Customer Reviews

Special Kay: The Wisdom of Terry Kay

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For years I have treasured my stack of magazine articles and newspaper clippings written by Kay. Each one, whether humorous or serious, evokes in the spirit a recognition of the human condition. Such a glance at complete truth is rare in today's world. Kudos to the publisher for bringing this work to the public, and thank you to Terry Kay for having written them.

The words "ruminations" and "vignettes" may sound pretentious, but "rumination" works well here -- not for its first meaning, but for the second; which is, "The act or process of chewing cud," according to the American Heritage Dictionary, fourth edition. No one chews the cud better than Terry Kay. And a "vignette" (pronounced vin-yet) comes from the French word for vine and relates to the little vine tendrils that often decorate literary works. That's what "Special Kay" is: a book filled with cud-chewing at its finest, with little stories culled from a fruitful life, like vinelets pruned off a master stem.

Kay's greatest strength is that he has never lost the capacity -- or courage -- to be ordinary. Because of that, we can all relate to his experiences, and his opinions. He is down to earth when talking about a wagonload of subjects: The fear of losing a child to an illness. The heat of a lay-by plowing that could leave a mule drenched in white lather. The humiliation of playing quarterback when the center breaks wind "like a hurricane hitting Florida" -- loud enough to echo "off the corn stalks" and smelly enough to kill "gnats and mosquitoes on the fly."

A former movie critic, Terry Kay has consorted with celebrities. Thank God, he has never become one. He IS a Special Kay.

A perception of powerful life lessons and topics written with the ability to return us to those precious and/or insane places in our lifetime. Kay can take the steamer trunk of our past, the luggage of our future and open them only to find wit, honesty and uncanny insight. His incredible and unique style of writing describe my sometimes "bumper car" lifestyle and transform it into a peaceful walk in new fallen snow. Thanks to my friend Nancy for the gift of this book and Mr. Kay for his signing it. I can't wait to read it over again. The wisdom and talent of Terry Kay is evident in Special Kay.