Steve Irwin, you will be missed
There's not much to say that hasn't already been said, but I feel that one of the biggest tragedies of his death is that it took his demise for so many people -- myself included -- to realize what a great man he was. The saying "you'll miss them more when they're gone" is the one that comes to mind.
I was only a casual fan of his work. But in the past few days, I've been able to look beyond the "character" and actually see the man. He was a man who truely had a love, passion, and enthusiasm for animals of every kind, and he lived his life in celebration of this. And just through being himself and doing what he loved, he did more for animal conservation than anyone ever has, or maybe ever will.
Steve Irwin will always have critics for his methods, his showmanship, and his esotertic mannerisms; but I truely believe he was put on this earth to imbue a passion upon the world for animals, and in this he succeeded. The amazing thing is that he did it not through rhetoric or through protest, but he simply inspired people through his personality and his own exuberence.
There was something magical about the man that somehow I overlooked until now, or maybe just took for granted. But now that he's gone I wish like hell that he wasn't.
True we are robbed of a great man, but I have no doubt that the world will remember him not for the character that he was, but the impact he had on this world.
