Take the school backpack, for example. Its invention can be traced to one man, Murray McCory, who died last month. McCory ...

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

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.

I struggle to conceive of what a school campus would even look like without backpacks. I still have every JanSport I ever owned, because they hold up so well that I never had the heart to throw ...