History
The first issue of Backpacker appeared in the spring of 1973. The editor's note written by founding editor William Kemsley explains, "It took us three years to put together the first issue of Backpacker. In that time we debated some serious questions among ourselves." The note describes the founding editors' worries that America in the early 1970s did not contain a backpacking community large enough to support a magazine. It also expresses Kemsley's goal to support the magazine primarily through subscriptions rather than advertising.
The Winter/Spring 2007 issue of the journal Appalachia includes an essay by Kemsley in which he describes how he developed the idea to create a magazine about backpacking. The article, titled "How the 1970s Backpacking Boom Burst Upon Us," explains several pivotal moments that showed Kemlsey that an audience could exist for such a magazine.
Backpacker was owned first by Kemsley, who sold it to Ziff Davis in 1980, which sold it to CBS Publishing. In the late 1980s, it was bought by Rodale Press, which also publishes Men's Health, Bicycling, Runner's World, and others. In May 2007, Rodale sold Backpacker to Active Interest Media and the magazine moved to Boulder, Colorado in August 2007.
Read more about this topic: Backpacker (magazine)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)