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Jul 1, 2004

"When the trees sing,
It doesn't really matter
If you know the song,
Or if you know the words,
Or even if you know the tune.
What really matters is knowing
That the trees are singing at all.
" --Mattie Stepanek

A Child Poet

Mattie Stepanek, the child poet whose inspirational verse made him a best-selling writer and a prominent voice for muscular dystrophy sufferers, died Tuesday of a rare form of the disease. He was 13. In his short life, the tireless Stepanek wrote five volumes of poetry that sold millions of copies. Three of the volumes reached the New York Times' best-seller list. 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."