Serving the Loup Valley for 140 Years
Vasicek Visits Ord For Book Signing Event
photo by Kate Wolf
Books & Nooks owner Valerie Masin helps author and former Ord resident, Don Vasicek, set up for his recent book signing event held last week.
By Kate Wolf
On Fri., Sept. 16, local bookstore, Books & Nooks in downtown Ord rolled out the red carpet for author and former resident, Don Vasicek, who was in town to promote two young adult books he recently had published. A good sized crowd was on hand for a reading given by the author, as well as a book signing.
Vasicek moved to Ord with his parents, George and Tillie Vasicek, in 1941 when he was just one year old. He attended Ord Public Schools and graduated from OHS in 1958. He earned nine athletic letters, a letter in Thespians, sang in Varsity Chorus, Boys Glee and the Methodist Church Choir. He also played alto sax, tenor sax and bass horn in the OHS Band, served on Student Council and was president of the Letter Club. Vasicek played halfback on the 1956 number oneClass B football team in the State of Nebraska, which was the first entry into the Ord High School Athletic Hall of Fame, as well as playing for the undefeated 1957 OHS football team.
Following graduation, Vasicek moved to Denver, CO and married Jean Bennett in 1960. The couple had two children: a daughter, Carrie Jean, and a son, Robert Wesley. In addition to being a husband and a devoted father, he attended the University of Colorado at Denver working toward degrees in Sociology and Political Science while maintaining a full-time job. The family lived briefly in Circle Pines, MN where he worked for a printing company before returning to Denver. Vasicek then worked as a paralegal and manager of client records for the law firm of Saunders, Snyder, Ross & Dickinson, P.C.
Soon, he had achieved a degree of success writing poems and articles and left the law firm to pursue a career in writing, as well as film making. He founded Olympus Films+, LLC/The Zen of Writing, global writing, film making and consulting companies. He studied producing, directing and line producing at the Hollywood Film Institute, as well as at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. In addition, he studied screen writing at Complete Screenplay, Inc. under the tutelage of his mentor, Sally Merlin who wrote “White Squall” and “Short Circuit.”
In person, Don Vasicek closely resembles an English Lit professor at some Ivy League college….quiet, introspective and thoughtful. You would never guess he has also acted in 20th Century Fox’s “Die Hard with a Vengeance”, NBC’s Mystery “Flight 1501”, ABC’s “Father Dowling”, and Angel Street Films, LLC’s “Running Horses”. Vasicek has been involved in more than 100 movies over the past 25 years, from major studio productions to independent films.
His documentary film, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, distributed by Films Media Group, won Best Film at three film festivals and was awarded the prestigious Golden Drover Award for Best Native American Film at the Trail Dance Film Festival. It has been screened in schools, colleges, universities, and on television programs across the country. The film was recently catalogued into the Smithsonian Institute Libraries, it’s been viewed by over 45,000 people on You Tube, and catalogued into more than 500 libraries in the U.S. Vasicek has served as writer consultant for numerous films and film companies including MGM, American Pictures, Incline Productions, Inc., and Angel Street Films, LLC.
“You have to have a passion for what you’re writing about. It’s what I’ve done with my own writing and film making,” Vasicek explained. “Passion puts the fire into whatever you’re writing.”
Vasicek wrote and published the paranormal novel The Eyes of Death, as well as The Real Ghost, which won Waldorf Publishing’s Best Book Award. His autobiography, My Remarkable Life, has now been made part of the permanent collection at the Valley County Museum. He has also written, ghost written, and published over 500 books, short stories and various articles. His writing and film making blog can be accessed at www.donvasicek.com.
“It has been an honor to welcome Don to Books & Nooks,” remarked bookstore owner and operator, Valerie Masin. “It was fun being able to support an author originally from the Ord area. Many thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by the store for this event.”
To read the complete story, pick up this week's edition of The Ord Quiz.
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