Posted on 06/22/2004 4:24:18 PM PDT by johnfrink
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Mattie Stepanek, the child poet whose inspirational verse made him a best-selling writer and a prominent advocate for muscular dystrophy, died Tuesday from complications of the disease. He was 13.
Mattie died at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, the hospital said.
"Mattie was something special, something very special," Muscular Dystrophy Association National Chairman Jerry Lewis said in a statement. "His example made people want to reach for the best within themselves. It was easy to forget how sick he was because his megawatt personality just made you want to smile.
Mattie had dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy, a genetic disease that impaired almost all of his body's major functions, such as heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and digestion, and caused muscle weakness.
His mother, Jeni, 44, has the adult-onset form of the disease, and his three older siblings died of it in early childhood.
Mattie began writing poetry at age 3 to cope with the death of a brother. In 2001, a small Virginia publisher issued a slim volume of his poems, called "Heartsongs." Within weeks, the book reached the top of The New York Times best-seller list, the MDA said.
He wrote four other books: "Journey Through Heartsongs," "Hope Through Heartsongs," "Celebrate Through Heartsongs" and "Loving Through Heartsongs."
Mattie's poems brought him admirers including Oprah Winfrey and former President Carter and made him one of the best-selling poets in recent years.
Our hearts go out to Mattie Stepanek. Its always a tragedy when a child dies. He will be missed.
He had an amazing gift that was shared with the world. It's as tho a shining star has dimmed with his passing.
This news is terribly hard for me to take. I so enjoyed listening to a 'child' teach humanity and kindness to many 'adults' who lost their way. Hopefully LKL, who was a great admirer, will air reruns of his many appearances.
He was an amazing little guy with a huge heart. God bless him.
This little guy was wise beyond his years.
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