Gary Ross Dahl

1936 - 2015

Gary Ross Dahl Creator of the
Pet Rock
Dec. 18, 1936 ~ Mar. 23, 2015
Former Los Gatos Resident
Gary Ross Dahl died March 23, 2015. Dahl, a long-time San Jose advertising executive, will be forever remembered as the creator of the wildly successful marketing enigma, The Pet Rock.
Dahl was born December 18, 1936 in Bottineau, North Dakota to Lavonne and Arnold Dahl and raised in Spokane, Washington. Upon getting out of the United States Marine Corps, and a brief stint at Washington State University, Dahl began his career in the advertising business designing signs in San Diego and doing architectural renderings for San Jose property developments. He started an advertising agency in Campbell then became a copywriter for San Jose advertising firms, Coakley Hagerty and Darien, Russell, Hill.
Dahl married Marguerite Wood in 1974. They lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains with their many animals. During this time, Dahl developed his idea of a training manual for rocks. He and designer Pat Welch designed a pet-like carrying case, complete with straw and rock and a "how to train your pet rock" manual. The product was taken to the San Francisco Gift Show in 1976 and was an instant hit. Dahl then went to the New York and Los Angeles Gift Shows and became an instant celebrity. Newsweek picked up the story and the Pet Rock was born with sales to Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales and hundreds of stores throughout the country. The phenomena is still taught in college marketing classes and spoken of often in conjunction with other fads like the Hula Hoop.
For several years after the Pet Rock craze, Dahl consulted other inventors. He continued in the advertising business, joining as a partner of the firm he had previously worked for, Darien, Russell, Hill and Dahl. After the passing of the partners, he started Gary Dahl Creative Services. He also published "Advertising for Dummies." Dahl won the international creative writing Bulwer-Lytton contest in 2000.
Dahl designed and built the Carry Nations Saloon in Los Gatos. An avid sailor on the San Francisco Bay, he was Vice Commodore of Metropolitan Yacht Club and Commodore of the Los Gatos Yacht Club. He was also active in San Jose Symphony, Opera San Jose and San Jose Museum of Art.
Dahl and his wife of forty years, Marguerite, retired and moved to Jacksonville, Oregon in 2006. In addition to his wife Marguerite, he leaves behind a sister, Candace Dahl of Spokane, daughter Chris Nunez (Andy), son Eric Dahl (Joni), daughter Samantha Leighton (Jason), grandchildren Carly, Emilie, Evan, Chase, Rory, Maggie, Max, and step daughter Vicki Pershing (Steve) and her children Dylan and Connor.
A Neptune Society memorial will be held on the San Francisco Bay in May.