Married fellow Communist Anita Platky, and adopted two daughters, both
of whom survived him.
In 1963, at age 51, he met John Burnside, the inventor of the teleidoscope, a
variation on the kaleidoscope, who became his life partner. They moved
to New Mexico in 1970 and managed a trading post on a Pueblo Indian
reservation north of Santa Fe.
In 1955, Hay was called before the House Un-American Activities
Committee, and although he was not charged with any crime, he dropped
out of the limelight after that.