Frisbee inventor dead at 90

We deny ourselves.

That’s what we do. We fill our bags full of what we call discs. We call what we play disc golf. We actively deny the world “frolf,” as if it demeans our sport.

And maybe that’s the case. Maybe it’s a good thing to distance ourselves from the beach-throwers and picnic tossers. Maybe we should do all that.

But tonight, at least for this one night, let’s taken a moment to remember Mr. Fred. Morrison. It was back in 1937 that that man came up with the idea of a sort of flying saucer toy during a Thanksgiving meal. It started out as a lid to some popcorn. Then he made a new one out of a cake pan. He flew planes in WWII, then came home and made his first Pluto Platter out of plastic. His little toy got bought out by the the company we know as Wham-O. It made him a millionaire and–over time–led to this little game we like to spend our lives playing.

Morrison died of lung cancer this week in Utah.

He has our thanks.