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Legislator Rep. Jim Wayne’s Novel ‘the Unfinished Man’ Focuses on Faith, Healing and the Human Condition

State Journal
September 21, 2016

http://www.state-journal.com/2016/09/21/legislator-rep-jim-waynes-novel-the-unfinished-man-focuses-on-faith-healing-and-the-human-condition/

Rep. Jim Wayne (above) has written his first novel, “The Unfinished Man.” (Photo submitted)

Culled from his work, his faith and his father’s life, state Rep. Jim Wayne’s first novel, “The Unfinished Man,” takes readers on a journey of personal introspection through the experience of a Catholic priest who learns of sexual abuse in his own diocese.

Wayne will have a book signing for “The Unfinished Man” 5-9 p.m. Friday at Poor Richard’s Bookstore, 233 W. Broadway, during the Art Walk.

The main character in Wayne’s book, Father Justin Zapp, must confront his past and the abuse he endured from a priest at a young age while relying on his faith to embolden him as a champion to protect those in the present.

Wayne said there wasn’t just one reason for the novel.

As a practicing psychotherapist, he has spent his career working with victims of sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and victims raped or molested by other authority figures.

As a state representative, Wayne worked with sex abuse victims under the umbrella of the Louisville chapter of Voice of The Faithful to update the state’s statutes on abuse during the 2006 legislative session.

Researching the law at the time, Wayne found that the age of consent in Kentucky was still 12 years old. The statute of limitations was too limited, as were the penalties and reporting requirements.

“The Voice of The Faithful members channeled all the pain, energy and anger into this effort,” Wayne said. “And we were able to get a bipartisan law passed during the session. Subsequently, that law has caused a number of people to be indicted, including a number of schoolteachers, because we cracked down on that.”

The third element of inspiration for the book comes from Wayne’s faith as a Catholic.

“This has been very upsetting for me (the clergy sex abuse cases). It’s much more complex than just saying, ‘I’m angry at the church and I’m going to leave,’ “ Wayne said. “What I try to do is bring all of these experiences to bear in writing the novel and placed it over 50 years ago (when it took place).

“The actual abuse in the book for the protagonist took place in the 1920s and my father was a victim of clergy sexual abuse in the 1920s. It was quite traumatic for my father, to say the least, and he carried that to his grave.”

With a protagonist going through his own struggles while confronting the Catholic Church’s continued coverup of the ongoing abuse, Wayne said his story has many layers.

“The tensions he has in his own healing, and then as he heals, what he does with himself as a more mentally healthy man as he faces the pathology that is within the system — what he does or doesn’t do with that — that’s where the real tension in the novel comes to bear,” Wayne said. “If I was a victim reading this book, I would hope that that victim would find that this a very encouraging book. As a part of healing for all us when you are traumatized psychologically, part of that is how we help other people heal and prevent it from occurring.”

Confronting authority, not shying away from reporting abuse as a result of guilt, and the importance of being open about abuse are all threads and layers within Wayne’s storyline.

“I would hope readers would recognize that though this is placed in a particular point in history and a particular culture that has a Catholic context, the themes of the book are universal,” Wayne said. “They have to do with healing from trauma, facing evil and confronting authority in a courageous way to challenge the dominance of evil in life.”

Wayne is a practicing psychotherapist and has master’s degrees from Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, Massachusetts, theology from Maryknoll School of Theology in New York and fiction from Spalding University in Louisville.

Follow Brad Bowman on Twitter: @bradleybowman for the latest news coverage on state government and Kentucky politics. He can be reached at brad.bowman@state-journal.com.

 

 

 

 

 




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