[Paddlewise] JFK, Jr.

I got an interesting call on Friday from the TV show Inside Edition. 
One of their research or other staff members called me to see if I would
like to appear on camera to discuss a quote by me that appeared in a
People Magazine's book(I didn't know they had them).

I was surprised as I didn't know I had been quoted; I think I know the
genesis of it but hadn't seen anything in the immediate aftermath in any
of the People Mag issues and specials.  What happened is that a day or
two after the accident, I had a voice message from a friend who works
for People and who is a paddler.  He asked if I had ever paddled with
JFK Jr. or could say anything about his paddling.  I returned my
friend's call, got his voice mailbox and told him that I had not paddled
with JFK Jr. but did see him paddle on several occasions and from my
observations I felt that Kennedy's approach to paddling was "on the
casual side." I think I mentioned my reasons (lack of wearing a PFD, no
cold-water clothing etc.) but I was quite shaken by the man's death in
what I felt was so avoidable a loss and waste of life, so am uncertain
of all that I said.

I frankly thought that my remark, which went counter to all the hype
about the man, would put my friend off and my remark would not get in as
they would likely do a tender piece on JFK Jr.  Indeed, a lot of the
stuff about his paddling that came out in mags and TV later had him
being a careful person, albeit the photos of him PFD-less belie that tag
of carefulness.

So I was surprised to hear I did get quoted afterall.

I turned down the request for a on-camera interview for several reasons:

1.  The article said that I was an acquaintance of JFK Jr, which I
certainly was not.  I had seen him a few times, said hello while giving
him his private space as we all did at the Downtown Boathouse where he
kept his kayaks.  I had only really talked with him once, at length, a
month or two before his death, and only because _he_ had approached me
since I had been pointed out as knowing something about folding kayaks
and he wanted info on some models.  So I could never with a straight
face say I was an acquaintance.

2.  I really don't want to speak ill of the dead and I am afraid it
would come across as that in such a forum.  When we discussed the
Kennedy paddling approach here on our paddling forums, I felt that this
was a sophisticated enough audience with a discerning mindset to be able
to speak frankly and constructively about the subject and keep it in
context.  I think in a wider audience for a TV program that has a
somewhat sensationalist slant (I think all the TV news magazines have
this flaw to one degree or another) anything I said would come over
differently, even tacky.  In my comments to my friend's voice mailbox, I
had chosen my words with deliberation saying Kennedy's approach was
"casual."  In retrospect, I guess I would also have been comfortable
saying it was an "imprudent" approach to kayaking.  And it still rankles
me that photos of him in articles and TV specials that show him kayaking
depict him not wearing a PFD; they really give the wrong message about
this life pursuit we all cherish.

If I thought any good would come of such an TV appearance, I would have
gone ahead but I just didn't feel that way.  Any comments?

ralph diaz  
-- 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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