RIP Steve Irwin
Written byPosted on September 4, 2006
Filed Under Obits
Steve Irwin has died. He was 44. He died while filiming a segment for a documentary. Unfortunately, while diving in the Batt Reef, he was stung by a stingray and died before medical authorities could arrive in time.
Irwin escaped death more times than any mere mortal should. And yet there was something inherent within his charisma and character which suggested, nay demanded, that he could not and should not die. Not long ago, Irwin dared to carry his month-old son into a den of crocodiles under one arm while tossing meat to a croc with the other. It pissed people off. But it confirmed in my mind that Irwin, more than anything else, was insane. On the flip side, this insanity also translated into a ferocious boosterism of Australia and vociferous protests against hunting. Irwin reminded us that we were part of the food chain and I suppose, with his last stroke, proved just how dangerous getting closer to that role could be.
The world, in its own strange way, needed a guy like Steve Irwin, however vigorously self-promoted, if only to remind the human race that, no matter how picayune or crazed your interests, it’s worth getting excited about. It’s worth it to sometimes leap into the deep end. It’s worth it because nobody else out there will.
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Alice Fantastic by Maggie Estep. This wild and highly enjoyable narrative involves two sisters (presumably, the third one was still being rented out by Chekhov), a hippie ex-junkie mother who lives with seventeen dogs, a murder, gambling, and libidinous Hollywood actresses who live in Woodstock. But this is the wonderful Maggie Estep we're talking here. And what seems at first like a quirky yarn becomes something unexpectedly moving about connectivity. What I love about Estep's work is the way that she'll juxtapose an extremely astute observation (now that you mention it, why do cab drivers always have somebody to talk with on the phone past midnight?) with an often outrageous story development.
Generosity by Richard Powers. It doesn't come out until September 29th, but Richard Powers's latest will have anyone committed to books reconsidering their literary fervor. I foresee some animosity from the vanilla critics hostile to idea-driven novels, but book bloggers, YouTube chroniclers, and MFAs would do well to plunge into this chance-taking narrative, which introduces vital questions about what the reader's relationship is with media, scientific dissection, and "creative nonfiction." Are we rats fleeing to happy cities? Or can we find the humanism within the purported plague?
Pieces for the Left Hand by J. Robert Lennon. Lennon is one of the most underrated fiction writers working today. Much as On the Night Plain proved that Lennon had a lot more in the toolbox than heartfelt (and often very funny) suburban satire, this slim but fascinating volume juxtaposes 100 small-town anecdotes -- arranged by category -- in a manner that reads, at times, like Nicholson Baker's passions for minutiae and, at other times, Stewart O'Nan's concern for psychological detail. The result is fiction that makes us wonder about whether one person's subjective view of particulars can entirely be trusted. This book never found a publisher in 2005. But thankfully, Graywolf has released it in the United States, along with Lennon's latest novel, The Castle.
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The Means of Reproduction, Michelle Goldberg This thoughtful book tackles the complicated (and little discussed) subject of reproductive rights from numerous angles, which includes a number of unpleasant but necessary ones. The upshot is that there isn't a quick fix solution for declining birth rates and fundamentalist abuses. Just about every political faction has contributed to the friction. But you'll want to read this book anyway to refamiliarize yourself with the topic, but also to understand just what's occurred during the past several decades to get us where we are today. (See also podcast interview with Goldberg.)
Or send materials to:
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Brooklyn, NY 11217
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I hate to be a dick, but …
Boys and girls … wild animals are wild, and they can kill you. Especially if you handle them unwisely. I imagine getting stung by a stingray *in the chest* takes some work.
That is all …
(Ed – We’ve met. I am married to the entity called Barking Kitten.)
Wow, I’m impressed with these words:
The world, in its own strange way, needed a guy like Steve Irwin, however vigorously self-promoted, if only to remind the human race that, no matter how picayune or crazed your interests, it’s worth getting excited about. It’s worth it to sometimes leap into the deep end. It’s worth it because nobody else out there will.
Beautifully put.
Well, heya, Mr. Kitten. We’ll have to hang out sometime.
Steve Irwin will never die, he be chillin with Pac and BigE and elvis. He’ll be back, dont you worry, when the time is right he’ll come back and wrestle all the problems out of the world like the croc wrestler he is. I can hear him now ,CRIKEY! One of the greatest men to ever live.
Apparently, it was that he pulled the barbed tail of the stingray from his impaled heart that actually did the fatal wound. Had he left it alone, it’s possible they might’ve save him. Maybe. But that’s his life, man. He made a life out of getting in the face of our most primal fears and giving us an education in the untamed world around us. He was an Xtreme Mark Stouffer; a wildlife documenter that refused that barrier that keeps most distanced — and alive — from what they most ardently seek out.
Hats off to him, man.
I think that anyone who puts him down is so wrong in there outlook. He was someone who was truley amazing to watch. He was so passionate about his work. Truley he was someone that touched any animal lovers life. I have been watching his program since it came out. And what a loss to us all. My heart goes out to his family. I think this has effected me like JFK efected my mom or the way Elvis effected my grandmother. I have shed tears for a man I had never met, but who has touched my life through television. May he rest in peace.
A prayer for his family. To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. You gotta know that there are animials in heaven.
A prayer for his family. To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. You gotta know that there are animals in heaven.
steve was a great bloke and a wonderful man.
i have never met him,but i always watched his programmes
on Animal PLanet.Iwas very shocked when i heard the news.
my condolences to terri,bindi,bob family and friends.
Steve you will always on my mind.
Croc’s Rule
Steve R.I.P.
Love Anja
Steve was kind of kooky but he did so much for the environment and animals. He poured all the millions he made into preserving the wildlife and the environment and I just think we should all pay our respects. He was not just a nationally recognised symbol but international. I just hope that his spirit lives on in many other Australians out there and we all chip in to save the environment form needless destruction.
Peace out and long live the croc hunter.