Ann Dwyer died last month

At the age of 83 the grandmother of modern kayaking died of a stroke.

I bought my first kayak in 1989 and yes it was the "kopapa".
I still occasionally pull her "easy waters" book off the shelf for refference.

was anyone else influenced by Ann?

I bought my first yak, a blue Kopapa, around '90, near Santa Cruz. It caught tons of fish, including the stripers at Mendo, till around the year 2000. I started doing the SOT thing, then sold the Kopapa to a pretty girl for $50.
My friends used to call it "the shoe."
I met Ann somewhere, don't remember where. Nice lady.

"the shoe" is a perfect name for the kopapa. we called it "the sea cow"
mine was destroyed while we were using it as a sled in the snow.

I used to canoe a lot and Easy Waters was my guide book and I used to go her shop in Windsor. I met her a few times and would see her paddling the River, Granny Annie was super nice and always excited to give her input for a trip.
Link to the Press OP http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/20090115/OBITS/901150247/1052/OBITS?Title=Obituary__Ann_Dwyer

The first kayak I was ever in was a Kopapa on the Russian River... circa 1990.