Terry Tomalin, the Tampa Bay Times' larger-than-life outdoors editor, traveled Florida and the world to take readers on extraordinary adventures. He died Thursday after suffering a heart attack. He was 55.

Mr. Tomalin had been at the North Shore Aquatic Center in St. Petersburg with his 14-year-old son Kai; the two were taking a life guarding test together. He collapsed and never regained consciousness, his family said.

"We are devastated," said his wife, St. Petersburg Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin. "He loved us. He loved his family so much, and we loved him."

Mr. Tomalin was a well known outdoorsman across the state. Boat captains respected him, both for his fearlessness and generous spirit. He had an Encyclopedic knowledge of all things Florida.

"He joked that he could get through life without ever putting on a pair of long pants," former deputy managing editor for Sports Jack Sheppard recalled. "He smelled like he got up at 4 a.m. and went fishing before work, which he did."

One of nine siblings — an Irish-Italian brood that includes actress Susan Sarandon — Mr. Tomalin grew up in New Jersey. He developed a love for camping and the outdoors during family vacations to an island off the coast of Maine.

Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.