His most well-known book, To Dance with the White Dog, was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.
After college he sold insurance, then found work as a copy boy and then writer for the Decatur-DeKalb News.
[1][2] At the urging of his friend, writer Pat Conroy, he submitted a magazine article manuscript to Houghton-Mifflin that provided the concept for a novel.
His experience of growing up on a rural farm without electricity formed the basis of The Year the Lights Came On, published in 1976.
[1][2] Kay's second novel, After Eli, was published in 1981, winning the Georgia Writer's Association award for Author of the Year.