That Changed a Nation." The biography was written by University of Tennessee Professor Robert Norrell.