Rest in peace, Kevin Leahy
An artisan focused on boot making
Kevin Leahy, an artisan who helped many people with imperfect legs, me included, passed away last July, after a brief illness.
The last I communicated with Kevin was two years ago when he helped me with a minor adjustment to my hiking boots.
Kevin's journey into shoemaking began in 1976 when he apprenticed under an Austrian master shoemaker in Seattle for three and a half years. He further honed his expertise by studying under German and Austrian shoemakers for six years. Additionally, he earned a degree in Prosthetics from UCLA and operated a prosthetic and orthotic practice in Santa Cruz. This unique combination of traditional shoemaking and medical knowledge enabled him to create hiking boots that offered exceptional support and comfort, particularly beneficial for individuals with orthopedic challenges.
Kevin did his undergrad at St. Mary’s College, Moraga. When I visited him in 2022, my elder daughter was admitted to this college. We talked about St. Mary’s College in great detail and how it helped him. My elder daughter did not go there, but my younger daughter did go to St. Mary’s College.
Kevin’s unique gift was he would make someone walk barefoot up and down and would understand the gait problems of the person and how to fix such issues. Before I met Kevin, I had tried eight different hiking boots over a few years. I had settled on the Zamberlan boots, but they still didn’t fit me perfectly. I used to struggle with every boot and had severe burning sensation on the outside of my foot. I got cortisone shots and my podiatrist told me to find a new hobby.
Thankfully, I found Kevin.
His custom boots made me enjoy backpacking again. They played a big part of my recovery, in addition to strength training, particularly the lower body training.
My boots have a little over 350 miles on them now (I wore them over winters as my regular boot to break them in) and they are starting to become an extension of me. These are my Kevin Leahy boots after my last hike, all cleaned up and ready to go.
I met Kevin twice in 2022. I spent an afternoon with him when he took my measurements and made the lasts. I had so many questions about his techniques as an artisan and how he would diagnose a person. I wanted to do a podcast with him. I even had prepared the list of questions I was going to ask him. I procrastinated. “Next year” I said to myself. Now I regret not having taken that step to talk to him about the podcast and driven to his gorgeous home in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Every time I backpacked in the high sierra, I would take photos of my boots in front of iconic mountains and lakes and send them to him. For my first hike, I composed an email as I was climbing Donahue pass (via voice recording) and sent it to him later that day from the summit of Donahue pass.
His “German friends” are trying to help Kevin’s customers through his website. I have written to them. I hope my lasts can be transferred over to one of his peers.
Here is a lovely documentary about Kevin:
This is a great loss to the hiking and backpacking community. Kevin helped a lot of people.
Rest in peace, Kevin.