There is no way I can let the passing of Steve Irwin go unremarked.

My children and I used to spend many the hour watching the Croc Hunter and his antics.  He was an amazing man, with an infectious passion for animals, and a bit of a knack for drama and sensationalism.

And he was a bit of a daredevil, taking chances that we all shook our heads at, knowing he was pushing his luck, and the underlying feeling was that someday his luck would run out.

It did.

He even made sport of it, in a snake bite episode in a Fed Ex commercial.

A lot of people have noted that he died doing what he loved, and would have preferred to die how he did, then to any other way, but to me that’s a kind of meaningless thought.  I mean honestly, I think he would have enjoyed dying of old age, his wife beside him and surrounded by kids and grand kids, like most people would.

I feel sorrow for Terri and his kids, as they will be faced with a barrage of people making that observation, for it almost generates a self destructive nature about their loved one.

And since the deadly accident was videotaped, how long before they will see their beloved’s death on the news and or television and Internet?

They will have to relive this, over and over.  I pray for their strength.  Yes, the world shares their loss, but the world will also be reminding them of it for years to come.

But looking beyond that, there is no doubt that Irwin did love his work, and the "beautiful" creatures he studied.  As I said, he had an almost infectious way of making the most obscure lizard or snake into the most amazing creature.  Where most people saw a man eating lizard suitable for hand bags ans shoes, he saw a thriving creature with a place in the ecosystem, a creature of deadly beauty.

And that is the vision he tried to share with us every week.

He was Marlin Perkins on a huge coffee high, and he was amazingly informative and entertaining at the same time.

He was the Crocodile Hunter.

He will be missed. 

Trackback URI | Comments RSS