Mattie Stepanek

Mattie's photo as MDA's goodwill ambassador (Mattie Online)

Mattie Stepanek was born on July 13th, 1991. He died at 13 years old on June 22, 2004, a couple of weeks before his 14th Birthday. Mattie Stepanek had to live in the I.C.U. for several months at a time throughout his childhood. When he was not at the I.C.U. he lived in a condominium. He attended a public school until doctors found out that he had a very bad disease. After that his mother homeschooled him. His brother Jamie died when he was young. Then he lived with his mom and his helping dog Micah.

Mattie is a poet. He wrote seven books of poetry and has one CD. He tried to make peace with his poems. Mattie started writing poems when he was just three years old. Mattie is a very famous poet in the U.S.A.

Another thing Mattie did was public speaking. He spoke in front of very large crowds of people. He spoke in front of youth groups, churches and on television. He talked about his poems and tried to make peace with them. His message has reached very different people all over the USA.

Mattie was also a peace maker. He tried to get his message out through his public speaking and his poems. He tried to get his message out with his books too. His books are called Just Peace, Reflections of a Peacemaker, Heart songs, Journey Through Heart Songs, Hope Through Heart Songs, Celebrate Through Heart Songs and Loving Through Heart Songs. All of his books are filled with poems for peace.

Mattie has gotten a lot of rewards but there’s a few I want to mention. Mattie Stepanek has gotten many certificates on television. Mattie Stepanek was a really smart boy. He skipped the 3rd the 5th and the 7th grade! I chose Mattie Stepanek as my hero because he started writing poems when he was three years old. I also chose him because he was just like any other kid except he had a very bad disease and was still traveling on airplanes and was going back and forth to the ICU Hospital. Mattie was taking on the world. Mattie Stepanek is my hero and I hope you like him too.