Steve Irwin tribute, memorial announced
Last Updated: Thursday, September 14, 2006 | 5:39 PM ET
CBC Arts
A public memorial service will be held for Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin on Sept. 20 at the auditorium of his Australia Zoo.
Irwin's wife, Terri, released a statement Wednesday indicating plans were in place to provide a live television broadcast from the 5,500-seat venue, called the Crocoseum, inside the zoo north of Brisbane.
"I cannot see how a memorial service would work in any other place other than the Crocoseum, which he built here at the zoo and of which he was so proud," Terri Irwin said in the first comments she's made since her husband's death last week.
Flowers, stuffed toys, cards and khaki shirts continue to pile up in front of Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo in Beerwah, north of Brisbane.
(Steve Holland/Associated Press)
"I would therefore ask that everyone please bear with me in this wish and help me to make this happen."
The 44-year-old wildlife enthusiast died suddenly Sept. 4 when he was struck by a stingray while filming a piece for his daughter Bindi's television show.
Reports had indicated the memorial might take place in a much larger site, namely a 52,000-seat rugby stadium in Brisbane.
'Steve would not have wanted us to have everyone around crying.'-Irwin's friend and manager John Stainton
Terri, eight-year-old Bindi, Irwin's father Bob and his friend and manager John Stainton are slated to speak at the memorial, said the statement released by the family.
Stainton has said that his friend would have wanted people to celebrate his life.
"Steve would not have wanted us to have everyone around crying," Stainton said in a television interview last week.
The family held a private funeral last weekend in which they told each other stories about Irwin, whose syndicated Crocodile Hunter series had a reported audience of about 200 million around the world.
Thanks fans for 'outpouring of love'
Neither Terri Irwin nor her two children, Bindi and the two-year-old Bob, have been seen in public since Irwin's death.
In Wednesday's release, she thanked fans for their support, calling Irwin her "soulmate."
"I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming outpouring of love, support and prayers for my family," she said.
Tickets to the memorial service will be given out through the zoo or through Ticketek in Brisbane. They are available to those willing to make a donation to Irwin's charity, Wildlife Warriors.
People have already started lining up at the zoo, where 1,000 tickets will be made available Friday morning at 9 a.m. local time.
Crowe paying for flight home
Australian actor Russell Crowe also announced that he's organizing and hosting a tribute concert in Brisbane in honour of the nature conservationist.
"He was the Australian we all aspire to. He touched my heart," Crowe said when he first heard of Irwin's death.
The actor's bosses, producers of his new film American Gangster, have given him three days off from shooting next week. Crowe is reportedly paying for his plane flight.
There are no details available and no word yet if the 42-year-old Oscar-winning movie star of A Beautiful Mind will perform with his band, Ordinary Fear of God.
