Mattie Stepanek
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Matthew "Mattie" Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek (July 17, 1990 β June 22, 2004) was an American poet and advocate. At the age of 3, Stepanek started to write poetry to cope with the death of his older brother. His first five books are: Heartsongs, Journey Through Heartsongs, Hope Through Heartsongs, Celebrate Through Heartsongs and Loving Through Heartsongs. All five works made the New York Times' Best Seller list. He wrote that a "'Heartsong' is a person's special gift to be shared with others... or a person's 'reason for being.'"
Stepanek had a rare form of muscular dystrophy, dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy. His sister and two brothers died from the disease, and his mother has the adult form, diagnosed only after her children were born.
Stepanek wanted to be remembered as "a poet, a peacemaker, and a philosopher who played." His mother fulfilled her promise to Mattie and edited one last collection of poetry, entitled Reflections of a Peacemaker, another NY Times bestseller. His final book, a collection of essays and e-mail correspondence with Former President Jimmy Carter also became a NY Times bestseller, and was awarded a Gold Medal in the IPPY Outstanding Book of the Year 'Peacemaker' category in 2007. Children's Peace Pavilion offers a membership program called Peace Champions inspired by his work. In 2008, the We Are Family Foundation hosted the first annual international Three Dot Dash "Just Peace Summit" based on the message Mattie offered in his "Just Peace" book. During this summit, 30 teens from 18 countries gathered to study the inspiration of Mattie's book, and then learn to use tools such as photography and public speaking combined with the power of the media to spread their own messages of hope and peace. Three Dot Dash, the morse code sound for the letter V which is commonly used to express the 'peace sign' is now a year round peace initiative for global teen leaders who are seeking, making, and bringing peace to groups of people around the world by addressing basic needs of human beings.
In 2002, Stepanek became the Muscular Dystrophy Association National Goodwill Ambassador, due to his national high profile because of his poetry and related appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, and Good Morning America. That same year, The Onion published a thinly-veiled criticism of Stepanek in its article "Nation Afraid To Admit 9-Year-Old Disabled Poet Really Bad".
In 2003, Billy Gilman - singer and friend of Mattie's - released an album called Music Through Heartsongs: Songs Based on the Poems of Mattie J.T. Stepanek. The album reached number 15 on the U.S. Top Country chart and 109 on the US Billboard 200.
Stepanek died at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 22, 2004. His funeral was held on June 28, 2004, at St. Catherine Laboure Roman Catholic Church in Wheaton, Maryland. Nearly 1,350 people attended, including Oprah Winfrey and country singer Billy Gilman. A eulogy was delivered by former President Jimmy Carter, who said, "We have known kings and queens, and we've known presidents and prime ministers, but the most extraordinary person whom I have ever known in my life is Mattie Stepanek. His life philosophy was 'Remember to play after every storm!' and his motto was: "Think Gently, Speak Gently, Live Gently.
Madison Cross, the daughter of singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, a good friend of Stepanek, wrote and recorded a song dedicated to him entitled "He Was Just Like Me" in 2005.
