He was a beaut

I am sure by now, many of you have heard that Australian naturalist, conservationist and downright entertaining animal man Steve Irwin was killed on Monday. While shooting an underwater documentary, Steve was stung by a stingray, the barb piercing his chest and heart. He died shortly thereafter. It was a freak accident, as many have said by now. Rarely is heard a case in which a stingray has killed someone. Even if people are stung, they rarely die from the toxins the stingrays can carry on their barbed tail. Steve, unfortunately, was hit in the heart, and that unfortunately is what killed him. Many close to him have said he died doing what he loved. Most of the time, I find that statement trite and ridiculous. No matter how much someone loves something, they would never want to die doing it. But with Steve, I believe it. I am sure he would have preferred to have more time doing what he loved and more time living his life, but unfortunately that was not to be. He was in the wrong place at the very wrong time, and now he is gone.

I found this news both shocking and saddening. Steve helped bring popularity and knowledge of nature and many creatures, especially those not so cuddly, to us all. I feel like he really picked up the mantle from Marlin Perkins and his great Mutual of Omaha shows from years past that I would watch as a kid. But he took that mantle and ran farther with it. He never treated the material as a dry documentary. He threw himself into his subjects, injecting each show with his own brand of enthusiasm and knowledge that made it entertaining. Part of the reason you watched was to watch him run wild through the wild. You always got the impression he was kind of nuts, jumping in with crocodiles, tracking down uber poisonous snakes or racing through the outback with the enthusiasm of a kid at Christmas. He drew you in, and held you there while he displayed the wonders of the world right before your eyes. Wonders you never realized or knew existed until he rolled them out before you, like you were old friends and he had something great to show you.

At this time my heart goes out to Terri and their children, Bindi Sue and Bob. Steve and Terri always seemed as though they were a perfect match for each other. They both shared a great love for animals and the planet, as well as each other. They complemented each other well, with Steve being the jubilant one, and Terri keeping him grounded, playing the perfect straight woman to his excited man. They worked well together, and you could always sense how they cared for each other. In more than one show, I saw how Steve would throw himself into the path of potential danger if he felt Terri threatened. They were a great match. Her sorrow must be unimaginable right now. I hope she finds a way through this very dark time and is able to continue on, especially for their children. Bindi I am sure is devastated that her larger than life daddy is not coming home and has a million questions as to why. And I feel for little Bob, who will grow up with but a few fuzzy memories of his father. How hard it will be for both of them, I cannot even imagine. I hope they find the strength to continue on and thrive in their father’s memory. I wish them all the best, and pray for them that they find their way. My heart hurts for all three of them. The one warming thought at this moment that I have is the tremendous outpouring of condolences and support that I hope is reaching them from all over the world. Many people loved Steve, and they are showing that now in Terri and the children’s time of need. Their extended family and family at the Australia Zoo has pulled together around them, and hopefully this will help all of them get through these first, difficult days and weeks without their patriarch.

Beyond the persona we saw on TV, there was much more to Steve that many did not recognize, too focused on the overly enthusiastic man bouncing from rock to rock on their TV screen. Not that Steve was not that man, he was. Many have said in the last few days that the Steve you saw on TV was the real Steve. There was never an act to dissect. He was always enthusiastic no matter what he did. Even if, by one example that I read, what he had to do was dig a hole. But I want to also mention many of the other things he did as well. He was a great ambassador for the animal kingdom. For all his travels and romps over all the continents, Steve cared about animals and nature. He was concerned with their well being and continued existence on this planet. He worked tirelessly to help create and save habitats for many creatures, letting them live in their natural surroundings. He always sided with the animals, not in a crazy misguided way, though. He did from an educated standpoint, backing his actions with knowledge and common sense. He worked unending on his many conservationist activities as well. He wanted to bring his knowledge and ideas to as many people as possible. He recently successfully convinced the government of Australia to rethink and move away from their idea to let people hunt crocodiles in the outback. He cared about those crocodiles, but also about Australia and how the world would see his country if they allowed hunters to poach crocodiles. He saw the untamed beauty that is Australia, and he always tried to show that to the world. He knew the beauty there, and he wanted to show it all to us.

This great ambassadorship of his home country is why the Prime Minister almost immediately offered to the Irwin family a state funeral for Steve. His father has declined, saying that Steve was a regular guy, and would not want such a thing. And that is what was so great about him. He was a regular guy. He was far more comfortable with the regular people than in the type of celebrity circles his fame had brought him. He did not care about the fame, or the money. He cared about the planet, the animals, and about bringing this knowledge to us all. His shows, for all their entertainment value, were highly educational. They taught you not only about the animals he featured, but about the environment, the world at large, animal habitats and how to be safe around them. But he was never preachy. You never felt like he was telling you that you had to do this or that. He just told you the facts, always mixed with his own brand of enthusiasm. And with this mixture, you were always interested, and always found yourself walking away not only entertained, but a bit more enlightened as well. I remember a special he did once regarding the 10 deadliest snakes in the world. I watched the entire program with rapt attention, always interested in hearing all the details about these snakes, but also because Steve held my attention, and I wondered more than once during the hour if he would get bit. He did not, but he entertained me as well as taught me things about snakes I never knew. Actually, he taught me about a few snakes I did not even know existed. I do now, and it has stuck with me, because his enthusiasm pulled me in, if only temporarily, to his world.

Watching Steve, you never felt like he was talking down to you or showing off his intelligence regarding animals and the animal kingdom. You felt like he was talking to you, trying to impart to you the beauty and wonder he saw in all creatures, trying to get you to see, yes these can be scary and dangerous, but they are amazing and wondrous. And he never hesitated to share the danger these creatures posed to us. He always said how dangerous or deadly they could be, and always encouraged us to stay away whenever we could and never do what he does. But he also did not want us to fear or destroy them. He wanted us to look at them as he did.

Over the past few years, I have gotten away from watching his many shows on a regular basis. If I would find one on, I would tune in. Watching a show always felt like hanging out with an old friend; one who was a bit kooky but one of the best guys you ever knew. One that would do anything for you and always liked to show you this great new discovery he had found. It was always entertaining, fun and educational. Steve’s enthusiasm for nature and the natural world would invariably rub off on you, even in the safety and comfort of your own living room. You were excited to watch, and find out what kind of adventures and trouble Steve would get himself into next. Half the time you watched was to see if he got hurt. You always wondered if maybe he was half nuts. But no, he was not, just overly enthusiastic. I know many of us were not entirely surprised that something like this could happen. Anyone who has watched his shows knows that he always took risks, and always threw himself into everything headlong. You knew there was always danger, and always the potential for something deadly to happen. But you never felt like it really would. Maybe it was all the times he escaped hairy situations with nary a scratch on him. Sure, he would occasionally get banged up, cut, scrapped and bruised, but somehow he always came out in one piece.

As it sinks in, I must say, I do not think I like living in a world without Steve. We could use a few more people like him. A few with the enthusiasm and joy of nature, conservation and animals like Steve and the willingness and urge to spread that joy and knowledge to others. A few to help teach the rest of us not only the beauty around us, but also how important the natural world really is and how much we need to take care of it. A few more like him whose fervor and passion for life and what they do spreads infectiously to everyone around them, lifts them up and makes the world a more joyful place in which to live, create and thrive. We need a few more like him, and now unfortunately, we have one less. No, I know I do not like living in a world without Steve Irwin. I know I am not the only one.