The following is an artical from Startribune.com

Jason

Master Minnesota kayaker dies doing what he loved best
Terry Collins, Star Tribune

Published May 20, 2003 KAYA20

Kayaking was in Jim Rada's veins. Many Minnesota paddlers considered him a regional legend.

Rada hardly thought of himself as a thrill-seeker. But when the ice melted and the rivers rose from spring rains, there he was -- for more than 30 years -- ready to race America's rapids with the best of them.

That's what the 52-year-old Stillwater resident and University of St. Thomas astronomy professor was doing Saturday when his boat capsized and disappeared as he kayaked on the Presque Isle River in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Rada's body was recovered Sunday. An autopsy indicated that he suffered a heart attack.

"Jim didn't seek or like a lot of attention, but the whole whitewater community had a lot of respect for him," fellow kayaker Dave Gustafson, 33, of Minneapolis, said Monday. "Most people don't paddle this long. Jim wasn't an adrenaline junkie. He had a conservative streak.

Jim Rada in Michigan in 2001

Doug Nelson
"He was not a wild-man boater."

Rada chronicled many of his paddling adventures in an unpublished but widely photocopied guidebook, "Northwoods Whitewater," which he finished in 1996. Kayakers around the world love to challenge the Grand Canyon of Colorado and streams in California, Idaho and West Virginia, but Rada urged them to also boat elsewhere.

He suggested they try the rushing waters of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and the Canadian border country.

"The idea of visiting mysterious canyons, plunging over foaming drops and splashing through rolling waves was planted in the fertile soil of my soul," Rada wrote. "The past years have led me on a continuing adventure by kayak, one that has enriched my life with exciting moments, wonderful friends and places of unimagined beauty."

Doug Nelson
Fellow kayaker Doug Nelson, 57, of St. Paul, said Rada had the experience to teach others how to maneuver through tough stretches in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) and on the St. Croix River.

And the door to his cabin in northern Wisconsin was always open to other river lovers.

"He was a hell of a guy," said Nelson, who had photographed Rada and other paddlers for the book. "This is an incredible tragedy."

John Kiffmeyer, thought by many to be the best kayaker in Minnesota, said Rada was known as "the Admiral" and was a mentor to many.

"Jim was a very peaceful man who had a real connection to the river and nature in a very strong and intimate level," said Kiffmeyer, 28, of St. Paul. "He definitely enjoyed the energy that he received from the river."

A tough stretch

On Saturday, Rada, Kiffmeyer and other paddlers from the Twin Cities geared up in the Nokomis Falls area northeast of Wakefield, Mich.

Conditions on the Presque Isle River were excellent, Kiffmeyer said, and he remembers Rada yelling, "You would have to be stupid to think that it could be any more perfect than this."

After two kayakers had paddled safely about 50 feet down the river, Rada took his turn, Kiffmeyer said. Rada "ran a smooth and perfect line," but his momentum took him into a tough stretch of whitewater that partly engulfed him for about three minutes.

When he briefly emerged from the water, his boat was upside down and didn't turn back over. Kiffmeyer said another kayaker tried but failed to reach Rada's boat.

The kayaker saw that Rada had lost his paddle and was not moving, Kiffmeyer said.

Rada's boat washed up onto rocks downstream, but he was nowhere to be found.

A mile farther downstream, Kiffmeyer asked some dirt bikers if they had seen Rada. They hadn't, so he told them to call for help. Authorities formed a search party and Rada's mates scoured the river until dark.

Rada's body was spotted Sunday morning by searchers in a helicopter about a mile downstream from where he had disappeared.

Rada is survived by his wife, Karen Jensen. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Grace Lutheran Church in St. Paul.

Kiffmeyer said he wonders now whether kayaking will be the same.

"I don't think so," he said. "I'll try to enjoy it, but there will be a sense of loss.

"Jim wrote the guidebook for the area, and the type of person that he was will always be with me. I won't change my paddling style. He wouldn't want me to."

Terry Collins is at tcollins@startribune.com.