PETALING JAYA: Wallace “Wally” Amos, the founder of the celebrated cookie brand Famous Amos has died.
He was 88.
According to CNN, his children said that the cause of his death was complications stemming from dementia.
“He was a true original Black American hero,” the statement was quoted as saying and it was signed “Sarah, Michael, Gregory and Shawn Amos.”
“With his Panama hat, kazoo, and boundless optimism, Famous Amos was a great American success story, and a source of Black pride.”
Amos’s journey to become a cookie connoisseur is a fascinating one. It was his aunt, Della Bryant, who taught Amos how to make chocolate chip cookies.
He later dropped out of high school to join the Air Force before working as a mailroom clerk at the William Morris Agency, where he became a talent agent, working with The Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel and Marvin Gaye.
He then borrowed US$25,000 (RM110,857) to kick start his cookie business.
Famous Amos wasn’t just a business, he said in a 1991 Detroit Black Journal interview.
“I started making cookies just to make a living and to be happy doing what I was doing,” Amos was quoted saying in the interview. “And I just, I was so committed and so involved and so joyous about it.”
Amos sold the cookie brand to a private equity group in 1988 after years of financial struggles for the company.
Walk into most shopping malls in Malaysia, and you’re bound to smell the irresistible aroma of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.
Interestingly, the very first hot-baked store was opened in Sungei Wang Plaza and officiated by the founder himself, Wally Amos on November 30, 1984.
