Steve and Me: Life with the Crocodile Hunter [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Terri Irwin allows us to step into her life with her husband, Steve, and their family, showing us the passion they have for their wildlife conservation cause and each other. I don't know how she found the strength to write this book. I still can't think about her loss without getting emotional. But she has done a wonderful job!

Steve and Terri brought us closer to wildlife than we had ever come before. I grew up watching those animal specials that used the "long lens" and none of that compares to watching Steve handle a poisonous snake or the entire zoo team wrangle a feisty crocodile. Through those moments we could feel the tension of the crew, the surge of their adrenalin and the power of the animal. But more than anything, what was most clear was his love and passion for all of the creatures he encountered.

I just saw a repeat of an Animal Planet special where Steve says, "Come with me" on my journey. Terri takes us along on that journey from her perspective and shows us that it's not over. She and her children are still following the road the two of them forged together. And it's clear that Steve's legacy will carry them on into more wild adventures.

I couldn't put it down and only took two days to read. I had always thought that they were "beautiful together", a wonderful and rare living example of "soul mates".

If I had to rename Terri Irwin's book, I'd title it: The Layers of Persons' Lives: Steve and Terri Irwin. The true title "Steve & Me: Life With the Crocodile Hunter" (Thorndike Press) is chock full of surprises, delights, plus much practical information about Australia, its wildlife, customs, traditions, and conservation efforts.

It should not surprise anyone to hear Terri Irwin's intelligence. But, I think many readers will be surprised. She "starred" on the television shows with her husband and daughter, Bindi, too few times (in my opinion) and many people might under-estimate Terri by her short TV narrations. But reading her book shows without question Terri Irwin's depth of knowledge about wildlife and her adopted homeland. She writes ~beautifully~. It's delightful--although painful--to read in her own words the transitions she made in her life, from single and woman protecting wildlife, to meeting Steve...falling in love...hoping he'd call...certain he would not...to visiting him a second time... to of course, their wedding.

Delights continue with reading her first-person accounts of Stevo, her first treks into the bush, how she learned about the land and animals--and of course, her descriptions of Steve and their private and public lives. Terri --and Steve-- were never just two bumpkins running a roadside animal attraction. Both have a sixth sense about animals that Terri describes so well in her writing. But the backdrop for many fans will always be the fairy tale romance these two favorite persons shared. Chance meeting---fate? Yes, fate--with a destiny, a purpose, a life's purpose these two wildlife warriors shared, valued, pursued.

Terri leads readers along her journey into Steve's world, the world she would soon share. The trip she describes, however, also educates readers about Australia's bush and animals. Much of the terrain, the country itself, makes a fascinating read. She takes readers along on many of their private, and scientific, journeys, and introduces different animals and reptiles much as speaking of special and loved persons. Readers can feel the bumps on the trip along the fenceline...and hear the ocean at the end of their long trip. There's also realistic mentions of horrors mankind commits against poor, defenseless animals. As nasty as these stories are to stomach, Terri shows Steve's and her own passion to protect the wildlife the entire Irwin family has long loved.

Yes, The Layers of Persons' Lives would make a suitable subtitle. Terri Irwin certainly writes eloquently about those layers, in Steve and in herself.

Readers should expect to smile, to laugh, to cringe, to cry...to feel informed, included, engrossed...and to sob, deeply, as Terri finally describes Steve's death and how she and her family have grieved along the way. Her book will certainly fullfill readers' expectations--and much more than they expect.

Just a lovely book, Terri. Lovely. All best wishes in the coming years.