Larry LaPrise dies at 83

[Shawna]

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 last week. Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at the age of 83. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started.

[Foxy]

Hmm...that's been around for ages - umm....maybe since 1996 when he died!

[RonJonSurfer]

You know what they say, If this coffins a-rockin, don't come a-knockin.

[Shawna]

Hmm...that's been around for ages - umm....maybe since 1996 when he died!

OMG! I just got that little gem in an e-mail last night. Didn't bother to check the facts. Doh!

[Foxy]

From CNN 11th April 1996

(CNN) -- Every child in America, and almost every adult, knows the Hokey Pokey. You just put your right foot in and put your right foot out to perform one of the best-known circle dances in American history.

Its popularity belies its age, and conceals its author. The man who wrote the song, Larry LaPrise, died last week at 83 in Boise, Idaho.

He wrote the tune for the Sun Valley, Idaho, ski crowd in the late 1940s, but it took a recording by big band leader Ray Anthony to make the Hokey Pokey a nationwide phenomenon. (It appeared on the B side of the "Bunny Hop" single.)

LaPrise didn't receive royalties for the song until the 1960s, when its rights were purchased by country star Roy Acuff's publishing company.

In recent years, LaPrise worked in the post office in Ketchum, Idaho. Children often wrote him notes addressed to "The Hokey Pokey Man."