Poet Mattie Stepanek, 13, Dies

Poet Mattie Stepanek, 13, Dies
June 22, 2004
CBS News

Mattie Stepanek, the child poet whose inspirational verse made him a best-selling writer and a prominent muscular dystrophy advocate, 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 TV talks show host Oprah Winfrey and former President Jimmy Carter and made him one of the best-selling poets in recent years.

Mattie was profiled last year in The Early Show series on American heros. He said back then he knew he had accomplished a lot.

"I've gotten books published. I've met famous people that are very nice," he recollected. "I look back and I say, 'Wow. Thank you, God, for giving me this gift. And thank you for helping me to keep going.'"