Matthew "Mattie" Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek (July 17, 1990 – June 22, 2004) was an American poet and advocate. At the age of 3, Stepanek started to write poetry to cope with the death of his older brother. His first five books are: Heartsongs, Journey Through Heartsongs, Hope Through Heartsongs, Celebrate Through Heartsongs and Loving Through Heartsongs. All five works made the New York Times' Best Seller list. He wrote that a "'Heartsong' is a person's special gift to be shared with others... or a person's 'reason for being.'" Stepanek had a rare form of muscular dystrophy, dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy. His sister and two brothers died from the disease, and his mother has the adult form, diagnosed only after her children were born. In 2002, Stepanek became the Muscular Dystrophy Association National Goodwill Ambassador, due to his national high profile because of his poetry and related appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, and Good Morning America. That same year, The Onion published a thinly-veiled criticism of Stepanek in its article "Nation Afraid To Admit 9-Year-Old Disabled Poet Really Bad". In 2003, Billy Gilman - singer and friend of Mattie's - released an album called Music Through Heartsongs: Songs Based on the Poems of Mattie J.T. Stepanek. The album reached number 15 on the U.S. Top Country chart and 109 on the US Billboard 200. Madison Cross, the daughter of singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, a good friend of Stepanek, wrote and recorded a song dedicated to him entitled "He Was Just Like Me" in 2005. (via Wikipedia)