Poet, Author. He was the child poet whose inspirational verse made him a best-selling writer and a prominent voice for muscular dystrophy sufferers. In his short life, the tireless Stepanek wrote five volumes of poetry that sold millions of copies. Three of the volumes reached the New York Times' best-seller list. Stepanek, of Rockville, Maryland, had dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy, a genetic disease that impaired his heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and digestion, and caused muscle weakness. Stepanek began writing poetry at age 3 to cope with the death of a brother. In 2001, a small publisher issued a slim volume of his poems, called "Heartsongs." Within weeks, the book reached the top of the 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 life story has been chronicled in the national media, and his national television appearances include "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Good Morning America," "Larry King Live," "Today," "CBS Early Show" and C-SPAN's "Book TV." He can count former President Jimmy Carter, MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis and MDA Board members Ed McMahon and Jann Carl among his close friends.
After his death, the four projects were dedicated to his memory.
After his death, the four projects were dedicated to his memory.
Poet, Author. He was the child poet whose inspirational verse made him a best-selling writer and a prominent voice for muscular dystrophy sufferers. In his short life, the tireless Stepanek wrote five volumes of poetry that sold millions of copies. Three of the volumes reached the New York Times' best-seller list. Stepanek, of Rockville, Maryland, had dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy, a genetic disease that impaired his heart rate, breathing, blood pressure and digestion, and caused muscle weakness. Stepanek began writing poetry at age 3 to cope with the death of a brother. In 2001, a small publisher issued a slim volume of his poems, called "Heartsongs." Within weeks, the book reached the top of the 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 life story has been chronicled in the national media, and his national television appearances include "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Good Morning America," "Larry King Live," "Today," "CBS Early Show" and C-SPAN's "Book TV." He can count former President Jimmy Carter, MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis and MDA Board members Ed McMahon and Jann Carl among his close friends.
After his death, the four projects were dedicated to his memory.
After his death, the four projects were dedicated to his memory.
Bio by: Anonymous
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