Bobby "Boris" Pickett, the ultimate one-hit wonder, has died at age 69 of leukemia. I have heard this song my whole life; it's possible this is one of the most-heard songs of my life. It's a fun song and will probably be with us for the next hundred years.

That it was leukemia that took him is especially striking to me. This disease, of which my brother and father are survivors, has recently also killed actor Bruno Kirby and, in the three minutes I've been writing this, 18 unknown Americans.