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About the Author
He didn't know he needed a miracle, until one happened.
Robert Layton (Rob Lowe), a successful attorney, is on the brink of losing his marriage. Nathan Andrews (Max Morrow), an eight-year-old boy, is about to lose his young working-class mother (Kimberly Williams), to illness. When Robert crosses paths with Nathan on Christmas Eve, Robert's life is changed forever. Something as simple as a pair of shoes was going to make all the difference in the young boy's life. And by helping Nathan, Robert realizes the true importance of family, faith and love.
THE STORY BEHIND THE MOVIE
In 1999, the Christmas Shoes story began circulating on the internet. The touching story about a little boy whose mother was dying at Christmas, and his quest to find the perfect pair of shoes for her to wear in heaven, came to the attention of Eddie Carswell of NewSong. Eddie began writing a song inspired by the story.
NewSong, a Christian musical group, sent its record "The Christmas Shoes" to a top DJ in St. Louis in November 2000. When he played it, the station literally shut down: the switchboard was inundated with calls and the computers crashed from the barrage of emails. With virtually no promotion, the record had 3500 spins around the country in just one week, and shot to #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts in a record-setting three weeks.
The news media caught on to the phenomenon, and so did St. Martin's Press. It commissioned Donna VanLiere to write a novel based on the song. The book was released in October 2001 with a 300,000 first printing. St. Martin's released eight additional printings, but could not keep up with the demand. The book was entirely sold out two weeks before Christmas in 2001.
In the meanwhile, Jive Records (the label for Britney Spears, *Nsync and The Backstreet Boys) signed NewSong with the intention of bringing the group into the mainstream. The same has been done for Faith Hill, Amy Grant and Creed, all of whom started out as Christian musicians. "The Christmas Shoes" was re-released on a new album by NewSong last holiday season.
And now the hit song and bestselling book have inspired this CBS event movie.
PRODUCED BY: Craig Anderson Productions in association with Beth Grossbard Productions
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Craig Anderson, Beth Grossbard
DIRECTED BY: Andy Wolk
SCREENPLAY BY: Wesley Bishop
 Donna VanLiere, author
Donna VanLiere is the New York Times best-selling author of The Christmas Shoes. The Dove Award nominated writer is also the author of They Walked with Him and Sheltering Trees: The Power, Promise and Refuge of Friendship, winner of the Silver Angel Award. She is currently at work on her next two novels and lives in middle Tennessee with her husband, Troy, and daughter, Grace.
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