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Nature of the Man (R.I.P Steve Irwin)
Investor's Business Daily ^ | 5 September 2006 | Editorial staff

Posted on 09/05/2006 9:05:46 PM PDT by Kitten Festival

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To: Captainpaintball

I have been thinking about this for a few days. Especially with some of the other posters who question his parenting skills. It occured to me that he probably spent more time and gave more attention to his children than many parents do, just because he didn't have the typical 9-5 type of job.


61 posted on 09/06/2006 7:29:18 AM PDT by HungarianGypsy (Better to really live than to merely exist.)
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To: Notwithstanding
Two classes of critics have shown up in Irwin's case, galled by his distinctly Australian enthusiasm and his brawny persona.

Some are safety-firsters who say no one should touch nature because it's just too risky. Others are cognoscente of sorts who say no one should go near nature because all human contact will spoil it.


You would be of the first type, of course.
62 posted on 09/06/2006 7:30:38 AM PDT by Xenalyte (Can you count, suckas? I say the future is ours . . . if you can count.)
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To: angkor

One thing I can mention is that Steve Irwin certainly fulfilled his purpose in life. I have a 12 year old son who was looking forward to turning 13 so he could volunteer at our local zoo. (although they seem to have changed that program in the last few years) Either way, my son wants to work with animals (not like "I want to be a veterinarian" either. ) I wonder how many other kids want to do the same because they were inspired by Steve.


63 posted on 09/06/2006 7:34:46 AM PDT by HungarianGypsy (Better to really live than to merely exist.)
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To: TimesDomain

Yep,
another posting from a "Dried Pea Soul".


64 posted on 09/06/2006 7:38:49 AM PDT by najida (The internet is for kids grown up-- Where else could you have 10,000 imaginary friends?)
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To: Darkwolf377
I have been thinking about this kind of thing a lot lately, though I'm not sure why.

It's because God has set eternity in the hearts and minds of men.

65 posted on 09/06/2006 7:39:27 AM PDT by Terabitten
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To: Xenalyte

"Stingrays are not dangerous or deadly."

Keep repeating that if it makes you feel good.


66 posted on 09/06/2006 7:42:04 AM PDT by Notwithstanding (OEF vet says: I love my German shepherd - Benedict XVI reigns!)
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To: pissant

At least he was a faithful hubby.


67 posted on 09/06/2006 7:43:35 AM PDT by najida (The internet is for kids grown up-- Where else could you have 10,000 imaginary friends?)
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To: Darkwolf377

Very, very well said.


68 posted on 09/06/2006 7:44:56 AM PDT by RightOnline
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To: Darkwolf377

I'll say this here too: Anyone who makes fun of this kind good man's death can kiss my ardvark.


69 posted on 09/06/2006 7:47:36 AM PDT by DManA
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To: Mad_Tom_Rackham; Kitten Festival
I for one found him entertaining, informative, and inspirational.

I did too. He had the most endearing ways, he just drew you in to the show. And I don't even really care much for reptiles. Well, I didn't, but, thanks to him, I have a new perspective on them and appreciation for them. That's what he did.

I recently read this quote from his wife, Terri, taped a month ago: Says Terri, “My husband has a unique ability to jump through the TV screen and into your lounge room. He grabs you and drags you into the wild so you share his wonder and excitement. ”

And he really did, he was one of a kind.

70 posted on 09/06/2006 7:50:29 AM PDT by fortunecookie
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To: Kitten Festival
Irwin, who died over the weekend after a freak attack by a stingray, did not live a riskless life.

Nor does anyone else ... Life IS risk, from the moment we're conceived, to being dragged kicking and screaming from the presumptive 'safety' of our mothers' wombs, to the moment we will all inevitably die. Everything we do is 'risky' ... some choose to face and embrace life and its risks. Others tiptoe through life cowering in fear of their own shadows. Either way, we're all doomed to die.

71 posted on 09/06/2006 7:52:23 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Xenalyte

Decrying the provocation of dangerous and deadly animals in order to get good video is hardly the same as decrying the "touching of nature because its too risky."

Touch nature all you want.
But when you die because you touch it too much and in very risky ways then the foolishness of that touching is painfully obvious.

And to hear people then praise such foolishness as if it were a good thing is too much too bear in silence.

