A life well-lived. Sounds like he paddled smart; he died of fate, not poor judgement. I couldn't imagine a better way to go.

One could argue that he may have been resuscitated had he not been on the river. If he were home eating potato chips and watching tv; the heart attack could have happened sooner. I hope his wife and family are at peace with their loss.

Shawn

: 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: Rada chronicled many of his paddling adventures in an unpublished but widely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 .