Just Peace: A Message of Hope

by Mattie J.T. Stepanek, Jimmy Carter, Jennifer Smith Stepanek (Editor)

From a New York Times bestselling author, an inspirational world vision from the boy Jimmy Carter called "the most remarkable person I have ever known."
 
"I was touched by the depth of passion and awed by the firm resolve with which Mattie Stepanek pursued a dream that has evaded men and women throughout history. What began as a casual discourse . . . became a treasured and enlightening friendship that changed my life forever." —Jimmy Carter 
 
Sometimes the most important messages come from the most unlikely places. Mattie J.T. Stepanek, a thirteen-year-old boy, made a difference before he died with his Heartsongs poetry series. He continues to impact the world through Just Peace. This poet, best-selling author, peace activist, and prominent voice for the Muscular Dystrophy Association fervently believed in world peace not just as a concept, but as a reality.
 
Mattie was working on this manuscript with Jimmy Carter when he died in June 2004. Just Peace explores Mattie's concept of the world and all people as a unique mosaic of gifts. War and injustice shatter the mosaic, which can only be made whole again by planning and actively pursuing peace. The young visionary's essays, poetry, and photographs appear throughout the book.
 
Just as important to the book and enlightening to the reader are Mattie's many correspondences, including his personal e-mails to and from former president Nobel Peace Laureate Jimmy Carter, Mattie's peace "hero" and role model, who has written a special forward for the book. Just Peace is an intimate portrait of a president, a young man of hope, and peace itself.

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Matthew Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek, known as Mattie Stepanek, was an American poet, who had six books of poetry and one book of essays all reach The New York Times bestsellers list. He became a peace advocate and motivational speaker, and lobbied on Capitol Hill on behalf of peace, people with disabilities, and children with life-threatening conditions.

Stepanek suffered from a rare form of muscular dystrophy, dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy, that resulted in his death a month before his 14th birthday. His sister and two brothers also died from the disease during early childhood, and his mother, Jeni Stepanek, has the adult form, diagnosed only after all four of her children were born.