His childhood on a farm with no electricity would inspire his career and creativity. Today Terry Kay is ranked as one of Georgia’s most important authors for his compelling stories set in his home state. He sat down with Susan Hoffman for a lively, humorous discussion of his life, influences and career.

Terry Winter Kay was born in 1938 in Hart County Georgia, the eleventh of twelve children. Growing up on a farm meant plenty of chores, but his parents also encouraged education. In the days before electricity, the family would spend the evenings reading by the light of a kerosene lamp.

Kay went on to graduate from West Georgia Junior College and LaGrange College, earning a degree in Social Science, with extensive study in theater arts. He began his career in journalism in 1959 at the Decatur-DeKalb News and later worked for The Atlanta Journal as a sportswriter and, for eight years, as one of America’s leading film-theater critics.

Kay resigned from The Atlanta Journal in 1973 to begin a career in public relations, later becoming Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Oglethorpe Power Corporation. In 1989, he left the corporate world to devote full time to writing.

Kay’s first novel, published in 1976, was The Year the Lights Came On, a story inspired by his memory of the coming of electricity to his rural community. It was followed in 1981 by After Eli, a disturbing view of a charming Irish actor terrorizing an Appalachian community. In 1984, Dark Thirty, an examination of justice vs. vengeance, also set in Appalachia, was published.

Publication of his first three novels established Kay as a writer of versatility, able to switch genre and voice with ease and command.

In 1990, Kay’s signature, award-winning novel, To Dance With the White Dog, was released, quickly taking its place among Southern literary classics and establishing Kay as one of the region’s foremost writers. Inspired by Kay’s own parents, it is the story of an octogenarian and a mysterious white dog that comes to live with him following the death of his wife of 57 years. In 1993 To Dance With the White Dog was presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie for CBS television, starring Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy. The production earned the highest television rating of the 1993 season, with more than 33 million viewers. Cronyn won that year’s Emmy for Best Actor in the role of Sam Peek, the character based on Kay’s father.

More novels followed, each peopled by Kay’s richly-drawn characters: Shadow Song, [1995], The Runaway [1997], The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene [1999], Taking Lottie Home [2000] The Valley of Light [2003], and The Book of Marie [2007]. In addition to novels, Kay has also written for children and has published essays.

Over the years, Kay has won numerous awards and, in 2006, he was inducted into the Georgia Writers’ Hall of Fame.

Kay has been married to his wife, Tommie, since 1959 and has four children and several grandchildren. He currently resides in Athens, Georgia.