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Note Tampa Ties To Hallmark Film

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By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

TAMPA - A casual conversation with a friend about an airplane crash was the inspiration for a novel that has become a holiday movie debuting Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

"The Note" stars Genie Francis, formerly of the ABC soap "General Hospital," as a small-town newspaper columnist on a mission to find the recipient of a note written by a victim of an airline disaster.

Pinellas County author Angela Hunt, who lives in Seminole, says she wrote "The Note" more than six years ago after pondering what her last message would be if she were on a doomed flight.

"I just sort of joked that I would dash off a line to my children that said, 'Dear Kids, I love you. All is forgiven, Mom,'" she says. "They were teenagers at the time. And, you know, teenagers can be trying."

Later, as she reflected on the January 2000 crash of an Alaska Airlines flight on which 88 people were killed, the idea for the book took shape.

There was a mechanical failure, and the crew frantically worked for 11 minutes before the airplane plunged into the Pacific Ocean. There might have been time to leave behind a message.

"I wondered what I really would write if I had one moment to share my most profound thoughts," she says.

Hunt, who has written numerous inspirational books, penned "The Note" as a Christian message of hope and faith. She optioned the book to a production company about five years ago.

"It has taken a long time to get it on film," she says. "And they made a few changes."

The book is set in Tampa, where Flight 848 bursts into flames and crashes into Tampa Bay. A reporter for The Tampa Times is assigned to learn who wrote the note and for whom it was written.

"The book isn't set at Christmas, but the movie is," Hunt says. "They changed the locale to North Carolina, so they could have snow scenes."

The newspaper becomes The Middleborough Times. The rest of the story remains close to the book.

Francis plays Peyton MacGruder, who writes "The Heart Healer" column, which apparently lacks heart and is losing readers. Her editor gives Peyton three weeks to turn the column around.

After an airplane crashes near Middleborough, Peyton gets a plastic bag that contains a note from the doomed flight with a simple message: "T - I love you. All is forgiven. Dad."

Her search to find "T" changes her life, offers a spiritual lesson and leads to a surprise ending. Veteran TV actor Ted McGinley ("Happy Days," "Hope & Faith") plays a sportswriter and Peyton's love interest.

Hunt says she researched newspaper journalism by interviewing former Tampa Tribune columnist Judy Hill.

"She was a great help in telling me what I needed to know to make it authentic," Hunt says.

Later, Hunt became a community columnist for the Tribune's Editorial department.

Hunt says she has been writing since the 1980s and has authored more than 100 books, most of them novels. Last year, she was commissioned to write a novel based on the film "The Nativity," which itself was based on the New Testament.

Married to the youth minister at First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks Beach, she says she writes from a Christian viewpoint, but her motto is to "expect the unexpected" in her novels.

Most recently, she co-authored "Don't Bet Against Me!" with Deanna Favre, wife of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. The nonfiction book is an account of Deanna's battle with cancer.

"The Note" debuts at 9 p.m. Saturday on Hallmark. In conjunction with the film, Hallmark is encouraging people to send letters to loved ones. For information on Hunt, go to www.angelahunt books.com.

Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654 or wbelcher

ON TELEVISION

The Note

WHEN: 9 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Hallmark Channel

@tampatrib.com.

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