He started the backpack company in 1967, while still in college, and went on to revolutionize the way students carry books.

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

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 ...