Don Starkell

Don Starkell (December 7, 1932 – January 28, 2012) was a Canadian adventurer, diarist and author, perhaps best known for his achievements in canoeing, in particular, paddling from Winnipeg to the mouth of the Amazon River and by kayak through the Northwest Passage.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he had a difficult childhood including an abusive father, four and a half years in an orphanage, and later with a foster family in North Kildonan. He took up canoeing in his teens and at age 17 was named Most Outstanding Novice at the Kildonan Canoe Club. He competed professionally as a canoeist, winning 10 out of 12 races that he entered. In 1967, he was a member of the Manitoba team that competed in the Expo 67 Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant race from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta to Montreal, Quebec. The team won the race after a gruelling effort lasting 104 days.

Starkell suffered serious burns to his legs, as well as smoke inhalation when a fire broke out in his house in Winnipeg in March, 2010. Provided by Wikipedia