Schinckel.net

I’ve never really liked Steve Irwin. His over-exuberance annoyed me. When he nearly fed his baby to a crocodile, I felt like the rest of Australia was starting to feel the same way as me. Steve Irwin died yesterday, killed by a stingray. The man who scoffed at the danger of crocodiles was (apparently) only the second person in Australian history to die after a stingray-related accident. The stingray’s tail barb flicked up into his chest, and he died shortly after. The news programs on Australian television had created tributes to the man by the evening news, and the late news was almost all about Irwin. Apparently the morning programs were even worse. Having died young, killed by a creature he was filming, Irwin has cemented his place in the Australian collective psyche for a very long time. Going out with a bang has made sure he will stay famous. Of course, had Steve Irwin taken the advice of the anti-skin cancer groups, he would still be alive today. If he’d worn sunscreen, he would have been protected from dangerous rays…