This guy's cheap thrills for the camera eventually killed him. His death should serve as a warning not to be so foolish. Instead we have people acting as if his death by animal was unexpected and a big crying shame.

A nice human being with a family died. And it was by taking a totally avoiable risk that he died. And the kids won't know their dad as they grow up. Hopefully some people headed for similar fates will learn that thrill seeking is not all its cracked up to be and quit {fill in whatever dangerous habit here} before its too late.



72 posted on 09/06/2006 7:58:26 AM PDT by Notwithstanding (OEF vet says: I love my German shepherd - Benedict XVI reigns!)
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To: Al Simmons
Last line in "Second Hand Lions":

"Yes, they REALLY lived ..."

73 posted on 09/06/2006 8:07:19 AM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: New Girl
That pisses people off, this love and enjoyment of life, because it tells the Little People that they had the chance to live as they wished--not as Irwin did, but doing whatever it was they dreamed of doing before they conformed--and the person they have to blame for NOT living as they chose was the person in the mirror.

Great post... sums it up perfectly...
74 posted on 09/06/2006 8:13:16 AM PDT by schwing_wifey (Americans fat??? Have you seen European tourists lately????? PST +9hours)
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To: New Girl

Wow, Great post!


75 posted on 09/06/2006 8:15:51 AM PDT by mom4kittys (If velvet could sing, it would sound like Josh Groban)
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To: Notwithstanding

I never said that in the first place, so I have no reason to repeat it.


76 posted on 09/06/2006 8:27:51 AM PDT by Xenalyte (Can you count, suckas? I say the future is ours . . . if you can count.)
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To: Notwithstanding; Xenalyte
But when you die because you touch it too much and in very risky ways then the foolishness of that touching is painfully obvious.

Where are your facts and statistics?

Stingray deaths rare and agonizing

Injuries caused by stingrays are relatively common but fatalities are extremely rare, with experts saying there are only one or two known cases in recorded Australian history.

77 posted on 09/06/2006 8:51:45 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (If you think you know what's coming next....You don't know Jack.)
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To: Notwithstanding
when you die because you touch it too much and in very risky ways then the foolishness of that touching is painfully obvious.

You're either grossly misinformed or a pathetic shell of a human being. Or perhaps both.

Irwin didn't "touch" anything before his death. He was killed by a freak accident of nature, one which has been known to have happened *three times* in Australian medical history (e.g., by a stingray). The stingray approached him from the bottom, he was not "touching" it.

In the 29 days before his death, "foolish" Irwin personally tagged 49 crocodiles for a "foolish" Aussie conservation program, said to be a probable world record in the "fooish" conservation community.

Note that he was not "foolishly" killed by a crocodile.

78 posted on 09/06/2006 9:01:54 AM PDT by angkor
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To: New Girl
You know, my fiance's father is still alive in his 80s now. He was never much of a father to my fiance. He never took the time to teach his kids anything and he didn't have the patience to spend quality time with them. He got up and went to work everyday, came home and had a cocktail and that was about it. Is that better?????

That describes many people.

The lesson of a life like Irwin's isn't that we should all go out and live like Indiana Jones or some superhero, but that we should take whatever chances we are afraid to take in order to live the lives we desire, and not just settle, not just take what comes to us but to go out and get what we want. I'm not a believer, but it seems to me God wouldn't be saying "I'm so glad you sat on your ass for the 75 years you were alive" but "What took you so long to get here, didn't you take any risks at all?"

79 posted on 09/06/2006 9:06:54 AM PDT by Darkwolf377
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To: angkor

"He was a fool - but an entertaining fool. Shame he killed himself so young."

A fool? He was making $14 million a year from his businesses.

Killed himself? Getting hit by a stingray is one of the more freakish and unlikely accidents out there.

There's plenty more dementia in your pathetic little screed, but I'll just leave it at that.

You're obviously not 1/10th the man as Irwin, and you're not even ashamed of it!

Pwned!

I was thinking of a way to describe that post, but couldn't find the words for that much ignorance, so I left it alone figuring another FReeper who's better with words would handle it. "Pathetic little screed" nailed it. GG, FRiend.


80 posted on 09/06/2006 10:03:39 AM PDT by Bones75
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