Warming up to the Irwins' special cause

11 January 2008
Great impact: Terri Irwin with her book.

Sea battle: Terri Irwin and Captain Paul Watson in front of the newly named ship Steve Irwin. The ship is part of the Sea Shepherd fleet protesting against whaling.


ON their last holiday together, before Steve Irwin's sudden death in September 2006, Steve told his wife Terri how frustrated he was that his message about animal conservation was falling on deaf ears.

"We were talking about some of his frustrations with crocodile research and proving in the academic world why crocodiles were worth being protected," Terri recalled.


"Steve was feeling a bit frustrated and I said it very tongue in cheek, but I look back at it ... it was so strange.


"I said that it seems like you'll be appreciated and your work will be understood but probably not until you are six feet under."


Little more than a month later, Steve was killed by a stringray, and people from around the world opened up their hearts and minds to his cause.


Terri says it is such a shame that Steve never understood the real impact he had made on the world.


"He didn't have that sense of being a big deal. But that is part of what made him special.


"He never big noted himself, he always wanted his work, his wildlife and what he stood for to take centre stage."


Terri has launched My Steve, a novel about the man behind the khaki and all he stood for.


"It is not so much about remembering Steve, as remembering what he stood for that would have made him happy," she said.


Launching the book at the Borders bookstore in Chadstone, a suburb in Melbourne's east, Terri said it was about the impact Steve had had on other people's lives.


"I'm always amazed at how sincere and emotional people are about my loss and it is quite unexpected the love and support and prayers I have received from people.


"So for me it just reiterates how important the project was to do the book, just to give something back to everyone who has been there for my family when we needed them."


Terri says that while she was against the prospect of writing the book, her mind was changed after realising that others were also struggling to come to terms with Steve's death. Not long after losing Steve I did an interview in Australia and the response was quite surprising.


"People would come up to me in the street and say 'thank you for talking about Steve, it really helped my family', and I was so surprised.


"I thought well, this isn't just my grief journey, and maybe if I can tell people who Steve really was and what our life was like it would somehow help and that was my motivation."


Terri says writing the book was an emotional roller coaster, forcing her to relive some of the couple's happiest moments while still coming to terms with her grief.


"It was a monumental effort.


"When I worked on the book I made sure the kids were with someone and off having fun, because it was something where I would often have to sit down for a minute and have a good cry.


"But now I can look at it and I'm starting to be able to smile at the funny, embarrassing, silly times and not just wish I can have more of them."


Terri says she is determined to continue the Steve Irwin legacy.


"I know myself how much I wish Steve was here and how much I miss him and how incredibly difficult it is, and yet it wouldn't honour everything he worked so hard for just to fall in a heap.


"We are living and working for a better world and we need to do that for all of our children and grandchildren and future of the planet."


Terri says she has been overwhelmed with how much they have managed to achieve in the past year. Her main focus is putting an end to whaling.