The Best of Paddler Magazine compiles into one volume the finest articles from Paddler's first decade of publishing canoeing, kayaking, and rafting tales. Including sections on Humor, Destinations, Reflections, Profiles, and Expeditions - The Best of Paddler touches on paddling triumphs and tragedies, the ground-breaking leaders and the next wave of up-and-coming paddlers, and the offbeat humor and silliness of paddlesports aficionados. From the tongue-in-cheek classifications in "Evolution of A Paddle Species" to the elegiac reflections on 1997's losses in the paddling community in "The Tragic Summer of 1997," editor Eugene Buchannan inspires paddlers old and new with tales of outrageous excitement, disastrous mistakes, and paddling's real-life heroes and champions. Working with the talents of over a dozen authors published in 60 issues of Paddler, Buchanan combines his great love of paddlesports with eight-and-a-half years experience as editor of Paddler to amass the best of the best in paddling tales. Paddler Magazine has been the premiere magazine for paddlesports since its inception in 1991. Backed by the American Canoe Association, and published bi-monthly, Paddler is the offspring of Canoe Sport Journal, Canadian Paddler, and Ocean Kayak magazines, among others.