David S. Boyer, a former Utahn who served as a writer and photographer for National Geographic magazine, died Thursday of a stroke. He was 71.

Mr. Boyer joined National Geographic in 1952 and specialized in covering Canada, national parks and wilderness areas. His most recent article, on the Wateron-Glacier International Peace Park on the U.S.-Canada border, was published in 1987.For a 1956 article, Mr. Boyer traveled from Jerusalem to Rome in the footsteps of St. Paul.

Mr. Boyer won numerous photography awards, including a prize for his "Final Salute," which showed young John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his slain father.

Born in Salt Lake City, Mr. Boyer received a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois.

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He was a Navy photographer in England and France from 1942-45, taught journalism at the University of Illinois until 1947 and worked for United Press in Europe until 1951.

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