Some may say water — ice cold river water — flows through Doug Woodward's veins.

Over much of the last half century, Woodward, Cls 60, has plied river rapids that would curdle the blood of the faint of heart. He is credited with a number of what kayakers call "first descents" — successfully shooting a waterfall or raging range of current no one before had been gutsy enough to attempt.

His reputation landed him on the set of "Deliverance" as a canoe stuntman and technical adviser. But that experience was relatively tame when compared to a lifetime of wild adventures that found him battered against rocks and sucked under water — in other words, up a river without a paddle. Woodward has lived to tell the tales in his book, "Wherever Waters Flow."

"It starts off with one of our Alaska trips that really turned into a hair-raiser, where we lost three of our four boats," Woodward said calmly, in a tone that belies what a near-tragic journey it was.

In a chapter titled "Moment of Truth," he hits readers with: "I see the tree protruding 30 feet into the river from the right bank, the trunk just on the surface, angry currents swirling through the submerged branches. Boaters know this as a 'strainer.' A death trap. The faces of friends — competent boaters that have drowned that way — flash through my mind."

He doesn't delve into the banjo music, but Woodward does supply anecdotes from his days on the "Deliverance" set in the summer of '71. Another Georgia Tech alumnus, Lewis King, IM 50, helped get Woodward and two of his canoeing buddies in on the river action by setting up a dinner meeting with "Deliverance" author James Dickey.

"On some days — at First Falls, Corkscrew and Jawbone — we were called on to be doubles. Or again, we might be called on for technical advice, such as, 'Where can we find a rock face with a swift current running past that Jon Voight can be clawing at for a finger hold and where we won't lose him downriver?'"

Woodward and Gov. Jimmy Carter, Cls 46, both were in attendance for the premiere of the film in Atlanta. They would become acquainted when Woodward helped teach Carter to kayak. He served as photographer when Carter went over a diagonal ledge in a tandem canoe.

"The bow of the canoe dropped beneath the surface. Water breaking over his head, Carter reached forward with a strong stroke to maintain momentum. The bow rose. Water poured off the midship flotation. And the canoe still floated high as it slid toward the final drop," he wrote.

"Their position was perfect and, though the last drop is steeper than the diagonal ledge, there is less of a tendency for a canoe to bury at the bottom. Three quick strokes and they were clear, turning into the narrow eddy below the chute, Jimmy Carter and Claude Terry grinning together. They had accomplished what few people in that day would attempt."