A big fan of eggs Benedict, Peterson was trying desperately to develop a line of breakfast foods for the McDonald's franchise he owned in California. He wanted something that, like the rest of the Micky D menu, people could get on the go and eat with their fingers.

What he came up with in the early 1970s was the now famous egg sandwich, which consisted on an egg that had been formed in a Teflon circle with the yolk broken, topped with a slice of cheese and grilled Canadian bacon. It was served open-faced on a toasted and buttered English muffin.

It should probably be noted that at the time Peterson was developing his McMuffin, the McDonald's chain didn't offer breakfast items and wasn't planning to start. In fact, when the corporate folks found out about Peterson's secret menu, they reprimanded him and threatened him with lawsuits.

An agreement was later reached, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I'll admit that I've never eaten an Egg McMuffin, but I was present once when my Aunt Ann did.

"I'll have an Egg McMuffin, hold the egg," she proudly told the clerk.

What she really wanted was an English muffin, but they didn't sell just English muffins. So she improvised.

Ordering an Egg McMuffin without the egg is a lot like ordering strawberry shortcake without the strawberries, Oysters Rockefeller without the oysters and pasta primavera without the pasta. But she did manage to get what she wanted to eat.

It reminded me of Jack Nicholson in "Five Easy Pieces," when he ordered a chicken salad sandwich on toasted wheat bread, hold the chicken salad, just so he could get toast with his breakfast.

The Associated Press story I read about Peterson quoting one man as saying Peterson "revolutionized breakfast." That might be going a bit too far.

What about the first person who put on a pot of grits? Or better yet, what about the first person that looked at a pig and saw bacon.

Think about it. Before there was bacon and before there were grits, what did people eat for breakfast? I suppose back then, a lot of folks may have had chickens running around the yard, and that means they had eggs.

So some industrious wife certainly had already discovered the marvels of a scrambled egg, a discovery for which I'm sure her husband was grateful.

"Hazel, these scrambled eggs are delicious," Ralph said. "But, you know, they're just kind of boring by themselves. I sure wish someone would invent something to go with them."

And fortunately for us, somebody did. Some clever person took a look at a pig wallowing in the mud and figured there was some good eating there if the pig was sliced up just right and the portions cooked just so.

I don't really think Peterson revolutionized breakfast, though there's no question he created a wave of new opportunity for fast food restaurants that continues to grow to this day.

Without Peterson's McMuffin leading the way, for instance, you'd probably never have the chance to order a breakfast burrito.

One problem with the booming breakfast business is that the entrees get larger and larger - and thus, have more calories.

Burger King's answer to the McMuffin is the Croissan'Wich, which consists of a sausage patty, eggs and American cheese on a croissant. That would have been fine, except they felt they needed something bigger so they developed the Double Croissan'Wich, which also turned out to not be big enough.

So they created the Enormous Omelet Sandwich, which consists of sausage patties, bacon, eggs and American cheese on a sesame seed bun. It weighs in at a whopping 730 calories.

I gained three pounds just typing the previous sentence.

By comparison, the McMuffin has only 300 calories. And before we blame Peterson for the woes of fast food diets, all he really wanted to do was have something for breakfast.

So rest in peace, Herb Peterson. You did a good thing.

It does make we wonder, though, if 50 years from now, we'll be mourning the passing of the guy who came up with Taco Bell's Crunchwrap.

Mitch Clarke is executive editor of The Times. His column appears Sundays in The Times. Read his previous columns online at gainesvilletimes.com. Originally published March 30, 2008.