Posted on 09/06/2006 1:00:59 AM PDT by beaversmom
IT was the best Father's Day present Steve Irwin could have asked for a moving tribute from his eight-year-old daughter telling the world how she loved him "very, very much."
In Irwin's last magazine interview, Bindi told the September edition of marie claire in it's Father's Day special just how much her dad meant to her: "I love that he's funny, he's entertaining and he's always there when I need him most.
"I'm proud to have a dad like that, who takes on conservation issues around the world.
"I love him very, very much."
For Irwin, the rare father-daughter interview and photo was so treasured he requested all photos from the shoot be sent to him a series Bindi will now treasure forever.
While Irwin had knocked back previous interview requests, he agreed to the shoot as it was "something he and Bindi could do together," a spokeswoman for the magazine said.
In the interview he said his daughter had inherited his love of animals: "The most important thing in Bindi's life is that she's grown up in a zoo. Bindi's passionate about animals, but she's also into singing, dancing and dress-ups, like any other little girl.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...

Bob and Bindi Irwin

Steve and Bindi Irwin

John Howard and Bindi

Russell and Bindi

Bindi
My sympathy goes out to his wife and children.

Bob Irwin
Bindi Sue thought the world of her father, and was excited to have a baby brother (though she admitted she would have liked a sister) when Baby Bob was born.
They are both too cute. They look a lot like their dad.
ping
Gosh, what beautiful babies...
MM
Both are adorable. Baby Bob reminds me of my brother-in-law's nephew who lives in Denmark. Both are the same age. Yet he doesn't understand english yet, he'll be taught english when he turns about 9 years of age.
I did read the press release from the head of Discovery Channel Inc., and he said that they have set up a fund in Steve's name for wildlife conservation and awareness and Zoo Australia, a second fund to help Terri and the kids, and they renamed the garden in front of Discovery Channel Headquarter's in Maryland in Steve's name.
He's there when I need him most...except he's now dead because he thrived on the thrill-seeking and attention that his antics were all about.
How sad.
He chose to put himself in harm's way for fun and profit.
It was entertaining. We were all voyeurs.
He will be missed.
Even more by his family.
A tragic and fully avoidable death.
Hmm? How so?
Chasing deadly animals is fraught with risks, as evidenced by his death.
Most people know to avoid deadly animals. He chose to provoke them for the camera. That choice caused his death.
Totally avoidable. Totally.
He was snorkeling in water only a few feet deep. There have only been 17 deaths from stingrays worldwide, ever. It was as much an accident as was the death of his mother from a drunk-driver. Unless you are suggesting he should have stayed home, hid under his blanket, and the riskiest thing he should have done was to watch the Wiggles on TV? 40,000 people died on America's highways last year. It was a freak accident the same as any of those highway deaths. Nothing to do with risk-taking or living a dangerous lifestyle. There are an average of 12 dog-bite deaths a year in the U.S. so maybe anyone who gets near a dog is a thrill-seeker? You could have made that claim that it was his lifestyle that killed him had a dangerous animal killed him that people don't normally go near, but this was not one of them.
You make a good point.
Post#12 was my response...
When my kids were much younger, I used to quite routinely travel to quite dangerous locations and do some quite dangerous things, because it was my job and it was something I passionately believed in. I even went to war while I still had quite young kids because I'd committed myself to something I regarded as important.
Every soldier, sailor, and airman, every cop and firefighter - every day they do a job that is fraught with risk. Every day they do a job that sometimes, tragically, kills people.
Plenty of people do it - and thank God they do.
I don't entirely get Steve Irwin's passion for what he did - but that it was very real and very serious is obvious.
I understand your point.
A stingray is not a "deadly animal" as evidenced by the fact that only 17 people have been killed by stingrays ever. In the Bahamas, they let you ride on them as they swim around. His death by one was a fluke, a freak accident. More people are killed by dogs and horses each year than have ever been killed by stingrays ever.
Most people know to avoid deadly animals. He chose to provoke them for the camera. That choice caused his death.
TOTALLY WRONG! According to the police who have watched the tape, he DID NOT provoke the animal at all. It flicked its tail around as Steve swam over it and Steve happened to be in the worst location and took it in the one spot where it was fatal. Milkmaids have been killed milking cows when the cows kicked them in the head. Does that make cows "deadly animals"?
Totally avoidable. Totally.
It was an accident. Not avoidable at all. Most accidents occur in the home. Even if he had stayed home and done nothing but cook, clean, and watch the Wiggles on TV, there's always a chance of accidental death. Nothing is certain. You could be killed by a drunk driver tomorrow. If you are, will I be justified in calling your death "Totally avoidable. Totally." because you didn't stay home and hide under your blanket 24/7?
Going to war for the USA is a noble selfless act.
Chasing dangerous animals (as Irwin did) is thrill-seeking for fun and profit.
To equate alligator antics for the camera with firefighting and soldiering is sophomoric.
Well first of all, I didn't go to war for the USA. I'm an Australian.
But more importantly, I think it's wrong to classify what Irwin did solely as thrill-seeking for fun and profit - although incidentally I know people who went into the military for both those reasons - for adventure, and for pay and benefits - they are hardly uncommon motivations, and I think they did apply for Irwin.
But he also spent a lot of his time and a lot of his effort seeking to educate people - especially children, and in my view, that is a noble act. Whether it was his primary motivation or not, that did a lot of good.
He also educated a lot of people about the dangers of Australian wildlife and while I can't prove it, I suspect that has saved lives. And he also personally saved at least one person from drowning while engaged on filming one of his documentaries.
