Backpacker magazine founder and hiking conservationist William Kemsley dies at 98
As the founding editor of America’s first major hiking magazine and co-founder of the American Hiking Society, Kemsley, who died earlier this month at age 98, spent decades fighting to protect and preserve America’s wild places. William Kemsley (Photo: John McCauley) Published on June 18, 2026 02:00 pm when he founded backpacker in 1973, Bill