The perfect present for: lovers of real-life adventure stories and Steve Irwin fans.

'A great mate is one of those things most Aussie blokes take for granted - until he's not there.'

I don't quite know how it all happened. One moment I was laughing with my teenage surfing buddy Stevo as he got hammered by the suckiest waves on the Sunshine Coast, the next I was grinning next to him in my best man's suit at his wedding in Oregon.

Stevo was my mate. We would go camping, hang out at the beach and his family's wildlife park, play sport, and act like silly buggers. Then our friendship deepened as we trusted each other with our lives catching wild crocs in remote Queensland.

My Mate Steve Irwin offers never before seen photos and untold stories of the bloke, the conservationist, the reptile lover, the life of the party, the hard worker, the mate. My mate, who was more crocodile whisperer than hunter.

This is a heartfelt memoir and boy's own adventure story about growing up with Steve Irwin, by one of his mates, Tony Frisby.

About the authors

Tony Frisby is now a parks ranger based at Yeppoon in Queensland. His early friendship with Steve Irwin sparked three decades of saving wildlife, from joining Steve and Bob Irwin on reptile-catching trips in remote bush to becoming one of the early curators at the Irwins’ reptile and fauna park (now Australia Zoo).

Julie Gatehouse is a Sunshine Coast-based journalist with 19 years’ experience in newspapers and magazines. She worked with Tony to write this book.

Available December, 220 pages, paperback, 22 colour + 15 black & white photos, $29.95