You're acting as if he was only an entertainer. He was an entertainer but he did a lot more than that.
I can't believe I'm defending him - I've spent much of today telling people I can't understand why there's so much fuss about him.
Evil Knievel also had many similar accidents.
When you do risky things, you intentionally make the chance of an accident more likely.
You are not applying logic, you are rationalizing the behavior of an irresponsible father.
Irwin thrived on taking risks for the camera.
He chose to provoke reactions in dangerous animals just for the camera. he purposefully made his work more dangerous than it had to be.
This is nothing like a soldier going to war or a man fighting a fire.
Provoking animals for the camera or for the crowd.
That was his goal.
On the side he did nice things, true.
But the nice things are not what posed the risk or what killed him.
He was a passionate, full of joy, and very successfull. A man who fortunate to do what he loved. I imagine there will always be envious detractors. All the kids I know are devastated. That says a lot.
It's so sad. I never really watched his shows, but it was always a scream when I came across him on TV when channel surfing. A pure entertainer and one who will be missed.
Lots of kids were devastated that Tupac Shakur died, too.
That is a lame argument.
Speaking of lame, you're showing your A$$ on this thread.
The man is dead; show a little respect. Your posts are shameful.
There are many kind and passionate bungee jumpers.
When one dies while jumping, I consider him a selfish fool who put a priority on thrill seeking and got more thrill than he bargained for.
That people are so willing to turn such a man into a hero is frightening.
He was a nice man, tried to do good things, but he was most famous for - and died because of - his selfish and dangerous thrill-seeking.
This is schmaltz mixed with its own weight of nutrasweet.
How do you know this, did they interview the ray that stabbed him?
For the rest of the World, we lost a "friend" and he will be honored as such.
Here's another thread about Steve Irwin if you'd like to post there:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1695850/posts
What is the matter with you?
bttt
Jack Hanna was on Greta's show last night and he said Steve Irwin's death was a freak accident and said it would be like he himself had died from being bitten by a poodle.
I think it has something to do with the fact that he was just a highly likeable guy, like many Aussies I have met. Full of life and a decent sort. People relate to that.
"A tragic and fully avoidable death."
Many others have given good responses to your silly post. Just one other thought - life is a risky business. Steve Irwin could have decided to stay home rather than doing this shoot, and been hit by lightning on the way to his car. There is no such thing as "safety", though granted some activities are riskier than others. Death by lightning is however more of a risk than death by stingray, by a BIG margin. ;-)
It is the mentality that we must avoid all risk that is leading us further and further into an undesirable and stultifying morass of laws designed to "protect us".
The cure, of course, is FAR worse than the disease.
"Totally avoidable. Totally."
Death is not avoidable.
He knew what he was doing with animals. Plus he had a good support team so this wasn't risk taking for the sake of risk.
Now if he tried to fly an airplane without training and crashed it would be different.
You put words of mourning into his daughter's mouth? How very presumptuous and crass.
By all accounts Stever Irwin was a very nice guy. He worked for many years as a conservationist before he became famous. I feel terrible for his family and I will miss him.
Driving a motor vehicle is fraught with risks, as evidenced by thousands of deaths every year.
You'd better sell your car today...for the children.
Provoking animals for the camera was not his goal...your simplistic, childish rant just goes to show that there is always one or two assh*les who want to pee on any parade.
Wasn't the title he was working on something like "Deadly Marine Animals?" I saw one article that said this is the season when sharks are feeding on stingrays, so they are particularly defensive now. The same account said that Australian stingrays are more likely to attack than others.
Like you said this was shallow water, so there was a limited escape route for the stingray. I read that the cameraman had just gotten in front of the stingray. It turned around and saw Steve above him and felt trapped, and reflexively stung him. So far there is nothing freakish about what I've told you. An expert should have known there was a danger. The only thing a little freakish is the barb caught him in the heart, but considering he was right above the ray in shallow water, not that freakish.
Irwin was always doing risky things. How many times was he bitten by venomous snakes and survived? I got the impression after awhile that he was nuts and stopped watching him.
Reading all the tributes, I can see that he had many redeeming qualities. I can see why children loved him, he was so full of enthusiasm, having fun, and with his friendly face. What guy wouldn't want his job rather than droning away in a cubicle for the rest of his life? But very few could possibly do it. Few of his fans will admit he screwed up, but I think he did. He felt invincible after doing so many dangerous things and surviving. Eventually that caught up to him in a situation he shouldn't have been in.
Irwin's death by stingray was TOTALLY avoidable.
Better get rid of your German Shepard to avoid that possible dog bite so you can TOTALLY aviod dying.
Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances, bud. Life is all about risk versus reward, and we all make those kinds of decisions every day. Just because you draw the balance a different place than he did is no reason to run him down.
Tupac Shakur was interested in fun and profit.
Bungee jumpers are interested in fun.
Steve Irwin happened to profit from what he did, and used those profits to encourage conservation and education. He didn't die while shooting a music video, he died while doing a clip for his daughter's show.
From what I understand, the "Deadliest Marine Creatures" or whatever that he was filming was NOT including stingrays; they saw the stingrays and he decided to get footage for his daughter's show. The fact that he was shooting a separate show with the ominous title during the same time frame is just a tragic coincidence.
Does anyone think an eight-year-old really talks like this?
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