Unstoppable is an inspirational memoir based on the life of Roy Clay, Sr. who tells his unforgettable story of succeeding against the odds, while never forgetting the people who helped him along the way. It is a testament to his unstoppable drive, commitment to family, and ability to overcome extreme challenges and loss.
The story explores the life of Roy Clay from his time as a young teenager, where his uncanny math skills were used to run the back room craps game at a pool hall in segregated, rural Missouri in the 1940s, to his rise to a Silicon Valley technology pioneer (many refer to him as "The Godfather of Silicon Valley"). Roy shares how the same math skills that earned him the role of craps game bookkeeper, coupled with a college degree in mathematics from St. Louis University, allowed him to accel as one of the world's first computer programmers.
Roy was driven to succeed, no matter the obstacles, by his mother, and then later in life by his beloved wife Virginia. They were the two Angels by his side. In his journey, Roy shares how he worked his way into technology despite the numerous, unabashed racial-based rejection letters – not because he wanted to be a martyr but because that was the field he wanted to pursue. He shares how his tenacity, technical acumen and personability helped him build professional rapport and friendships with the likes of David Packard (Hewlett Packard), Tom Perkins (Kleiner Perkins Venture Capital Company) and others. It is through those working relationships and experiences that he makes his contributions to the birth of Silicon Valley. For those accomplishments he was inducted into the Silicon Valley Hall of Fame.
In Unstoppable, he also shares how he broke social color barriers by gaining membership to an exclusive San Francisco Bay Area country club, despite getting literal death threats that resulted in the need for around the clock security. Again, he did not join the club to be a martyr, he joined because he loved golf and wanted to play at the best course he could. Period.
Though driven to succeed professionally and in extracurricular activities, nothing was a higher priority to Roy than being with his family and keeping his family a closely knit unit. Thus, the cancer diagnosis and eventual death of Virginia, the family's matriarch, was a devastating blow to Roy and his 3 boys. Still Roy shares how decisions he made early in his professional career would not only extend Virginia's survival, but also made the last years of her life the best they could be.
Mixed with warmth, humor and points of inspiration, Unstoppable is an emotionally powerful must read for All.