Terry Kay (1938–2020)
Author of To Dance with the White Dog
About the Author
Terry Kay was born February 10, 1938 in Royston, Georgia. He grew up there and became a well-known novelist. Perhaps his most well-known book is To Dance with the White Dog, which was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy in 1983. He is also the show more author of such best-selling works as Dark Thirty, Shadow Song, After Eli, and The Runaway, which was adapted for the screen. He won an Emmy for his screenplay Run Down the Rabbit. Kay's novel The Valley of Light won the 2004 Townsend Prize for Fiction and was also adapted for the screen. He won the 1981 Georgia Author of the Year Award for After Eli, and the Southeastern Library Association named him Outstanding Author of the Year in 1991 for To Dance with the White Dog. He published The Book of Marie in 2007. His last book, The Forever Wish of Middy Sweet, was published in August 2020. Terry Kay died on December 12, 2020 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) Terry Kay, Terry Kay grew up in Royston, Georgia on a farm that had no electricity. He was an entertainment reporter at the Atlanta Journal where he reviewed over 300 films a year. Needing more money, he took the position as creative director for a television and film development company. That job lasted a year, and he went on to public relations. Kay wrote the bestseller "To Dance with the White Dog," which Kay describes as "more of a translation of what had happened in my family than the creation of a book," and "The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene." Aaron Greene is a shy teenager who works as a mail boy at a bank and whose family could never afford the ten million dollars his captors are demanding. The story tells of the philosophical motives the kidnappers have for this unlikely abduction, which sets off a nationwide frenzy to find this average boy. Terry Kay published 18 books, including a collection of essays, and two children's books. His last book, The Forever Wish of Middy Sweet, was published in August 2020. He died on December 12, 2020 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Terry Kay
Associated Works
A Confederacy of Crime: New Stories of Southern-Style Mystery (2001) — Contributor — 38 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1938-02-10
- Date of death
- 2020-12-12
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Georgia, USA
- Place of death
- Athens, Georgia, USA
- Cause of death
- liver cancer
- Education
- LaGrange College (BA - Social Science)
Royston High School - Occupations
- novelist
journalist
teacher - Organizations
- Decatur-DeKalb News
The Atlanta Journal - Awards and honors
- Stanley W. Lindberg Award (2007), Georgia Writers Hall of Fame (2006)
Members
Reviews
To Dance With the White Dog by Terry Kay
Sam Peek, 81, must adjust his life when his wife of 57 years passes away suddenly. He lives alone, walks with the aid of a walker, and drives his dilapidated truck down his farm road to tend his pecan trees. He has 2 daughters living within sight and 6 more children in the area. All are watching him closely. When he begins talking about a white dog hanging around who dances with him, his children get worried. Sam is telling the story and his sense of loneliness and independence come through in his memories, daily journal entries and interactions with remaining contemporaries. I love the scene where he tries to make biscuits by remembering how his wife used to do it, to disastrous results. A great poignant tale of aging.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 20
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 1,710
- Popularity
- #15,009
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 42
- ISBNs
- 112
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 2