Literary Gems From Haley Estate Sold at Auction

Literary treasures from the estate of Alex Haley went on the auction block Thursday. So did piles of minutiae, from Haley’s cookbooks to gleanings from his desk drawers.

Controversy continued over the sale, as a pleased George Haley, the late author’s brother and executor, watched box after box of material that had been sought by museums and libraries go to the highest bidders.

“This is like prostitution,” fumed Thelma M. Harper, a state senator who had participated in failed efforts to halt the auction or ensure that the manuscripts and notes could be kept together by the state.

More than $500,000 was raised Thursday, the first day of a three-day sale. The money is to be used to settle claims against the estate. Kimball M. Sterling, the auctioneer, estimated that the entire auction could bring $3 million.

The highest-priced item sold Thursday was the edited manuscript of Haley’s first book, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” which brought $100,000 from a Detroit lawyer who promised that it and other items he purchased would be “preserved for the people.” He also paid $21,000 for three working drafts of chapters that were deleted from the book.

“I was afraid it would be parceled out around the world,” lawyer Gregory Reed said of the work, which was edited by hand by both Malcolm X and Haley. Reed said he represented a number of buyers, reportedly including singer Anita Baker.

He said the material eventually will be resold as a package, but will first be made available to institutions and scholars.

Haley, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1977 for his book “Roots,” had a close association with the black Muslim leader during the 1960s and interviewed many other important figures of that era, from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell.

In addition to various research materials, correspondence and interview tapes, numerous unfinished books and scripts were auctioned Thursday, along with Haley’s photo collections, books and personal effects.

Even many of those bidding for material expressed sadness at the dispersal of Haley’s legacy. Among those adding their voices to the chorus of criticism was Haley’s son, William, a St. Louis businessman.

“I’m not happy with (the auction) at all,” he said. “If I had the power to stop it then I would have.”

George Haley, the executor, said the sale was necessary to raise funds so the estate can settle a half-million dollars in claims against it and pay off the mortgage on Haley’s eastern Tennessee farm.

Paul Coleman, the estate’s attorney, acknowledged that the selling of literary or historically important items could have been avoided. He said it was not necessary to sell everything to settle claims against the estate.

But after George Haley made an initial attempt to sell the farm and was disappointed by the offers, he chose to sell all of his brother’s belongings, in part, Coleman said, because he feared he would be sued if he gave the material away or sold it at less than market value. Alex Haley’s longtime researcher, an ex-wife and his widow, from whom he was estranged at the time of his death, all claim that they are entitled to a share of the estate.

Haley had begun donating some of the literary material to the University of Knoxville last year but died of a heart attack in February at age 70, before signing agreements to donate the rest.

While George Haley stressed that his brother was not bankrupt, the estate is cash poor. His friends and family members said Haley was overly generous and spent lavishly in his last years to upgrade and enlarge a farm near Knoxville that he used to host large social gatherings and conferences.