Matt Christopher

Matthew Frederick Christopher, born in 1917, was an American author primarily recognized for his extensive work in children's literature, particularly sports-themed novels. He authored over 100 novels and 300 short stories during his career. Christopher's early life was marked by athletic prowess, excelling in sports like baseball and football. He briefly pursued a professional baseball career before an injury ended it. Christopher began his writing journey early, selling his first short story in 1941. After years of writing various genres without significant publication success for books, he found his niche in children's sports fiction. His first children's book, "The Lucky Baseball Bat," published in 1954, marked a turning point, leading to a successful career in this genre. He was able to dedicate himself to writing full-time in 1963. Christopher passed away in 1997. Following his death, his family continued to publish books under his name, treating it as a brand.

Born in Bath, Pennsylvania, Matthew Christopher was the eldest of nine children. From a young age, he demonstrated considerable athletic talent, excelling in sports like baseball and football, which he continued to play in high school. After graduating, Christopher's passion for baseball led him to play in semi-professional leagues and briefly in a professional league in Ontario, Canada. Despite initial success in his first professional game, he found consistent hitting against minor league pitching challenging and ultimately left professional ball. He returned to New York, continuing to play semi-professional baseball until a knee injury concluded his athletic career. He married Catherine M. Krupa in 1940, and they had four children. Christopher's early writing endeavors included a one-act play and a detective story, both published in 1941. He maintained full-time employment until 1963, when he retired to focus solely on writing.

Christopher's interest in writing began in high school, inspired by reading magazines and aspiring to make a living from storytelling. He dedicated himself to writing, producing a detective story weekly for 40 weeks in his youth, alongside work and sports. While his short stories found success, his novels across genres like science fiction, mystery, and romance remained unpublished for many years. His breakthrough came in 1953 with the publication of his detective novel, "Look for the Body." However, his most significant success arrived in 1954 with "The Lucky Baseball Bat," a children's sports novel. This book, inspired by a conversation with a librarian and a publisher's suggestion to focus on children's stories, led to a prolific career in children's sports fiction. He continued to write, with his second children's sports novel, "Baseball Pals," published in 1956. By 1963, he had published 15 novels and was able to retire to write full-time, citing that sports provided him with rich material from the diverse life stories he encountered.

Matt Christopher died on September 20, 1997, in Charlotte, North Carolina, due to complications following surgery for a non-malignant brain tumor. He was recognized for his contributions to children's literature, receiving the Milner Award in 1993 for being the most favored author by children in Atlanta, Georgia. His prolific output included over 100 novels and 300 short stories, predominantly focused on sports. Posthumously, his family has continued the publication of books under the Matt Christopher name, utilizing his name as a brand and engaging various writers and illustrators to create new works in his established tradition. His son, Dale Christopher, also authored a biography of his father, offering insights into his life and work.

“Sports have made it possible for me to meet many new people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill.”

“I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself. Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, 'The Missing Finger Points', for $50 to Detective Story magazine.”

“I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly.”