Ottawa Kayak School (www.ottawakayak.com) gets this letter sent to me from last weeks student’s wife, Amy by Will Richardson | Jan 1, 1970 | Whitewater | 0 comments August 2, 2006 Dear EJ, I just wanted to write a quick note to thank you for teaching such a wonderful week long clinic on the Ottawa. I gave this clinic to my husband, Jack, as an early birthday present. He has progressed a great deal during his 2 1/2 years of paddling but he is also getting to the point where he needs technical paddlers who are way better than him to help him progress even further. He can’t stop talking about how much he enjoyed the trip. Not only did he learn a ton but he got to paddle with kayak greats like yourself and your family. Ideally, Jack would like to be an instructor someday and looks to your teaching style as something to emulate. I’m not sure if he told you this story, but Jack tried to start kayaking through a friend of his. Although he meant well, the friend’s idea of teaching was "just get out there and follow me." Jack didn’t know how to role, he didn’t know how to brace, he didn’t know how to paddle. A frustrating circumstance to say the least. Jack thought if he couldn’t just pick it up, he must just not be meant to paddle. It was either something you got or something you didn’t. He almost quit. Luckily, that was about the time that he picked up your strokes and concepts DVD. It was exactly what he needed and basically made him the paddler he is today. (It also got me out there.) As we have continued to paddle, we have also collected and enjoyed each of your instructional DVDs so what better present could I give him than a chance to learn directly from Eric Jackson? I couldn’t resist. So thanks again for giving him a once in a lifetime paddling opportunity and for producing instructional materials to help all those paddlers that may not have access to you personally. I’m sure there are many more people out there with stories similar to his. Sincerely, Amy L. R. Hill Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