Mattie J.T. Stepanek envisioned a world at peace and, through poetry, essays, speeches, and public speaking, advocated that each person can choose peaceful attitudes and habits that lead to harmony for individuals and for the future of the world. Despite a life-threatening neuromuscular disease that brought ongoing physical and emotional challenges, he sought to serve as “an ambassador of humanity,” believed every person is part of “the great mosaic of life,” and lived by the philosophy, “Remember to play after every storm!” Mattie worked on humanitarian projects with former President and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, and his seventh and final book, Just Peace: A Message of Hope, written in collaboration with President Carter, presented his “three choices for peace” concept and argued that while conflict is natural because people are unique, violence is an unnecessary and avoidable response. He became a well-recognized guest on news and talk shows, first shared his concept of Heartsongs with Oprah Winfrey during a 2001 television appearance, and said that “a Heartsong is a person's unique reason to be,” the gift each person has to offer others in the world. He collaborated with many individuals and organizations to meet basic human needs, worked with Nile Rodgers in 2002 as the We Are Family Foundation was launched, and served as the National Goodwill Ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association from 2002 through 2004, promoting awareness and research for neuromuscular disease with Jerry Lewis and others. After his death, the Mattie J.T. Stepanek King Farm Foundation was established to continue spreading his vision of world peace through educational and recreational programs and activities, and the citizens of Rockville, Maryland, where he lived his final years, named a twenty-six-acre park in his honor. Its Peace Garden drew on imagery from Just Peace: A Message of Hope, including “mosaic gifts,” “concentric circles of support,” and “flowing rivers of kindness,” and the park was intended as a place of respite and rejuvenation where people could embrace Mattie’s messages of harmony and peace and carry them forward into their own lives.