Matt Christopher

Matthew Frederick Christopher (August 16, 1917 – September 20, 1997) was an American writer of children's books. He wrote more than 100 novels and 300 short stories, mainly featuring sports. After Christopher's death, his family oversaw production of books under Christopher's name created by various writers and illustrators, treating his name as a trademark.

After graduating from high school in 1935, Christopher maintained his involvement in baseball, playing first in a semi-professional league in the mid-1930s before moving up to professional ball, playing third base for the Smith Falls Beavers of Ontario, Canada (an affiliate of the Class C Can-Am League). Despite having two hits and two RBIs in four at-bats in his first game, Christopher soon found that he could not hit minor-league pitching consistently and was cut from the team. Although he was offered a spot on the Brockport Blues in the same league, he declined their offer. Christopher returned home to New York, where he played semi-professional baseball until a knee injury ended his career.

Christopher married Catherine M. Krupa (Cay) on July 13, 1940, and had four children together. —published by Fiction House.

By 1963, Matt had 15 novels published, most of them by Little, Brown. He was finally able to retire and concentrate solely on writing.

In 1993, he won the annual Milner Award as "the author whose books are most liked by the children of Atlanta, Georgia".

Death and legacy Christopher died September 20, 1997, in Charlotte, North Carolina