And the death of one diminishes me

[pecunium]

In keeping with the last entry, which I saw as a public statement of private things, comments were disable because I don't think sharing them there would benefit the the piece, nor us much, I am going to continue, a tad.

From klwalton:

If there are one or more people on your friends-list who make your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.


It ain't just one of you, it's a host.

But LJ is a small part of the growth of the world through shrinkage. First came books, rare, and strange and wonderful. Hard to reproduce, but Marco Polo let the world know of China, just as Herodotus let them know of Egypt, and the Plinys let them know of everything.

Then we got the press, and the world exploded, Haklyut gave us the world anew, and all the old guys (the Plinys, Thucydides, etc.) were resurected, and the past was as brilliant as the far flung present.

Radio let us hear the world, and television let us see it.

Steve Irwin was a modern day Marlin Perkins, with a difference: he went out to look at the animals himself.

I understand that much hullaballoo and vitriol has been spent here (on LJ) about him. I can well imagine all the people who are carping at the things he did, the insanity of the risks he tooks (I have it on good authority that some are going past the point of saying his death by animal misadventure was to be predicted, to the point of saying he "got what he deserved," and that is diminshment of a different sort. As William Muny said in, Unforgiven "We all have it coming, Kid,", so the back of my hand to such as them).

For all, or perhaps because of, his theatrical nature, he made a lot of people look at more animals (and "icky" ones) and decide they were cool. Anyone can make lions and zebras look cool, it takes a special talent to make ill-tempered tarantulas look cool. That was his talent, and his gift. He took crazy risks, and Maia and I have gasped at the sheer folly of his snake-handling (don't try that at home). He had some close calls, snake-bite, near snake bite, aggressive crocodiles, Ghu only knows what all else.

He seems to have internalised his famliarity with crocs, and projected it to others (leading to the cries of his abusing his kid, because he took/allowed him to be taken into pens with crocs). I can understand that, and forgive it. Parents do that all the time. I've seen kids in cars without seatbelts. We take what we feel to be safe and extrapolate our knowledge and experience onto others. It's only human.

There are a lot of shows out there which try to emulate him. So far as I can tell, they fail. He loved animals. All of them, even the truly icky ones, and he shared the love; his childlike fascination with them (I have a friend who teaches kindergarten/first grade, and she takes pictures of bugs, spiders, snakes, scorpions and any other strange looking creature to school. She keeps fish, and tortises, and a king-snake and a tarantula in the classroom, because, "they don't know what's yucky yet," and she is going to do her damndest to see to it they keep it that way). The world is a fascinating place, full of wonders and he went to find them, and to share them.

The world is a richer place because things like television, and radio, and the internet (from newsfeeds to LJ, and yes, even to MySpace) bring it together. It is a poorer place when people like Steve Irwin shuffle off.

Good on ya, mate; Hail, and farewell.

Comments

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

I was not surprised that Steve Irwin died due to a wild animal (although I understand that this particular scenario was unlikely in the extreme). In much the same way, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that, say, a professional race car driver had died in a crash, or that a firefighter had died in a fire.

Personally, I thought Irwin was more annoying than entertaining, but that's a matter of preference. I certainly wouldn't say "He got what he deserved" or "Good riddance". He was, from all I can tell, a decent human being. May he rest in peace, and may those who loved him find comfort in memory.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Well said. I agree on all counts. I also agree with janetmiles that the odds were that he would die by animal. In a nonpejorative sense: that's as it should be, it seems to me (although it's too bad it wasn't many years from now).

[waterlilly.livejournal.com]

My family and I have loved his show from the first time we saw it. He was so enthusiastic about what he did, about the animals. It was impossible not to watch and be delighted with his delight.

I think Steve Irwin died doing what he loved to do. It's not surprising that one of the dangerous animals he loved finally proved fatal to him, but I cannot imagine that he'd have wanted it any other way.

He was a good guy, he had a good family, he did good work. We should all be so lucky as to be remembered thus.

[kasheesty.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more with your post, truly a huge & very sad loss.
My heart goes out to his wife & 2 young children most.

[michael-b-lee.livejournal.com]

Good on ya, mate; Hail, and farewell.

Seconded.

He was a man with a genuine love and enthusiasm for educating people. And he took far, far fewer risks than most people imagine. He had the skill, experience and intutive sense to handle animals in a way that *appeared* downright reckless to the rest of us. In other words, he made it *look* easy, like any other master of his/her calling might. Interestingly, when you see still photos of one of his shows, you can tell just how intense his concentration really is.

I for one will miss him greatly. Someone like him comes along once in a lifetime.

[chris-goodwin.livejournal.com]

He took crazy risks,

That he did.

There are many people who take grave risks as part of their jobs. To my knowledge, they all receive enormous amounts of training as part of them, to the point where they are supposed to know how far they can push. And when they push too far, whatever they're working with pushes back.

And sometimes, once in a while, shit does happen. Something that no one could have predicted, that shouldn't have happened, does. By all accounts, that's what this was; not grandstanding, not taking unnecessary risks, but a freak accident.

[pindar.livejournal.com]

You want to see some of the shit Germaine Greer has been peddling, to the point of actually celebrating his death. Vile hippy feminist.

[(Anonymous)]

Michaelbane at michaelbane.blogspot said "send not" better than most and in my view, better than any or all of the long post and list of comments out of the Twin Cities which went off on family relationships and obligations.

[tenderberry.livejournal.com]

Thank you for expressing so well what a loss his death is - however annoying or foolish he may have been or seemed - he truly cared about animals and hopefully imparted that sense of awe and wonder to many many others. As I understand it, the documentary he was filming at the time of his death was to expand his conservation efforts to the oceans of the world. Truly a great loss for all of this planet's residents. And why is it that there's always somebody who sees a persons' death or a disaster as some sort of divine or karmic punishment?

[iggyspawn.livejournal.com]

I'd say he got what he deserved, but it wouldn't carry the same meaning as many that may say it.

He got a life filled with doing what he loved, he died doing it and in a way that he'd likely made his peace with long ago. "We all have it coming" but it came on his terms and that's something I'd be proud of.