Terry Kay, author of 'To Dance With the White Dog,' dies

Terry Kay, a native of Georgia who won fans at home and abro for his vels set in South, has died. He was 82.

His death on Saturday was anunced on his Facebook p . A post on p October 25 said Kay h been diagsed with St 4 liver cancer. His daughter, Hear Kay Flury, confirmed news to Atlanta Journal-Constitution . She did t immediately respond to a Facebook mess seeking comment on her far’s death.

Kay was born in Hart County, Georgia, on Feb. 10, 1938, one of 12 children. After gruating from LaGrange College, he began his career in journalism at weekly Decatur-DeKalb News. He later worked at Atlanta Journal as a sportswriter and a film and ater critic.

Kay was perhaps best kwn for his 1990 vel “To Dance With White Dog,” which helped establish him as one of South's leing writers. According to Kay's website, book was inspired by author's parents. It is story of an octogenarian and a mysterious white dog that comes to live with him following his wife's death. book earned Kay Outstanding Author of Year award in 1991 from Souastern Library Association. In 1993, it was presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie for CBS television and sold 2 million copies in Japan.

Kay’s first vel, published in 1976, was “ Year Lights Came On,” which was inspired by Kay's recollections of electricity arriving in his rural farming community. “ Valley of Light,” published in 2003, won both 2004 Townsend Award and Best Fiction Award from Georgia Writers Association.

He also received Georgia Writers Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and was inducted into Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2006.

Kay's website says translations of author's fiction have been published in Japan, Korea, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and elsewhere.