August 14, 2002

5:15 AM

Ed Headrick, the principal designer of Wham-O's "Professional Model" frisbee and the father of Disc Golf, has passed away at age 78. His ashes will be molded into flying discs. Cool.
posted by yhbc (16 comments total)

"Who wants to play catch with Grandpa??"
posted by KnitWit at 5:56 AM on August 14, 2002

Wow. Good thing he wasn't the founder of the urinal.
posted by ColdChef at 6:10 AM on August 14, 2002

Rotate in peace?
posted by soundofsuburbia at 6:11 AM on August 14, 2002

lol!

Good timing on this. Over the weekend I was explaining to some friends that I wanted my ashes ground up into ink and used to write out poetry. My fiance said I should make sure to have someone else arrange it.
posted by alms at 6:11 AM on August 14, 2002

Frisbee Golf...one of my favorite weekend pastimes. Lot's of walking, and nobody seems to notice much when you start getting extremely sloshed on the beer. That's also when the frisbees start landing waaaaay up in the tree tops, and other fun places. (e.g., The middle of an all bikini-wearing girls picnic). Parts of Ed have some interesting destinations in store for them.
posted by Cedric at 6:15 AM on August 14, 2002

I used to play a lot of disc golf. Then I found out that its a lot more fun when your drunk. In fact, I think its the most socially acceptable game to play drunk. Do clean up after yourself though, its a major wipeout when you spin out of control slipping on vomit when you're driving on a par 3.
posted by Stan Chin at 6:20 AM on August 14, 2002

Thanks for the news, yhbc. As a fairly avid disc golfer, this makes me pretty sad. Hopefully he's enjoying himself at the big course in the sky.

In fact, I think its the most socially acceptable game to play drunk.

Don't forget bowling. And if you do drink on a course, please DO pick up after yourself. One of my major pet peeves is having to pick up old Natural Light cans from around the tee pad. And also, please be courteous and let people that are more serious about the game play through. I don't mind sharing, just do your part.
posted by Ufez Jones at 6:58 AM on August 14, 2002

And from the CNN obit:

"We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion -- 'Frisbyterians,' we'd call ourselves," he said. "When we die, we don't go to purgatory. We just land up on the roof and lay there."

posted by Songdog at 7:25 AM on August 14, 2002

Ed Headrick's impact on disc sports was enormous. As a top exec at Wham-O he gave momentum to grassroots games that would eventually become international phenomena at colleges and beyond - Ultimate, disc golf, Frisbee Dogs, freestyle and more. He was an icon in disc sports.
posted by neuroshred at 7:31 AM on August 14, 2002

I dedicate this week's Mick's Family Skins disc golf game ® to Ed... an extra buck a hole in his honor.
posted by Mick at 7:37 AM on August 14, 2002

Ashes to ashes, disc to disc.
posted by wiinga at 7:55 AM on August 14, 2002

He'll be spinning in his grave.
posted by donpardo at 8:33 AM on August 14, 2002

oh, the humanity...
posted by adampsyche at 8:34 AM on August 14, 2002

Its all fun and games until grandpa puts someone's eye out.
posted by tittergrrl at 9:00 AM on August 14, 2002

I guess you'd have to call them, at least for Ed, Ultimate Frisbees.

I used to play disc golf at DeLaVeaga in Santa Cruz, one of the best courses in the world (or so I'm told)...here's a map.
posted by Kafkaesque at 9:16 AM on August 14, 2002

I think it's groovy. :) I would play with an Ed Hedrick disk...I just wouldn't let the dog catch it. That seems a little rude.

I wanted my ashes ground up into ink and used to write out poetry. My fiance said I should make sure to have someone else arrange it. --alms

I wanted my ashes to be mixed in with 10lb of the finest red-haired herbage that could be found and distributed amongst all my friends so I could be "grokked". Everyone else thought it sounded "oooky"...and drug penalties have gotten *so* severe...so I'm trying to find another interesting thing to do with my remains now.
posted by dejah420 at 9:36 PM on August 14, 2002