good old fashioned fun

While not the inventor of the flying disc, Richard Knerr, the co-founder of Wham-O and the one who trademarked the name Frisbee, died today. Read about him or listen on NPR.

Someone emailed me and said, "Isn't it a sad day for frisbee lovers?" I am not quite sure. For one thing, any self respecting Ultimate frisbee player will not play Ultimate with a Wham-O disc. The form is incredibly uncomfortable in comparison to the Discraft discs more commonly used. And while we must thank Mr. Knerr for popularizing and naming the object we so dearly love, he did not invent it. According to Wikipedia, we have the Indians to thank for introducing the chakram.

In any case, we can be sad that the man of the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee, the Slip 'N Slide, the Superball, and Silly String has left this world. The best toys are the simple ones, I think.