Special Kay: The Wisdom of Terry Kay

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.

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.