welcome
This site is devoted to Matthew “Mattie” J.T. Stepanek, famed poet, public speaker and peacemaker.
Born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, Mattie was one of the few who looked not to despair, but hope. His constant battle with his illness was one he shared with the world, both the ups and downs, and his courage in the face of constant struggle exemplified a life of a true hero.
Mattie passed away on June 22, 2004, at the age of 13. During his short life, he devoted his time and energy to writing poetry, published in his five Heartsong volumes, as well as to various causes, including the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
This site is devoted to the idea of giving Mattie back a little of what he gave to the world. Among other things, Mattie was a fan of the Harry Potter series of books; Hermione, we have been told, in particular. The webmasters of this site launched a petition not long ago that politely asks J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, to consider mentioning Mattie somewhere within the pages of the next two volumes of her works.
Our petition received quite a few signatures over its first month of existence, and the response encouraged us to do a bit more for Mattie. In response, we’ve created for Mattie his own special spell—“Corculum Cantionis” or “Little Heart Songs.”
And so appears this site, dedicated to both Mattie and the petition, and organized to honor Mattie's love of lists! CC has been established so that fans of Mattie can sign the petition, join our personal fanlist, send us their feedback, and, if they wish, affiliate or link to the site. For convenience we’ve included banners and buttons to allow sites to link with us; we would also love to affiliate with as many sites as WE can, to promote our cause.
For more information on affiliating with Corculum Cantionis, please click on the affiliates link. We have also provided information on Mattie himself, his illness, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, whose cause Mattie championed all his life.
Please browse as you like, join our site, and link to us! We’d love to have you!
Thank You!
Sincerely,
Erika, Joya, & Jonah.
Total Members: 7
updates
March 24, 2005 - Long time no update! So Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy St. Patrick's Day, and Happy 2,500 signatures Day! Since the petition got 2,500 signatures (a quarter of our ultimate goal-- 10,000 signatures), I felt it was finally time to give this place a revamp. All the content is the same, but we have a new layout, so hope you enjoy that! Other than that, if you haven't signed the petition, go sign it now, and check out The Quibbler, too!
September 05, 2004 - BIG news since we last updated. First, we've got three new members, so hoorah for them joining! But the real big news? This morning, OUR Mattie petition was mentioned on "Good Morning, America"! How exciting is that? And we've also received confirmation that Mattie's mother HAS signed our petition-- she's #222! Happy day!
August 25, 2004 - Corculum Cantionis is finally up and running-- in perfect time for our 1,000 petition signatures, too! Haven't signed the petition yet? Click here and sign the petition if you agree with it! Thanks to everyone for the continued support!
The Mattie frontpage picture is courtesy of Forrest Stuart McCormick and is not intended for redistribution of any kind. Use of the photo is for non-profit purposes only. All original content on Corculum Cantionis is copyright the site and is not intended for redistribution. Corculum Cantionis is a non-profit site; all materials copyright their respective owners.
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