By Vernell Hackett
(Nashville; November 15, 2014) — Country Singer Jimmy Wayne co-wrote his hit song “Paper Angels” with Don Sampson after watching people walk past the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree in a local mall in Nashville without giving it a glance.
“I knew I had to do something to make people aware of what those angels were all about,” says Wayne, who adds that he and his sister were beneficiaries of the gifts from such an Angel Tree when they were growing up.
Jimmy Wayne, left, visits with cast members from the television movie “Paper Angels,” Josie Bissett, Farryn Van Humbeck and Rustin Gresiuk
After the song became a hit, Wayne wrote a book, which is what the Sunday, November 16 television movie is based on. In the storyline, abused wife Lynn (Josie Bissett) takes her two kids, Thomas (Rustin Gresiuk) and Sara (Farryn Van Humbeck) and leaves her alcoholic husband Darryl (Russell Porter).
Lynn takes her family to another town where she works as a waitress. Also in that city are Kevin (Matthew Settle), whose Marketing & Design company is near the reality of having to shut down due to the economy. His wife, Jenny (Kendra Anderson) is in a difficult pregnancy with twins.
Lynn’s son, Thomas, meets Kevin at a local community center where he goes to play basketball. They become friends through pickup basketball games. As the plot develops, the two families are drawn together by the Salvation Army Angel Tree program.
Wayne, who is very excited to see his song come to life in this television movie, says the actors do a marvelous job with the characters. “The actors are great. You forget they are acting, they are so good.”
Wayne has a cameo in the movie. Ironically, the denim jacket he wears in the movie is one he wore when he was a teenager and living in an abandoned trailer. He says the jacket is a symbol of where he’s been, where he is now and where he needs to be going.
Wayne says the movie lets people know that when you have dreams, and if they are about helping other people, they come true.
Wayne just released a book, “Walk to Beautiful,” which is about his life and honors the family that eventually took him in and helped him become the person he is today.
“Paper Angels” premiers on the UP Network Sunday, November 16 at 7 p.m. Eastern.