Matthew Joseph Thaddeus “Mattie” Stepanek, the courageous little boy who became a best-selling poet and advocate for muscular dystrophy awareness on network talk shows including “Oprah ...

Mattie Stepanek died in 2004 from his disease. Carter gave the 13-year-old boy's eulogy. Former US president Jimmy Carter speaks during the funeral service for Matthew "Mattie" Stepanek ...

Former President Jimmy Carter joined more than a thousand mourners Monday at a funeral for a beloved child poet, remembering little Mattie Stepanek as "the most extraordinary person I have ever known.

Jeni Stepanek, the mother of young poet and peacemaker Mattie Stepanek, knew former President Jimmy Carter as few did — as a neighbor and friend. Carter died at the age of 100 on Sunday.

Matthew Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek bled from his fingertips when he wrote. And he was writing a lot at the end of his life, when he was one of the most famous boys in the world. He left red traces on ...