Steve Irwin (1962-2006)
From MSNBC:CAIRNS, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called “Ocean’s Deadliest” when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous bard on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
“He came on top of the stingray and the stingray’s barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart,” said Stainton, who was on board Irwin’s boat at the time.
I always thought Steve Irwin was invulnerable.
I didn't like him because of his animal adventures, although they were always interesting. What I really liked about him was his enthusiasm--if he'd mowed lawns for a living, he would have been the most enthusiastic lawn mower in the world. In a cynical world, that kind of enthusiasm was incredibly charming and totally winning. And he was one of the very few people in the world who transcended culture and ideology--or, at least he did in the United States. He was just easy to like.
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