ALEX HALEY

Alex Haley Legacy The grave of late author Alex Haley sits outside his former boyhood home on Friday, Aug. 13, 2021, in Henning, Tenn. The home is part of the Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center, which is honoring the writer of "Roots: The Saga of an American Family," on the 100th anniversary of Haley's birthday. A ribbon-cutting at the renovated Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center took place Friday, and a community celebration featuring music, food and a fashion show is scheduled Saturday. Haley's life was filled with examples of living by those words. As a boy, Alex Haley would sit alongside his grandmother on the porch of the 10-room, bungalow-style house and listen to her tell stories about his ancestors.

The life and legacy of late author and former Tennessee resident Alex Haley is being honored 100 years after he was born.

LOS ANGELES – William Blinn, a screenwriter for the landmark TV projects “Brian’s Song” and “Roots” and the Prince film “Purple Rain,” has died. Blinn died Thursday of natural causes at an assisted living community in Burbank, California, his daughter, Anneliese Johnson, said Saturday. He won Emmy and Peabody honors for the 1971 TV movie “Brian's Song," which dramatized the friendship of Chicago Bears players Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. Last month, Hall of Fame running back Sayers died at age 77. Blinn and Albert Magnoli wrote 1984′s “Purple Rain,” which Magnoli directed.