Wild Man

Sitcom. *Click.* Soap opera. *Click.* Cartoons. *Click.* World War II documentary. *Click.* Man dangling a cobra on a stick? \nPart nature show, part daredevil act, "The Crocodile Hunter" brought a unique form of entertainment into our homes.\nIt is now widely known that the program's memorable host, Steve Irwin, was killed last week when a stingray barb pierced his chest in the warm waters of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Although his was only the 17th recorded death on account by this particular sea-dwelling creature, Irwin was aware of the dangers inherent in this career -- and lifestyle -- choice. When he was cut down, he was at work on a documentary to be called "The Ocean's Deadliest."\nIrwin, though ably assisted by his wife, was a Renaissance man par excellence. Critics are fast to point out that he was also a showman. This he was, and he would have been the first, we would wager, to concede the point. After all, this great Aussie was a man on a mission: to bring the truth of wildlife -- sometimes heartening, sometimes dangerous and always stirring -- to millions round the globe. His on-the-edge-adventurer style -- which detractors always dismissed as foolhardy and reckless -- will not soon be forgotten by those of us who watched his exploits with a strange mix of anxiety and awe. \nHis antics weren't hard to trace: At the tender age of 6, he was given a 11-foot scrub python. From that day forward, he evinced an enthusiasm that knew no bounds and never looked back. Indeed, with his broad grin and manic energy, it's not hard to believe that while Irwin was 44 according to the calendar, his 6-year-old sense of wonder remained eternal, turning the natural world into a backyard filled with fresh, limitless discoveries. \nWhile it is fitting to mourn this great adventurer's passing, it would be unbecoming for anyone to belabor the mourning at the expense of celebration. It seems to us that our foremost task is to take stock of his considerable life achievements, which were so memorably dedicated to conservation with a boyish flair. \nAt a time when the cause of environmentalism and conservationism is a highly charged political issue, it is this temperament that holds out hope for a nonpartisan -- indeed, global -- consensus about cherishing and preserving nature, with all of its incalculable gifts and hazards.\nFinally, we might think of George Eliot, who once described how children feel when they leave the safety of hearth and home for unknown frontiers: "They had entered the thorny wilderness, and the golden gates of their childhood had forever closed behind them." Steve Irwin somehow managed lead us into that thorny wilderness without ever closing those golden gates, showing us that danger is never a sufficient reason to shrink from the great adventures that life furnishes. For that, the "Crocodile Hunter" will be remembered.