in memoriam...crikey

Septermber 6th, 2006

I think that, subconsciously, I want to become a lion. This is the only reason I can think of for always waiting until my hair is so big and poofy that it looks like a Mexican Lion's Mane...or a large microphone. The lady who cut my hair a few days ago (we'll call her Rhonda) asked me, "So...quite a while since your last haircut, huh?" She said this while trying to run a comb through my hair (something which I have long before now deemed impossible) and succeeding only in making me yelp in pain.

Despite any barber or barberess' best efforts, I'm not a very good barbershop conversationist. I don't like to speak while people are snapping scissors at such close proximities. Perhaps I'm afraid I'll offend them, and then be stuck going through life with half an ear. But this time, the barber lady Rhonda said something that affected me like nothing else a barber lady had ever said.

"So did you hear the news about the Croc Hunter?" she said.

I shook my head...which you should never ever do while you are sitting on a barber chair.

"He got killed. A stingray stuck him right in the heart." Maybe it was just my imagination, but she seemed to have said "stuck him" with a badly imitated Australian accent.

"What? No way! Steve? Steve Irwin? That's terrible!"

And indeed it was terrible. Steve Irwin, the croc hunter, was killed on Labor Day while filming an underwater documentary entitled "The Ocean's Deadliest". Apparently he swam right on top of the stingray, and it stuck him with its 10-inch long barb. Normally a sting would not be fatal. Painful, yes...but not fatal. This one, however, happened to penetrate just below the ribcage and pierced his heart.

Later that day I turned on the television and flipped it to the Animal Planet channel. They were showing a marathon of "The Croc Hunter Diaries", and before each episode they showed a 10 second clip of Steve Irwin speaking to the camera with his usual wide eyed, childlike innocence. "If I, Steve Irwin, was to be remembered for one thing, it would be to be remembered for PASSION and ENTHUSIASM. Conservation is my job, my life, it's what I do."

I got this quote, written by a 9 year old kid, straight from Steve Irwin's guestbook:

I just want to say a farewell to Steve Irwin, my greatest hero of all time. I strongly believe that the world was a much better place with you there, for us, the animals and the environment. When I herd the news that he had died I felt like a lost teddy bear, lost in mixed but sad emotions. For ever in our hearts but maybe not on earth. Also a message to Terri, Bindie and Bob, I'm thinking of you all and I'm very sorry to hear your bad news. I hope that in time your hearts will heal. Goodbye Steve Irwin, goodbye.

With love,
Jacob Lancaster (Sydney, Australia), age 9

As for me, I will remember Steve Irwin for his ENTHUSIASM and his PASSION.

In memoriam of Steve Irwin (1962-2006) - photo