Father of the Frisbee spins off this mortal coil, aged 90

Walter Frederick Morrison, the father of the Frisbee, has died at the age of 90.

What began with a tin cake pan tossed across a Californian beach between a young Second World War pilot and his wife became a global phenomenon that evolved through three different names.

After returning from the war, Walter Morrison decided to find a way to improve the aerodynamics of his old cake pan and so sketched out a flying disc he called the Whirlo-Way.

He and Warren Franscioni, with whom he had been a prisoner of war, tried to interest commercial partners in the Whirlo-Way in 1946, without success.

Then, in 1955, as America became obsessed with flying saucers and the prospect of an alien invasion, he produced a new plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter, for which he was awarded a US Design Patent.

Morrison hawked the discs at local fairs and attracted the attention of Wham-O Manufacturing, which bought the rights.

The company adopted the name Frisbee because that's what college students in New England were calling the Pluto Platters.

The name was derived from the Frisbie Pie Co, a local bakery whose empty tins were tossed like Morrison's novelty.

Yesterday Kay McIff, an attorney who represented Mr Morrison in a royalties case, said he died at his home in Monroe, Utah, on Tuesday. Mr McIff, who is from Richfield, Mr Morrison's home town, said: "That simple little toy has permeated every continent in every country – as many homes have Frisbees as any other device ever invented. How would you get through your youth without learning to throw a Frisbee?"

Mr Morrison's son, Walt, said that "old age caught up" with his father and that he also had cancer. "He was an entrepreneur," he said. "He was always looking for something to do. He was a nice guy. He helped a lot of people."

The man behind the extraordinary success of the Frisbee was Ed Headrick, who was hired as Wham-O's new general manager and vice-president in change of marketing in 1964. He redesigned the Frisbee so that it could be thrown with greater accuracy. Sales soared and he set about marketing the item as part of a new sport. He founded the International Frisbee Association and began establishing challenges.

Upon Mr Headrick's death, and according to his specific wishes, he was cremated and his ashes moulded into memorial Frisbees which were presented to his family and closest friends.

It is not known if Mr Morrison wished to be turned into a Frisbee. However, his close friend and biographer, Phil Kennedy, released a statement yesterday wishing him a "smoooooth flight".