An NSPYR eBook
The remarkable true story of Roy Vomastek—a 78-year-old humble, small-town doctor with a refreshingly simple outlook on life and golf, a big heart, even bigger belief in luck—and his improbable run in the 2010 Club Championship at one of the greatest courses in the world, Dr. Alister MacKenzie’s famed Crystal Downs Country Club.
Co-authors Brian Mulvaney & Jay Lavender, who met by chance on a first tee years ago, partner to share the inspiring story of Roy’s humble upbringing from being born in the depression to serving in the U.S. Army then raising his family while running his solo medical practice for 40 years in his home state of Michigan. Photos by Dickie Morris embellish the story with flavor from Roy’s life as well as provide a glimpse of Crystal Downs’ stunning beauty.
Roy: The 78-Year-Old Champion is a timeless underdog story about a man’s love for golf and his lifetime of luck, hard work, miracles, fatherhood and friendship that came together in one magical summer weekend, proving one’s never too old to dream big.
Available now as a Kindle eBook on Amazon.
An NSPYR eBook Trailer
Roy: The 78-Year-Old Champion by Brian Mulvaney & Jay Lavender is a timeless underdog story about Dr. Roy Vomastek’s love for golf and his lifetime of luck, hard work, miracles, fatherhood and friendship that came together in one magical summer weekend at the legendary Crystal Downs Country Club, proving one’s never too old to dream big.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROY!
81 years ago today, in the midst of the Great Depression, Roy Vomastek was born in Escanaba, MI. His lifelong passion for golf was sparked by caddying as a young boy and stayed with him through joining the Army out of high school, serving our country overseas during the Korean War, then returning home to Michigan where he became a doctor and raised his family, impacting countless people along the way with his kind, generous and fun-loving personality.
And while Roy always had a knack for golf, as he got older, his game got better…culminating in a match for the ages in the 2010 Club Championship at Dr. Alister MacKenzie’s legendary Crystal Downs Country Club.
You can read his remarkable life story in the soon-to-be-published NSPYR ebook… ROY: The 78-Year-Old Champion by Brian Mulvaney & Jay Lavender.
(Cover photo by Dickie Morris)
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HAPPY VETERANS DAY
Thank You Veterans! Thinking of you today and everyday.
9/11/12
In honor of the 11th anniversary, our humble thank you to those who sacrificed, served and live with the effects of 9/11 everyday as well to our men and women still fighting the good fight at home and overseas. For those we’ve lost and their families who carry on, we will never forget.
Happy Veterans Day
Congrats to our featured Warriors and everyone who supported our inspiring tribute Wounded Warriors’ Resilience that received the Audience Favorite Award for Best Documentary Short at the 2011 Virginia Film Festival.
Thanks to the VA Film Fest, volunteers and those who attended our screening.
Most importantly, Thank You to all who have served and continue to serve us.
WOUNDED WARRIORS’ RESILIENCE
A short documentary film about the extraordinary sacrifice and inspiring resilience of brave American men and women in uniform who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, been wounded, and are role models of the human capacity to overcome adversity.
Directed by Jay Lavender, Produced by Col. Randall Larsen (Ret) & Jay Lavender & Dickie Morris for NSPYR • GoodBlood in association with Wounded Warrior Project. Executive Produced by Stephen Flynn & Sean Burke with generous support from Talisman Energy. The film premiered on September 8th at the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit: Remembrance, Renewal, Resilience at the Newseum in Washington, DC.
The Summit kicked off a national movement to foster community and national resilience in the face of future crises. Visit Road2Resilience.org to join the campaign to build a more resilient world.
It was an absolute honor to meet our Warriors and help share their stories. We enjoy the freedom of working to make a living as storytellers thanks to the men and women who risk their lives protecting our nation…
In WOUNDED WARRIORS’ RESILIENCE we attempt to shine a light on our Warriors that reflects our immense gratitude for their service & sacrifices.
Fueled By NSPYR: GoodBlood
We’ve created GoodBlood as an arm of NSPYR to celebrate real heroes.
Inspired by our family, friends, neighbors & coworkers who dedicate their lives—even risk their lives—to protect, serve & heal us…
We’re finishing up our first few projects—including the short inspiring documentary Wounded Warriors’ Resilience premiering at the Newseum in Washington, DC—and will be sharing them soon…
Thank You to all who have served and continue to serve us!
CALL FOR STORIES: WOUNDED WARRIORS Tribute Documentary for the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit
(photo by Dickie Morris @ Middletown, RI Fire Dept. September 11th, 2010)
NSPYR has been commissioned to film a short documentary that honors Wounded Warriors who enlisted following 9/11 and celebrates their resilience while recovering from injuries.
The Wounded Warriors Tribute will premiere on September 8th, 2011 at the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit at the Newseum in Washington, DC.
