If you owned a Pet Rock growing up, it was because of this man. His idea was a million dollar idea that changed everything. Why is it a sad day today? Details here.

 

Gary Ross Dahl, the creator of the wildly popular 1970s fad the Pet Rock, has died at age 78 in southern Oregon.

According to the Associated Press and The Chicago Tribune, Dahl's wife, Marguerite Dahl, confirmed Tuesday that her husband of 40 years died March 23 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The smooth stones came packed in a cardboard box containing instructions for "care and feeding" of your pet rock. Dahl estimated he had sold 1.5 million of them at roughly $4 each by the time the fad fizzled. The Pet Rock required no work and no time commitment.

ThinkStock Photo
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In 1975, he was a Los Gatos, California, advertising executive when he came up with the Pet Rock idea.

Dahl and his wife were avid sailors on San Francisco Bay, where she plans to sprinkle his ashes in May.

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