Richard p knerr biography of rory

LOS ANGELES — Richard Knerr, co-founder of Wham-O, which unleashed the granddaddy of American fads, the Hula Hoop, on the world a half-century ago along with another enduring leisure icon, the Frisbee, has died.

He was 82.

Mr. Knerr died Monday at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia after a stroke at his Arcadia home, his wife, Dorothy, said.

With his boyhood best friend, Arthur “Spud” Melin, Mr. Knerr started the company in 1948 in Pasadena.

They named the enterprise “Wham-O” for the sound their first product, a slingshot, made when it hit its target.

A treasure chest of toys followed that often bore playful names: SuperBall, so bouncy it seemed to defy gravity; Slip ‘N Slide and its giggle-inducing cousin the Water Wiggle; and Silly String, which was much harder to get out of the hair than advertised.

When a friend told Mr.

Knerr and Melin about a bamboo ring used for exercise in Australia, they devised th