spiecedogs

When I was watching Steve's Memorial, I saw that between Terri and Steve's father there was an empty chair. At first, I thought that the chair was baby Bob's (who was sitting on Terri's lap). I just came across an article on The Age, which explains that a single seat was kept empty next to Terri for Steve. How utterly moving. Here's the actual article:

Global audience for Crocoseum service
Ben Doherty, Beerwah, Queensland
September 20, 2006

A SINGLE seat will be kept empty next to Terri Irwin at today's memorial service for her husband Steve — a space for the Crocodile Hunter himself.
Long-time friend and work colleague John Stainton, still struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of the man he called his best mate, explained yesterday that the Crocoseum at the Irwin's Australia Zoo was one of Irwin's favourite places, and it was appropriate he had a seat reserved there.

"It was the place that he built, the place that he had the best times in," he said.

"He had great times in that same area where we will have the seat tomorrow. He laughed and sang and danced up there. And his Australia Zoo cap that he always wore watching all the shows with his daughter will be on the seat."

Few details have been released about today's service, but Mr Stainton yesterday told The Age it would be the farewell Irwin would have wanted.

"I think what I've put together, Steve would have been really proud of it. I've tried to incorporate some of the best bits and things he really liked and laughed at," he said.

Irwin died after a stingray barb pierced his heart while he was diving on the Great Barrier Reef on September 4.

It has been planned that his widow Terri and eight-year-old daughter Bindi will play a part in the memorial service, but it is believed that they may be too distraught to speak.

"They'll be attending the service, but whether they're a part of it or whether they remain out of it, I'm not sure," Mr Stainton said.

"It's going to be a very hard task for them to get through it, and I don't want them to have to be forced to talk if they don't want to. It will be on the day that we make that decision."

Mr Stainton said he hoped people who attended today's hour-long service, or who watched it broadcast live around the country, would gain an appreciation for the multi-faceted Steve Irwin.

"I'd really like people to see the side of Steve that I knew and that I loved. Most people who saw him on TV only saw one dimension. I want people to see the million other dimensions of Steve Irwin," he said.

The service will feature unseen footage of Irwin and video tributes from friends from around the world.

Prime Minister John Howard and Queensland Premier Peter Beattie will attend and John Williamson will perform True Blue.

Flags will be flown at half-mast across Queensland today, as well as on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

But in death, as he was in life, Irwin will continue to be a worldwide phenomenon. Only 5500 people will attend the memorial at Australia Zoo at Beerwah, but millions are expected to watch it live on television across Australia and around the world.

Large screens have been set up in Brisbane and at Bokarina and Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast, and all commercial TV stations and the ABC will broadcast live from 9am.

The service will be shown in the US, Asia, Europe, Britain, New Zealand, Canada and parts of Africa.

The original article can be found here:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/global-audience-for-crocoseum-service/2006/09/19/1158431712091.html

The actual memorial can be viewed here:

http://media.theage.com.au/?rid=22027&sy=age&source=theage.com.au/&t=7S3F0G&ie=1&player=wm7&rate=406&flash=1

I started collecting all the Steve Irwin memorial cartoons I can find. Here are some that I found on the Internet:

This one, where the stingray apologizes, is by far my favorite. 
It really expresses what the stingray would have said had he known better. 

Crossposted in crocodilehunter, remember_steve, and, of course, in my own journal, spicedogs_lost, where comments are always welcome.