A northern Nevada woman is pitching a new TV show. It will be the second one she stars in.
Terri Jay claims to be able to talk to animals, living and dead, to help their owners better understand them. She says she has also worked with nonverbal autistic children, people in comas, and others who cannot communicate directly.
Jay lives in Minden with her husband, two dogs, and two horses. She moved there in 1986, and four years later she discovered spiritual communication.
“I started doing this in 1990 when I heard a non-verbal child, and I just wasn't aware of what was happening at the time,” she says.
In 2005, she says she did a reading with Paul Finkelman, who writes under the pen name Paul T. Goldman. The author came to her for answers to his marriage concerns. The two discovered his wife's double life.
“His new bride was asking to have her name put on all of his assets, and it made him uncomfortable,” Jay says. “And what I got was that she wanted to get paid for sex. I think the word we use now is ‘sex worker.’"
Goldman found a producer interested in the full story, and nearly two decades after the readings it came to life as a TV miniseries, called Paul T. Goldman.
“When it came out, I went to the premiere,” she says. “And that was really fun. I did get to go down to L.A. and do some of the shooting."
The show is presented in a docudrama format -- Jay did the interviews, and actress Dee Wallace portrayed her in the rest of the show.
Now, Jay is heading back to the screen to focus on her work with animals.
“I’m hoping to do an hour show because that way we can fit in at least four clients' readings,” Jay says, “and then just hit the high spots about what we were able to achieve."
Jay says she's proud to represent the Carson Valley and hopes to highlight the area in her new show, which she has titled Cowgirl Shaman.
“It's got a very Yellowstone-ish feel,” she says, “so I think that'll really add to the appeal because we've got the Sierra Nevada mountains. We've got pastures and cattle and ranches, and this is home to me. This really feels like home."
Paul T. Goldman is available to stream on Peacock. As for Jay’s new show, it’s still in the early stages. She says she is pitching the show to multiple producers.
