Thursday, January 17, 2008

Cultural icon dead


Founder of the Wham-O toy company Richard Knerr died Monday in his Los Angeles area home. He was 82. Wham-O's most famous and best selling toy was the Frisbee, which was introduced in 1957.

According to the wishes of the deceased, Knerr's remains will be tossed onto the roof of his house, and friends and relatives will have to borrow a ladder, maybe from a neighbor, in order to get it down.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just like the late Robert Adler, the inventer of the TV remote control. His wish was to be buried between two huge sofa cushions.

I admit I stole that joke from SNL.

Larry Jones said...

Oh, and everybody please bring your hula hoops and lawn darts to the graveside service.

When I saw the title of your post and the picture I panicked for a minute, thinking that somehow the Frisbee was being discontinued or taken off the market. I couldn't stand that loss.

Some Guy said...

I've found sometimes a hose can be used to retrieve an errant Frisbee from the roof. Of course this is going to be of little use in terms of Mr. Knerr's remains, which I assume are in ash form. The hose would probably just turn them into a paste.

God bless the Frisbee.

Anonymous said...

Love the imagery.

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

RIP Mr. Knerr. I loved your invention sir.

kiki said...

why would he wish such tasks for his family?

SkylersDad said...

Nice Vikki!! Reminds me of Johnny Carson talking about the inventor of the sugar packet, Ben Eisenstadt passing away.

There wasn't a typical funeral service, instead they put him into a big packet and shook him down into the bottom before burial.

Cheer34 said...

The "real" frisbe was a tin pie plate. College students in the 1830's (?) used to buy pies from the Frisbe Baking Company in Conn. and discovered that the tins could be tossed about, and eventually became a game. The Frisbe Pie tins are somewhat collectable.

Moderator said...

I Hula Hooped in his honor Thursday.

Anonymous said...

Hippies everywhere (and their bandana wearing dogs) are in mourning.

Distributorcap said...

i wonder if a dog can chase him to a casket

GETkristiLOVE said...

It won't shock you that the Boulder High School's Ultimate Frisbee team had a few moments of silence for him.

Johnny Yen said...

I heard that they tossed his remains at a beach, but a dog kept grabbing them and bringing them back.