Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin lives on in hearts of kids all around the world

I've been a little busy lately. I've been in Sydney, Australia and will be flying back to New York tomorrow, so I didn't have a chance to write an article. What I did do is bring you an article about Steve Irwin, famous Australian Crocodile hunter who was killed this week by a stingray.

Steve Irwin had such a profound impact on children that many parents believe his tragic death will be a landmark for kids in the way the deaths of John F Kennedy and Princess Diana were for adults.

Many younger Australians were grieving for the Crocodile Hunter as if they had lost a member of their own family, parents say.

"This guy has been in our lounge room for years," said one Sydney mother who has been consoling her tearful primary schooler since breaking the news the TV wildlife enthusiast had died after a stingray barb punctured his chest while filming off the Queensland coast.

She said her nine-year-old son Louis had repeatedly asked, "Is he really dead?" and then cried throughout the evening.

"He knows everything about the Crocodile Hunter, his wife Terri and their kids," said mother Maureen.

"It sounds corny, but he feels he does know the family.

"He has watched all the Crocodile Hunter DVDs again and again.

"He went to a school dress-up dance as the Crocodile Hunter, with little grubs sewn on his shirt.

"He wants to be a Crocodile Hunter when he grows up.

"He cried in the bath holding on to a toy crocodile.

"This is like JFK for kids, or Princess Diana - a young, popular person suddenly snatched away."

Daniel, 11, asked: "Why did it have to be Steve Irwin? Why couldn't it be someone older like Sean Connery?"

"It was as if he was part of the family," said Daniel's father Brian.

Kids and school groups were prominent among the one million visitors a year to Irwin's Australia Zoo park on the Sunshine Coast.

The host met many of them personally.

He dealt with something most kids love - animals - and he did it in an engaging, enthusiastic, almost childlike way.

"Most adults learn to curb their enthusiasm but kids saw him as an adult who never grew up," said one mother.

"A whole generation of kids grew up with him," said British wildlife author Nigel Marven, "and they love reptiles and snakes.

"His passion got kids interested in wildlife and nature."

"A lot of people presenting television just look at the lens and talk to the glass," said Irwin's producer John Stainton.

"But Steve has a unique ability to get through the lens and talk to you.

"He almost jumps into your lounge room."

Irwin's popularity with kids was compounded by DVD projects like Wiggly Wiggly Safari, when he teamed up with top children's entertainers The Wiggles.

Irwin had a cameo role in Eddie Murphy's film Dr Dolittle 2, and a character modelled on him appeared in the animated series South Park.

Then there was the Croc Hunter merchandise, including talking dolls and pinball machines.

Counsellors have urged parents to take their children's bereavement seriously.

"Parents should give them a chance to talk about their feelings," clinical psychologist Judith Locke told a Sydney newspaper.

Younger children were also saddened by Irwin's demise, even if they had not yet fully grasped the concept of death.

Typical was the response by four-year-old James who, after being told that Irwin had "gone to God", said: "But he's still alive on the TV, isn't he?"

The article is from the Sydney Morning Herald and can also be found at http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/its-like-jfk-or-diana-for-kids/2006/09/05/1157222122185.html