This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

The book 'The Promised Land' illustrated the effects of the movement of blacks from the rural South to cities of the North between 1940 and 1970. The book depicted Luther Haynes (P) as a man who drank heavily, who neglected his children, could not keep a job, was unfaithful, and eventually left his wife for another woman. P admitted to many of the incidents in the book but alleged that they occurred twenty-five years earlier and had since reformed, remarried, and lived an exemplary life. P and his present wife sued the author and publisher for libel and invasion of privacy. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants. P appealed.

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