Yowell embraces hippie roots in his new book on the history of JanSport

Skip Yowell bumped into the SNEWS® team at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market and shared with us details of his upcoming new book titled “The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder and Other Mountains,” which will be released Jan. 1.

Yowell, who helped found JanSport, said the book chronicles the history of the company, which turns 40 in 2007. “It’s basically about three hippies starting in my uncle’s transmission shop,” Yowell said, “It was a brand that started from scratch and is still strong worldwide today, and there’s a lot of fun stories in that journey.” He said that his many anecdotes are intertwined with explanations of the business philosophy that guided JanSport over the years. Plus, he said there are a few stories in the book that people probably have not heard. Like the one about Yowell and some JanSport reps flooding The Jockey Club Hotel with a fire hose in the 1980s — Ahh the good old days.

Yowell said that he and Bob Demoss, a Nashville-based writer, started working on the book in January 2006, and finished the 55,000-word manuscript in June. The book is being published and promoted by Naked Ink, a new division of Thomas Nelson Inc. The first week of January, Yowell will do an extensive promotional tour in New York City, including television appearances. Plus, he will promote the book at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2007 and then sign books at outdoor specialty stores and colleges.

Naturally, SNEWS® will have a book review for everyone to read well before then.