He exhibited his sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, besides holding individual exhibitions. His lifeboat rescue photographs of the "Andrea Doria" were published internationally. McKay wrote many plays and novels, and was a literary critic for the "Los Angeles Herald Examiner" between 1977 and 1982. He taught writing classes at the University of California at Los Angeles, University of Southern California, University of Alaska, and the University of Hawaii. He wrote and co-directed a TV film "Me" (1973) for Hollywood Television Theatre on PBS. He wrote a script for another TV movie, "Sea Marks" (1976), based on his play. "I'm through with acting," he said in 1976. "I'll never do a series again. I can't. It's a mental mess-up for me. I got all sorts of attention I didn't deserve and I was too sensitive to hear things about myself. People loved me and hated me for absolutely no good reasons." His play "Toyer" was produced by the Arena Players Repertory Theater in New York opening November 28, 1993. "Toyer" was produced in London at the Arts Theatre in 2009. His play "Sea Marks" was produced in New York in 1981 at the Players Theatre; in 2003 at the American Theatre for Actors (Off-Off Broadway), directed by Allen Fitzpatrick and produced by Jonah Productions; and again in 2014, produced Off-Broadway at the Irish Repertory Theatre. A verse by McKay became the lyrics for the song "Black Bean Soup" sung by the actor and singer David Soul. It was the B-side of the hit single "Don't Give Up on Us". Soul sang it as a duet with actress Lynne Marta. It has sold 1.16 million copies in the UK. It is also part of the soundtrack on two episodes of the TV series, "Starsky & Hutch" . Gardner bought a wooded property in Beverly Hills and kept a menagerie of animals: Lions, cheetahs, dogs, and a monkey which he brought back from his sojourn to South America. McKay's awards included three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for playwriting, the Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, and Sidney Carrington Prize. He was a winner in Canadian Regional Drama Festival, and runner-up in the Hemingway Short Story Contest. McKay settled in Hawaii, where he died from prostate cancer in 2001 at the age of 69.