Saturday, September 09, 2006

At a Loss

Five days ago a life was tragically lost halfway around the world. I'd never met the man. I've never even been to his country, Australia. But I, like millions of his fans, mourn his death. Steve Irwin, better known on TV as The Crocodile Hunter, was a conservationist in your face. His exuberant voice and athletic adventures with crocodiles and numerous other species of animals drew young and old alike into knowledge and familiarity. We started to care about the animals. Even old grumpy crocs. There will never be another like Steve. And we aren't shedding crocodile tears.

3 comments:

Cameraman said...

Hi! I've got some friends in Australia in the Wagga Wagga area. They are members of the Salvation Army Church there. The wife and mother used to work for me throught he internet and remains a good friend. She often told me that a lot of the Australians in that area really didn't care much for Irwin and his dangerous life style. The word "crickey!" became in infamous quote for that reason. Now, out of respect, they honor his passing! Ironic!

occam said...

It says in the Bible somewhere that a prophet is not respected in his own country but must go elsewhere for people to receive his word. I think an apt parallel to how many Aussies felt about Steve.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with that! It seems that Americans have embraced the Aussie way in movies. There are so many cartoons now that even use either Aussie ways or are from Australia.