We are looking for Warriors interested in being filmed at work, home, rehab & play as well as Warriors willing to share their stories with us…
If you or a loved one is a Warrior and interested, please read more…
The Vasseghi Family Story & NSPYR’s Trip Around The World
Thanks to you reading and sharing www.NSPYR.com we’ve been viewed in 54 countries on 6 continents and all 50 states in the USA!
We’ve photographed our next three stories and are writing away. We’re also working on a short documentary for the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit that we’ll share more about soon. For updates, follow NSPYR on Facebook & Twitter.
Until then, here’s a behind-the-scenes pic from our day with The Vasseghis last fall. Dickie wanted some reflected lighting while shooting and put me to work…
That’s the giant commemorative Mega Millions check providing the bounce!
Thank You Collegiate School in Richmond, VA!
One of our goals when creating NSPYR was to share our stories and experiences in-person with people we met online.
This came to fruition last month when Debbie Miller at Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia invited us to share the spirit of NSPYR with the entire middle school. We were introduced to Collegiate by middle schooler Peyton Lyons, who followed our journey last year up Kilimanjaro with Summit on the Summit. Peyton’s Mom and accomplished photographer, Patricia Lyons, has worked several events over the years with NSPYR’s Dickie Morris and she connected us with Peyton via email after the climb.
Patricia kindly summed up the morning at Collegiate…
Thank You & What’s Next
We started NSPYR.com a few weeks ago by posting The Vasseghi Family Story: Love, Luck & a 175 Million-to-1 Jackpot and emailing the link to some friends…
Since then, we’ve been viewed in 31 countries across 6 continents and every state in the USA except for Alaska, Mississippi & West Virginia!
From a 7th grader in Virginia to a high-schooler in South Africa…from a banker in Philadelphia to the head coach of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks…from Moms & Grandmothers to Dads & Grandfathers…we’ve received wonderful & touching messages sharing your heartfelt responses to our first story.
THE VASSEGHI FAMILY STORY: Love, Luck & a 175 Million-to-1 Jackpot
By Jay Lavender with photos by Dickie Morris
“It’s like playing the lottery. The saying, ‘You can’t win if you don’t play’ is a worn cliché that continues to be true. Even though the odds for your winning the lottery are minuscule at best, one fact prevails: Every single winning lottery ticket has come as the result of a proactive measure taken. Whether it’s a group’s weekly purchase or simply an extra buck spent on a single ticket at your local convenience store, that action was rewarded with a winning ticket. You have to be prepared to take advantage of luck when it presents itself to you. It may take major effort on your part, or it may be as simple as buying one lottery ticket, but when you nurture an optimistic and hopeful heart, you can maximize that luck and often create your own.”
- Sourena Vasseghi
Love Your Life and It Will Love You Back, page 75 (2007)
SPRING 2010: A PACT BETWEEN CO-WORKERS
Zahra Vasseghi (“Zah-ra Vuh-seggee”) always looks for the best in people. “Whatever I see, I see the positive in it. I look for it.” For a woman who suffered a severely life-changing stroke of bad luck 33 years ago this month, it’s a remarkable outlook. To meet her and spend time with her, you’d have no idea of the injustice she endured as a young woman in labor, let down at the moment when a pregnant woman’s most vulnerable, her family’s life forever changed by a negligent doctor.
Because that was a long time ago and Zahra, now 55, has since found peace from those life-altering events. It’s just her nature to look at the bright side of things. So one day last spring, when her friend and co-worker proclaimed—yet again—as she had been for the previous few months, “I’m really lucky!” Zahra spoke up.
Perhaps it was because of how many times she’d heard her 65 year-old husband, Behzad (nicknamed “Ben”), sing the same tune, “We are so lucky.”
He’d say it during breakfast, lunch and dinner. He’d say it while driving and sitting on the couch. He said it back when his young kids were sleeping on the floor of the family’s restaurant while he and Zahra closed up for the night. Sometimes he said it just walking around the house…
“We are so lucky to be in America.”
Perhaps it was because of something she read in the book her son, Sourena (“Su-renna”), wrote…
LESSON 8: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LUCK
“I’m really lucky,” her co-worker said again to no one in particular.
Zahra looked up in the Los Angeles office of the telecommunications company she’d been working in for 15 years, “Then you should play the lottery.”
And her co-worker smiled and said, “OK. From now on, you give me $5 a week. I’ll buy the tickets and when we win, we’ll split it.”
Not if we win. When we win.
***UPDATE - 4/3/13***
Read the rest of The Vasseghi Family’s inspiring story in the upcoming NSPYR eBook…
For updates on The Vasseghi Family Story and a chance to be among the first to receive a free copy of the NSPYR eBook when it’s published, sign up for our email list as well as like, check & follow:
