"In the beginning"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Dedicated To Terri Irwin.

Bindi, Terri, and Bob at the public memorial to Steve.

The phenomenon that is the Irwin legend rolls on, as I had already posted twice on Steve’s untimely death I didn’t post again on Terri Irwin’s interview.

This caused another huge ripple in the pond that is the public's perception of this family, the interview was just as emotionally moving as the news of Steve’s death, his memorial, and Bindi’s amazing tribute to her Dad.

As I said I really had no idea of a follow up post until yet another fact about the Irwin family began to emerge, this latest trend is that, following Terri’s candid description of Steve’s love of his family and especially his children, there has been a very noticeable trend for busy Dads to find time to spend with their kids.

The central theme of Terri’s interview was that Steve placed his children before anything else in his busy life, and his schedule would make most others look like a ride in the park.

Rivalling his famous "Crikey" there is another facet of Steve that has surfaced, this was his absolute willingness to stop what he was doing when he detected it was time for a "Bob Moment" nothing was allowed to stand in the way of these times.

Now we have Dads being interviewed on TV and admitting that they had felt to busy with their work commitments to give their job as a parent sufficient attention, and, importantly making some changes to help accommodate that task.

We have all seen the public image that the Irwin family put forward, but to have a grieving widow paint the picture of Steve’s adoration for his family so glowingly seems to have driven the idea home.

Again there has been coverage of the Irwin dream for Australia Zoo, the Animal Refuge and Hospital, the creation of wildlife habitat refuges in land purchased by them for that purpose, so that we know they were very sincere.

It is only now that the media attention has been focused on their enterprises that we are starting to see the enormity of the loss that Australia and the World has suffered.

To hear that an eight year old child will take over her fathers dreams and make them come true would in most cases be quite ludicrous, but given that her parents were Steve and Terri Irwin and learning of the wonderful family life they had, suddenly the idea is no longer ludicrous.

I for one wondered whether Terri might pack her family up and head for the comfort of her family back in the States, but having heard her say, while fighting back tears, that Australia Zoo would not only remain open as a memorial to Steve, but would one day rival Disneyland as a tourist destination, I think it’s a safe bet that she is staying.

The only blemish over the past four weeks has been the unscrupulous activities of a few who have tried to make a profit from Steve’s death by setting up phony charities purporting to be for Wildlife Warriors, and others who registered the internet names of Terri Irwin and Bindi Irwin and have been spreading very undesirable information to the many people who have arrived at their sites innocently.

As I said at the start of this post the phenomenon of Steve Irwin is still gathering pace and strength, who knows just where it will finish, the one thing that has been proven beyond dispute is that the world lost an inspirational man when Steve died and perhaps more surprisingly the world recognized that loss immediately and mourned as one.


The family in much happier times.



Flashback.


On behalf of the heartbroken Irwin family, Mr Irwin, Steve's father, read these details from a written statement at the Australian Zoo.

"Because of the tremendous public sympathy and support, we have decided to hold a full memorial service within the next two weeks at a suitable venue yet to be decided."

Mr Irwin later wandered around the massive "Diana-esque" makeshift shrine at the Zoo's entrance, crying at times as he gazed at the sight overflowing with flowers, condolence cards, balloons and other Aussie tokens such as crocodile toys and flags.


And the only negative comments published here in Australia.

By the "VERY" EXPATRIATE Germaine Greer


Steve Irwin had embarrassed millions of Australians, outspoken expatriate Australian academic Germaine Greer has said.

And those who had mourned him with their tributes at the Irwin family's Australia Zoo in what the British had labelled "a Princess Diana moment" were "idiots", she said.

British-based Ms Greer wrote in The Guardian newspaper on Tuesday, following Mr Irwin's sudden death that the animal world had taken revenge on "self-deluded animal tormentor Steve Irwin".

"I find the whole Steve Irwin phenomenon (embarrassing) — and I'm not the only person who did," Ms Greer said.

But when pushed, she was unable to name anyone who had publicly agreed with her.


And on that unsavoury note I'll finish this post, I confidently expect the Irwin legend to continue and even to grow as time passes.

15 comments:

LZ Blogger said...

Peter - I Saw the Barbara Walters interview of Terri and she is just as amazing as Steve was. What a STRONG lady! ~ jb///

Margaret said...

What a terrific post you said it all about Terry and the family values. I heard the Germaine Greer thing on a Current Affair. She is the "idiot" also deluded if she believes that anybody would value her opinion,she should also be embarrassed to have been making such stupid comments, sadly she lacks the intelligence in my humble opinion. A work colleague sent a scathing email to the guardian about her comments I have the email address and am thinking of doing the same. I am so glad Germ. is an ex pat. She brings to mind the old adage "one cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Cheers Margaret

Prerona said...

Peter, long time since I came here. How've you been?

Merle said...

H Peter ~ A nice post about the Irwin family. Terri seems to be a lot like Steve and strong, but she will need to be. Wonderful lady.
Take care, Merle.

Christina said...

I have the highest admiration for Terri Irwin. She is an exceptional person and a wonserful role model. Steve's loss is a tragedy, no matter what a few wacko's may say to the contrary.

Big Dave T said...

It's too bad that it takes the death of an icon like Irwin to make some dads realize that they don't spend enough time with their children.

But I have to admit that it's educational to read your posts here about Irwin, as I didn't really know the man that well.

Marti said...

I saw the Barbara walter interview as well - cried like a baby. I certainly respect the Irwin family.

Lovely post, thanks for sharing.

kenju said...

Peter, you have outdone yourself with this post. Bravo, my friend. In all my reading and TV viewing, I have only read/seen one person criticize Steve Irwin. It was a Blogger, and I think I set her to rights.

Germaine Greer is a lunatic.

The legend will indeed grow, and I know in my heart that in time, Bindi will come to be a wonderful force for the good of animals, not only in AU, but all over the planet.

Granny said...

Even the people who didn't agree with everything he did respected him and were shocked by his death.

GG is all by herself on this one.

Beautiful post.

Sar said...

Very touching post, Peter. There's a nice tribute clip that appears on the children's network my kids watch. It was done so tastefully that it's happy not sad and that's exactly how his daughter came off when she spoke of her dad. That's very telling and reflective of the man he was.

Jeanette said...

Hi Peter
Great post on Terri Irwin and a very stirring tribute by Bindi.Oh my a few tears were shed then and since.
And as for Germaine leave her over there shes a Bitch.
Take Care.

wazza said...

Gidday Peter, Gosh for a bloke who orginally wasn't "taken" with Steve Irwin, you've certainly and rightly
shown with your incredible insiteful posts what a huge influence Steve had on the world. It's a shame that it took his death to bring this to the publics notice. A great post and yes Terri and Bindi will keep the Irwin name to the fore.

Katherine said...

What a nice tribute - Bravo!

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I didn't get to see the interview of Terri but I heard many good things about it.

Peter this was again a wonderful tribute to the Irwin family.

The Heir said...

i really cant stand germaine greer, she tends to talk a load of crap. loved the jokes up the top, wasnt sure where dingaling was headed but it was worth seeing it through to the end =D