Sadly Missed

[niggle]

Sad news

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost went unnoticed.

Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Cokey", died peacefully at the age of 93.

The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin.

They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started.

[Crossy]

Actually he was 83

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1291302

Larry LaPrise, died April 13, 1996 in Boise, Idaho, at the age of 83.

Roland Lawrence LaPrise (his full name), concocted the song along with two fellow musicians in the late 1940s for the apres ski crowd at a nightclub in Sun Valley, Idaho. His group, the Ram Trio, recorded the song in 1949. His song writing career pretty much ended with the composition of the Hokey Pokey.

He never made much off of it, considering how well-known the song is, because he had already sold the rights to bandleader Ray Anthony in 1953. He recorded the "The Hokey Pokey" on the B-side of another novelty record, The Bunny Hop.

Larry worked for the rest of his life (until mandatory retirement) as a postal service employee in Ketchum.