A graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, Kay joined Newsday and shared a Pulitzer in 1970 for uncovering political corruption on Long Island.

A graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, Kay joined Newsday and shared a Pulitzer in 1970 for uncovering political corruption on Long Island

After arriving at the AJC in 1976, “she was the first to write seriously about women’s lives and needs in any of Georgia’s news outlets … (and) addressed, head-on, abortion, domestic violence, rape and discriminatory statuses,” Berg said in his eulogy. Kay also championed the Equal Rights Amendment, “which most Georgia legislators opposed as anti-family, un-Christian or immoral.

“She urged equal pay for equal work, (and) the appointment of more women to state and federal government,” Berg said, adding that she even crusaded for a women’s restroom in the Georgia Capitol for the small but growing number of female legislators –so they wouldn’t miss votes while standing in line behind Girl Scout troops

Kay also insisted that the Journal-Constitution Style pages have women of color as fashion models, according to longtime friend Alexis Scott, a former AJC editor, publisher of the Atlanta Daily World and commentator for WAGA-TV.

“She was totally a journalist, an information junkie, as smart as a whip,” Scott said. “She had great care, compassion and concern for the entire community, but especially for people who were marginalized. She was a fighter for social justice, for women and for people of color.”

Kay received Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Award, and the National Women’s Political Caucus “EMMA” (Exceptional Merit Media Award). Her digitized newspaper columns, papers and oral history are in the Women’s History Archives permanent collection at Georgia State University.

After Atlanta, Kay served on the editorial board of the Chicago Sun-Times, and as a media strategist to nonprofits in Washington, D.C. Clients included the American Civil Liberties Union, Harvard Civil Rights Project, and the United Nations Development Fund for Women. She also was media chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund.

She wrote books: “The Closing Door” with Gary Orfield, named Outstanding Book on Human Rights in 1992 by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights; and “Because There Is Hope: Gearing Up to Renew Urban America” with President Carter.