Farewell Steve 'O'...
When I heard Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter had died I felt some honest to God real pain. It hit me hard. Harder than I would like to admit..and harder than I would've thought. Normally when someone famous dies I pause for a moment to reflect on the joy they've given me, share a couple memories and move on about my day but this one hurt a bit more and called for something a bit more...something from the heart.
I walked around in kind of a daze for an hour or so not quite believing that crazy fucker had come to his end. I was hoping it was a prank or rumor but Fox, CBS and Yahoo have all verified my fears...so it is what it is...a tragic loss. A freak mishap with a sting ray and we are all minus one Steve Irwin...his children are left without their doting father and Terry has lost her soulmate. Truly heart breaking. And a shock even though I figured he'd go one day do to his job and passion....but not like this.
Irwin brought a real zest to animal documentaries that hadn't ever been seen before. Cousteau, Perkins and Marty Stouffer couldn't touch this wacky MF'er! He tackled his subjects at full speed, his passion amped up to the ninth degree and he loved and lived in all those great moments he shared with us. When you watched the guy you could see his sincerity and compassion for all the creatures he encountered and introduced us to. He was a larger than life personality and a fine embassador for the natural world and all it's wonders. I give him almost all the credit for putting Animal Planet on the map..he along with O'shea, Corwin and the Extreme Contact Team really gave Wild Life Edutainment a kick in the ass and a boost in the ratings for a fledgling network.. Because of Steve and his colleagues I used to call AP The Crazy Bastard Channel...and he was the cream at the top of that heap of chocolately goodness. He literally charged you with his unbridled enthusiasm and made you want to go out an adventure as he did. He had the fire and awe of a five year old when it came to animals and it was addicting.
One of the many things I really dug about Steve was that he wasn't, in my eyes, a kook. His feet were firmly planted on the ground even as his head was filled with lizards and snakes and crocodiles. He wasn't one of those fuckhead PETA jerkoffs running around shouting stupid, innane shit like a retard sniffing AJAX...and he unlike 90% of those assholes understood nature and knew there was more to the animal kingdom than fuzzy little kittens...he had room in his heart, mind, and world to be fascinated by even the smallest or ugliest of creatures. He understood the dangers of feral pets and introduced species and what they could do to a native ecosystem and he battled them when he could. He was a great man. He was the real deal.
Steve died doing what he loved to do, enteracting with and showing us animals. And I can hear him now as I write this, scolding that sting ray that killed him in that high pitched voice he saved for the fiestier creatures..."You're a naughty little boy! You're a naughty fella! " And I bet wherever he is he's laughing at the absurdity of it all...he survived hundreds upon hundreds of crocodile encounters, venomous snakes of all sizes and many dangerous situations on every continent and he dies from what should have been just another notch on his wound belt. But through all that we always expected him to be there the following week entertaining us in our living rooms and opening our eyes wider to the mysteries and beauty found in the wilds all over the globe. It was a vicarious adventure that I looked forward to for many a year. And now Steve is gone.
The world has lost a great friend today...he was a son, a husband, a father, an educator, an adventurer, a conservationist, a champion of the wild and its inhabitants...a fine human being...and most of all a good man. He will be missed dearly...by me...by his friends and family and by millions of viewers around the world...
Crikey Steve 'O'...it's been one helluva a ride...thank you Bro...G'day.
