Good Weekend: The business of being Bindi Irwin
Update: Full quotes and scans added.
Originally posted August 19th: Good Weekend reporter, Jane Cadzow, describes Bindi Irwin, 9, as the ‘image of her father,’ the late Steve ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ Irwin. Bindi, provided a rare and intimate look into her life when she spoke to GW about life without her father, her family and Australia Zoo. When asked if the feeling of attention is overwhelming, Bindi answers not at all and that she ‘loves it.’ A natural in front of the camera and with an amazing personality, Bindi Irwin, is sure to be as successful and wonderful as her late father.
When asked about her family (mom, Terri, 43, and brother, Robert ‘Baby Bob’, 3 1/2), Bindi smiles and professes that she is extremely lucky.
I have the greatest, most perfect family! My mom is the greatest thing that ever happened to me! Same as my dad and my brother. I love them all very much!
At her father’s memorial service, Bindi got up and graced the crowd with an amazing tribute to her father that she wrote herself. Some doubted her acceptance of her father’s passing, when she strongly stood there and didn’t shed a tear as her mother sobbed in the audience. Then a month later, Bindi continued to acknowledge her father’s wonderful contribution to Australia, by presenting for him at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.
It’s kind of sad that he couldn’t be here, but it’s nice that I could do it.
Source: Good Weekend Magazine, Aug 18th, 2007. p. 24-30.
Continue reading for the rest of the article.
The Irwin’s manager and long time friend of Steve’s, John Stainton says that Bindi is mature for her age and controls her temper.
Most times, kids can be annoying. Tantrums. But she is so even tempered. She doesn’t even get upset.
Bindi says that the loss of her father, whom she claims was her best friend, has only bought her all that much closer to her mother.
Sometimes, when you lose somebody, you get closer to somebody else. Like, I was really close to my dad, and now that he’s passed away, I’m really close to my mom. We’re best friends now. She’s the greatest, funniest…She’s perfect! (Terri is standing by and jokes "I keep telling her that! It’s sinkin’ in.")
Bindi attended preschool for one year and after realizing she wasn’t happy, Terri and Steve hired a tutor and since then Bindi has been home schooled by ‘Miss Emma.’ This doesn’t mean that Bindi has no friends.
She spent a year of not being happy, [so we got a tutor]. With 28 kids in a a class, you don’t learn much. I wouldn’t say Bindi has lots of friends. She has several friends. [She also] appreciates the company of adults.
Bindi says that she knows she is privileged to wake up in such an amazing place every morning — the family spends most of their time living in a modest brick bungalow on the zoo’s grounds.
It’s amazing to wake up and you’ve got muffled sounds of, like, elephants trumpeting and crocodiles snapping and tigers growling. I just love this life so much! I couldn’t stand it if I was in an apartment with a goldfish!
Bindi seems all the more mature than her just nine years when she comes out with ‘your mind can be your worst enemy or your best friend.’ Her explanation;
You can be all sad and never be happy. Like ‘my life is terrible.’ Or you could say, like, ‘oh, my life is great! Look how many things I have! I have the best mom, the greatest brother, I know my dad is still with us, I have a filming career that’s absolutely perfect and I can teach people about wildlife.’ You’ve got to look on the bright side!
Terri says that Bindi has always been a natural with people and an audience and performs at impromptu times.
We’ll be at a playground and she’ll start performing. Parents of children at the playground will gather around and she’ll just perform for them. Here we are in Hyde Park with Bindi performing for passers-by.
Getting Bindi to relax and not run around like a mad girl is the hardest part, says Terri,
We’ve got a real long kitchen, and she’ll be cartwheeling and dancing and I’m afraid she’s going to hit her head or something. I’ll go ‘Will you stop it!’
The article recounts Bindi’s appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, following her father’s death. Bindi said;
I want to try and be him! I feel like I am him! All over!
Terri also adds that Bindi has always had a special connection with animals.
Her intuition is incredible. She will often worry about an animal before Steve [previously] or even I discovered it was sick or injured. This uncanny connection reminds me of the abilities Steve had with wildlife, a strange sixth sense that we refer to as ‘the force’.
Bindi’s recent meeting with the Dalai Lama was also a topic they talked about. Bindi seems to be one of those amazing people who is able to create such distinct relationships and connections with people. With the Dalai Lama,
She wold talk to him about wildlife. She wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward. She was very casual, as if she was meeting an old friend.
Bindi says that the main thing that she wants to do is carry on the work for Australia Zoo and continually promote her father’s work. He is obviously a huge inspiration for her and many other Australians.
When I’m out there singing about animals. I just feel like, ‘This is where I’m going to be! This is me! It’s really, really nice!’
The article refers to two events — here are videos of them both — the first is the memorial service and the second, Steve’s loss of a crocodile named, Mary.
