Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Apr. 4--Jeni Stepanek sat smiling in her wheelchair, as yet another person spoke of being touched by her late son, Mattie. This time, it was the celebrated poet Maya Angelou, and she used some of the same words as thousands before her, but in her distinctive voice -- soothing and melodic, with just a touch of mother wit.
She detailed her friendship with the boy from Rockville who died from a rare form of muscular dystrophy on June 22, 2004, just shy of his 14th birthday, but still had managed to write six best-selling books that inspired millions.
At a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Winston-Salem, N.C., last month, Angelou spoke fondly of Mattie's new, posthumously released book, Just Peace: A Message of Hope (Andrews McNeil), which he had been working on with another famous friend, Jimmy Carter, and which Stepanek completed with the help of the former president. Angelou also boasted of being among the celebrities promoting Just Peace on its nationwide book tour.
Then she turned to Stepanek, who suffers from the same muscle-wasting disease -- dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy -- that took her son's life.
"It takes a great deal of courage to be the mother of a child who is challenged," said Angelou, whose son was paralyzed from the neck down in an automobile accident.
"It takes a great deal of courage when you know that the person you love is being so dared to live, and to do better than that, to survive, and to do better than that, to thrive, with some compassion, some humor and some style."
All eyes in the packed bookstore turned to Stepanek.
It is a new role for the 46-year-old woman. For the last few years of Mattie's life, she was in the shadow of his limelight. But now, she has been thrust in the spotlight, alone -- at least physically.
"My son's body died, and I tell you, I miss his body like crazy," Stepanek said earlier, speaking from her home in Rockville. "There's nothing heavier than an empty lap; that's the greatest weight a parent can have. But I have my son's spirit, whatever name you call that."
Mattie was the fourth and last of her children -- all died of the disease. He lived the longest and shared his gifts and uplifted so many that at some point he stopped being Stepanek's alone. His poetry, childlike yet profound, as well as his hope-filled demeanor in the face of illness, touched many.
"I am proud of Jeni Stepanek because she has enough generosity to share Mattie and his love," said Angelou. "The world has him, and has his dreams."
But it's his mother who has lived every parent's worst nightmare -- burying a child -- four times. Still, Stepanek presses forward, not for closure or catharsis but to spread her son's message.
Early on, when Mattie decided to use his fame to work for world peace, Stepanek embraced and supported her son's message but wasn't convinced that she could make an impact.
But Mattie's passion was contagious, and Stepanek said he ultimately sold her on the belief that "every difference is a difference."
Stepanek completed Just Peace to fulfill a promise she made to her son to publish the book and keep spreading the word.
"I will do my part to give breath and life to his message," said Stepanek, who will appear at Borders at White Flint Mall in Kensington on Saturday and at the Annapolis mall Borders on April 15.
She is getting assistance promoting the book from some of Mattie's famous friends, everyone from former President Jimmy Carter to Lord of the Rings actor Sean Astin. Later this month in New York, Stepanek will present a peacemaker award named after Mattie to Quincy Jones, with Elton John and Tommy Hilfiger in attendance at the ceremony.
"If everyone gave just a little breath to some of these words," she said, "it would be like Mattie was still here getting them out."Stepanek's signing in Winston-Salem was among several stops on the book tour where she connected with people from all walks of life who either knew Mattie or were inspired by his works.
Still, she had wondered how well the book would fare; it was a departure from what Mattie had intended, which was a series of interviews with a range of people on how to implement lasting peace in the world.
Because Mattie had interviewed only one person before his death, a law-enforcement officer in Washington, D.C., Stepanek wondered if she could carry out the book's original intention.
She decided she couldn't, so she altered the book's content; it includes more of Mattie's poetry and prose, as well as heartfelt correspondence between him and Carter.
And like his six previous books, it became a hit, making The New York Times best-seller list Sunday.
"That makes him seven for seven," said Stepanek, in a voice filled with warm pride. "It means that what Mattie offered is still something valued by people; he can still make a difference. It's two years after this child died, and he is still making a difference."
After she concludes touring for Mattie's book, Stepanek plans to begin writing two books of her own next spring, both to be published by Andrews McNeil.
"The first book will be about celebrating life even when that life has involved loss," she said. "The second book will be about being Mattie's mom."
Both books should offer glimpses into the world of a woman whose life has been a testament to perseverance through tragedy.
"I had two lives. The first was what I call BC -- before children," said Stepanek, who was quite active before her disease struck her as an adult. "I thought I was going to be a psychologist. I was into athletics. I coached middle school soccer and softball. I ran five miles a day.
"No one would have ever guessed that I would have four children die and end up in a wheelchair. That's the second part of my life, what I call AD -- after disability, after divorce, after death."
She now lives in Rockville with only Micah, the service dog she and Mattie shared. She's a Ph.D. candidate in early-childhood special education and a researcher at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Editing Mattie's book has given her a chance to display her writing gifts, though she says her style is far removed from her son's.
"He just had a knack for knowing what he wanted to say and was very skilled in communicating and writing," said Stepanek. "I would never be able to write a fiction novel, but only stories based on the truth. My son was cut out to write anything."
But there is a bit of Stepanek in Mattie's work. He inherited her gift for poignant expression, her ability to share the most intimate thoughts with clarity and detail. Mattie was the only one of her children who lived long enough to carve out his own identity -- one that continues to grow.
That became evident after he died and Stepanek began to receive letters from around the world, some of which arrived at her home despite being addressed simply "To the mom of St. Mattie," or "Mother of the American child poet," or "To Mattie's Mom."
At Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Upper Marlboro -- where Mattie attended and taught Sunday school -- a movement is under way to petition Mattie for sainthood.
A 26-acre Rockville park, named in his honor, is under construction. It will include a life-sized statue of Mattie and Micah.
Yet Stepanek says each of her children gave her something monumental.
-----
To see more of The Baltimore Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.baltimoresun.com.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Baltimore Sun
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
