Kevin James Shay has worked or written for more than 45 newspapers, blogs, and magazines. Those include The Dallas Morning News, The Washington Post's Gazette, Minority Business News USA, Texas Catholic, Dallas Times Herald, and Medium.

​

His books include Still Searching for Utopia: Essays and Columns Written Along a Road Less Traveled [2026], Shay's Tips, Trivia, and Traveler Attractions in North America [2026], It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Trip: On the Road of the Longest Two-Week Family Road Trip in History [2024], Walking through the Wall [2022], Death of the Rising Sun: A Search for Truth in the JFK Assassination [2022], And Justice For All: The Untold History of Dallas [2017], and A Parent's Guide to Dallas/Fort Worth [2003]. 

 

He also contributed to Big Bush Lies, published by White Cloud Press/Riverwood Books [2004]. Several books have made Amazon bestseller lists and Goodreads best books lists. An earlier version of the Dallas book was featured in D Magazine's Who's Who, What's What in 1992.

​

Shay has met and interviewed Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Robert Redford, Jesse Jackson, Amelia Boynton Robinson, Granny D, Magic Johnson, and Tiger Woods, among others. He has exposed political and business corruption, systemic racism, government waste, psychiatric facility abuse, contracting inequities, and other societal ills. 

​

He has won writing awards from the Maryland-Delaware-Washington, D.C. Press Association, Lincoln University Unity program, Dallas Press Club, Suburban Newspapers of America, American Cancer Society, Mental Health Association in Texas, and Bethesda Literary Festival.

​

An avid traveler, he has driven across the country several times, visiting all 50 states and more than 30 countries. He also walked some 5,000 miles across the United States and Europe with a project that set a record for the longest group walk for a cause in 1984 and 1985.

​

An Eagle Scout, he has been active in community organizations, including as a board member of the ACLU and Rainbow Bridge, Scouting adult leader, and youth sports coach.

​

After his father passed away in 2008, Shay started using his middle name, James, which was his dad's name. His work is under several names, including Kevin James Shay, Kevin J. Shay, Kevin Shay, and pen names.