Mom’s book honors boy who fought disease, sought peace
November 3rd, 2009
From the Baltimore Sun, Good Morning America, Fox News and elsewhere:
Mattie Stepanek was a boy with muscular dystrophy who wrote six best-selling books and inspired millions with his messages of hope and peace. He died five years ago just short of his fourteenth birthday.
Now his mother Jeni Stepanek, 50, has written a book about her son. “Messenger” tells the story of an ordinary boy who made extraordinary choices that led to meetings with celebrities and world leaders. Jeni Stepanek, who also has muscular dystrophy, says Mattie’s messages of peace did not end with his death. An excerpt of the book is here.
ABC’s segment included a reading of some of Mattie’s poems, including this one.
A New Hope
I need a hope … a new hope.
A hope that reaches for the stars, and
That does not end in violence or war.
A hope that makes peace on our earth, and
That does not create evil in the world.
A hope that finds cures for all diseases, and
That does not make people hurt.
In their bodies, in their hearts
Or most of all, in their spirits.
I need a hope … a new hope.
A hope that inspires me to live, and
To make all these things happen
So that the whole world can have
A new hope, too.
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November 10th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Thank you for such a beautiful comment on this new book. I enjoyed the privilege of being Mattie’s mom, and also of holding the truth of his life story and being the one to write this book. I look forward to reader feedback. And I hope that this book inspires people with a message of hope and peace, that is still so very much needed by our world.
Take care,
Jeni (“Mattie’s mom”).