Murray McCory, a free-spirited outdoorsman who co-founded the rugged gear and pack company JanSport, designed a widely ...

Scanning the University of Washington student center job board ... from Therm-a-Rest sleeping pads to JanSport backpacks. After three years, Michelson struck out on her own.

Seattle-based entrepreneur and inventor of the modern backpack, Murray McCory, died last month at the age of 80.

JanSport backpacks grew out of the heady, creative days of the 1960s and ’70s counterculture in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. McCory, who until the early 1980s had the surname Pletz, was a student ...

Murray McCory, who founded JanSport while a student at UW and whose lightweight backpack, revolutionized school life for millions of students, died Oct. 7 in Seattle.

After the death of Murray McCory, a founder of the outdoors equipment company JanSport, readers recalled how their backpacks served them on life’s journeys. By Amisha Padnani Amisha Padnani is ...

Murray McCory, JanSport co-founder and modern day backpack creator, has died at 80. McCory founded JanSport in 1967 with his then-future wife and later developed a way to make smaller, softer ...

Take the school backpack, for example. Its invention can be traced to one man, Murray McCory, who died last month. McCory founded JanSport in 1967 with his future wife (Jan, the company’s namesake).