The Star Thrower

The Star Thrower (or "starfish story") is part of a 16-page essay of the same name by Loren Eiseley (1907–1977), published in 1969 in The Unexpected Universe.

Quotes

The Star Thrower (1978, Times Books (Random House) hardcover: ISBN 0-8129-0746-9, 1979 Harvest/HBJ paperback: ISBN 0-15-684909-7, Sagebrush library/school binding: ISBN 1-4176-1867-1); introduction by W. H. Auden

• ...In a pool of sand and silt a starfish had thrust its arms up stiffly and was holding its body away from the stifling mud.
  "It's still alive," I ventured.
  "Yes," he said, and with a quick yet gentle movement he picked up the star and spun it over my head and far out into the sea. It sunk in a burst of spume, and the waters roared once more.
  "There are not many who come this far," I said, groping in a sudden embarrassment for words. "Do you collect?"
  "Only like this," he said softly, gesturing amidst the wreckage of the shore. "And only for the living." He stooped again, oblivious of my curiosity, and skipped another star neatly across the water. "The stars," he said, "throw well. One can help them."
  "I do not collect," I said uncomfortably, the wind beating at my garments. "Neither the living nor the dead. I gave it up a long time ago. Death is the only successful collector."
  • The Star Thrower, p. 172, 1978.

• ..."On a point of land, I found the star thrower...I spoke once briefly. "I understand," I said. "Call me another thrower." Only then I allowed myself to think, He is not alone any longer. After us, there will be others...Perhaps far outward on the rim of space a genuine star was similarly seized and flung...For a moment, we cast on an infinite beach together beside an unknown hurler of suns... We had lost our way, I thought, but we had kept, some of us, the memory of the perfect circle of compassion from life to death and back to life again."
  • The Star Thrower, p.181, 1978.

Adaptation for charity campaign, 2003

• An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer. As he came closer he saw that it was a young woman and she was not dancing but was reaching down to the sand, picking up a starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.
  "Young lady", he asked, "Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
  "The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw them in they will die."
  "But young lady, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference."
  The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves,
  saying: "It made a difference for that one."
  The old man looked at the young woman inquisitively and thought about what she had done. Inspired, he joined her in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
  • Thousand dinners of hope campaign, 2003. The worldwide 'thousand dinners of hope' campaign. South Africa: Starfish Charity. 25 April 2003.