"Croc hunter" jealousy
"Croc hunter" was powerful voice for conservation
Steve Irwin was also an avid history buff, and I recall how much I enjoyed his mini-documentary on the WWII battlegrounds of the South Pacific. It was really very good. I also recall one of the very first articles that I read about him. It was in Outside or NG Adventure or some such glossy thing. The article itself was actually very pissy. The author interviewed a couple of PhD's in herpetology and some other fields, and basically they all had great disdain for Steve Irwin and his, shall we say, TV friendly ways of interacting with wild animals. I chalk it up to ... JEALOUSY. They were stuck behind a desk...Irwin was out there just "doing it." And as quoted from the article linked above:
His talents as an entertainer served the conservationists' cause well, said M. Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy.
"I absolutely think he counts as a naturalist and he counts as a conservationist," Sanjayan said in a telephone interview. "And people who tell you otherwise are just simply jealous of the success he's had."
I also read a really creepy op-ed this morning that had me choking on my coffee, about how he had taunted animals and he finally got his just desserts. To be totally honest, I have to say that I think being taken down by a wild animal is an honorable way to die. He wasn't asking for it--he was just unlucky that day, that's all.
He'll be missed. I think he had an even bigger legacy to leave in television than most people consider; he was just getting started. I was glad to have also read this morning that he told a friend he had just had the best month of his life. You can't ask to go out better than that...in fact, most people die hopelessly unfulfilled.
I plan not to leave the planet unfulfilled, or under-entertained. Whatever my life is, and where ever I may end up, I am going to "just do it." And laugh a whole bunch along the way. Steve Irwin at least taught us that.
Steve Irwin was also an avid history buff, and I recall how much I enjoyed his mini-documentary on the WWII battlegrounds of the South Pacific. It was really very good. I also recall one of the very first articles that I read about him. It was in Outside or NG Adventure or some such glossy thing. The article itself was actually very pissy. The author interviewed a couple of PhD's in herpetology and some other fields, and basically they all had great disdain for Steve Irwin and his, shall we say, TV friendly ways of interacting with wild animals. I chalk it up to ... JEALOUSY. They were stuck behind a desk...Irwin was out there just "doing it." And as quoted from the article linked above:
His talents as an entertainer served the conservationists' cause well, said M. Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy.
"I absolutely think he counts as a naturalist and he counts as a conservationist," Sanjayan said in a telephone interview. "And people who tell you otherwise are just simply jealous of the success he's had."
I also read a really creepy op-ed this morning that had me choking on my coffee, about how he had taunted animals and he finally got his just desserts. To be totally honest, I have to say that I think being taken down by a wild animal is an honorable way to die. He wasn't asking for it--he was just unlucky that day, that's all.
He'll be missed. I think he had an even bigger legacy to leave in television than most people consider; he was just getting started. I was glad to have also read this morning that he told a friend he had just had the best month of his life. You can't ask to go out better than that...in fact, most people die hopelessly unfulfilled.
I plan not to leave the planet unfulfilled, or under-entertained. Whatever my life is, and where ever I may end up, I am going to "just do it." And laugh a whole bunch along the way. Steve Irwin at least taught us that.
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