Harry Kaiser - Longtime Skiing publisher

Harry Kaiser, influential ski-industry publisher, died October 23, at the age of 91.

Born in 1930 on Long Island, Kaiser started skiing at 14, which turned into a lifelong passion and profession. After graduating from Fordham University in 1953, he served two years in the Army. In 1956 he got his start in publishing, working for Nick Hock at the trade magazine Sports Age. He served as advertising director of Skiing Magazine in the 1960s and was named publisher of the magazine in 1970, serving in that post under four corporate owners, until retiring in 1996.

At Skiing, Kaiser helped promote the birth of freestyle skiing and attracted national sponsors to freestyle events. He also helped connect the U.S. Ski Team with longtime sponsor Subaru. An active fundraiser, he raised $1 million through his 15-year term as chairman of the U.S. Ski Team Balls in New York City.

Kaiser was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2015. After retiring, he moved with his wife, Carolyn, to Captiva Island, Florida, where he was a state commissioner for beach preservation. “I grew up with the ski industry,” Kaiser said in his Hall of Fame induction. “I was there for the glamour years and the growth years.”