Fay was a short story writer whose work was published in magazines such as Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Elks, and Argosy. Starting in 1935, he was the editor for Popular Publications, Inc. In the mid 1950s he became a screenwriter, as well, but while he wrote for many television series, his most well known television work is undoubtedly his "Man from the South" teleplay for the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" anthology series.