Today, My says Alex never sent her some of the faxes that were submitted as evidence by the estate.
The way My sees things, there was never any "duress," and she hijacked nothing. In the first place, it was common for her to have research materials for Alex's books, because her job was to do the research. Plus, Alex was not aching to get the material so that he could begin writing, because he wasn't writing at all.
Once the settlement was concluded, they put these bitter times behind them and continued working together, she says. Alex bought her a diamond necklace and purchased a large-screen television set for her grandmother, who had recently had a stroke.
The controversial property settlement provided My with about $8,000 per month in living expenses. But more important, she was promised 15 percent of any monies received from Queen, Henning or Madame C.J. Walker. She was to receive more than $200,000 if Queen should become a TV miniseries.
Most important, if Alex died with the works unfinished, My could finish them, the property settlement says.
Alex Haley did die with the works unfinished, but the executor of his estate, his brother George, refused to hand over the works to My.
My sued the estate earlier this year, contending that the property settlement was a binding document.
There is another complication.
Nannie Haley, who married Alex in 1942, claims that their Mexican divorce had never been filed. Therefore, she says, she is Alex Haley's legitimate wife. Nannie, the mother of Ann and William, says in court papers that Alex asked her for a divorce in the mid-1960s.
"For a period of 21 years following our separation, Mr. Haley was very secretive about his personal affairs, and he would not inform me as to the status of our divorce," she wrote. "I did not remarry following the separation from Mr. Haley, and because of Mr. Haley's promise to me, I always believed that we would resume our relationship. Since our separation, we have had a close friendship."
My had clues as to how segmented her husband's life had become. But it was only after his death that she learned the full extent of it.
Unbeknown to My, Alex frequently called his first wife on the telephone. In fact, just a few weeks before his death, William, Ann, Nannie and Alex revisited the place where Nannie and Alex first courted.
"My mom is a really wonderful person," says Ann. "I would venture to say she loved him throughout. I often say that if my mother had been a different person, there would not have been Roots. She gave him the space to do what he wanted to do, she worked various jobs at department stores to keep us clothed and fed when he was caught up in his writing thing.
"My mother did not get her just due. She was not a fighter. I think that she thought that he would come through for her."
As he did with My, Alex strung Nannie out. He never let go of his first wife, but neither would he fulfill a commitment to her. He could not let her go, but neither could he "come through for her." She was someone to drop in on, to call on the telephone.
Nannie was like a daughter to Alex's father, professor Simon Haley. In some ways, their relationship was warmer than her relationship with Alex.
Simon, the son of a sharecropper and former slave, earned a master's degree from Cornell University and became a college professor. Simon's wife, Bertha, died when Alex was a little boy. Simon remarried to a somewhat stern professor of English. When Alex wrote her letters in the summer, she would return them with corrections, his brothers George and Julius say.
Alex never really felt he lived up to the expectations of his intellectual parents, say his brothers, although Alex sought his father's approval.
When Alex practically flunked out of college, his disappointed parents instructed him to join the military. He signed up for the Coast Guard, where he became a cook. At night he practiced his writing.
Like his father, Simon, Alex became the "first black to . . ." when the Coast Guard named him chief journalist.
After 20 years, Alex retired and began a freelance writing career. It was then that his wife Nannie began working in department stores to keep the family fed and clothed.
It pained Simon Haley to see his son pursuing a dream of a writing career while sacrificing the financial security of his wife and children, says Alex's daughter, Ann. It was not that dreams were unimportant, it's just that three squares on the table should take precedence, the old man would lecture on his visits.
Ann recalls that before Simon Haley came to visit, Alex Haley would grimace in anticipation of the lectures that were sure to come.
Alex's brothers and sister say that Simon Haley was very proud of his son Alex and loved him. His brother Julius recalls sitting Alex down one day and telling him, "Dad loves you very much."
Alex himself remained unconvinced that his father approved of him. Alex once told My that although his father seemed to like The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex wondered if his father would have preferred him to finish his college work.
