In Memoriam: Wallace Amos Jr. and Winsome Sinclair

Our community lost two bright lights this week. Wallace Amos Jr., the founder of Famous Amos cookies, died on August 13 at age 88. Casting director Winsome Sinclair passed on August 12. She was 58.

Wallace Amos, Jr.

Amos Jr., a Tallahassee, Florida native, developed a love of cooking at a young age; he often baked cookies with his aunt while growing up in New York City. As an adult, he worked in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency, rising in the ranks to become the agency's first African American talent agent. He left to start his own management company and often sent potential clients chocolate chip cookies from his own recipe. Amos Jr. opened th e first Famous Amos cookie shop in Hollywood, California, on Sunset Boulevard, in 1975. The blue cursive logo became synonymous with a delicious treat. The brand expanded to dozens of locations nationwide and was available in grocery stores. However, the company's growth proved challenging for Amos. He sold the business, including his name and image, to a foreign company in the early 1990s. "With his Panama hat, kazoo and boundless optimism, Famous Amos was a great American success story and a source of Black pride," reads a statement from the Amos family. "It's also a part of our family story for which we will forever be grateful and proud. Our dad taught us the value of hard work, believing in ourselves, and chasing our dreams. He was a true original Black American hero." Amos Jr., who suffered from dementia, died peacefully in his home in Hawaii. His family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer's Association and that everyone eat a chocolate chip cookie in his honor.

Winsome Sinclair

Casting director and producer Winsome Sinclair, a New York native, died of cancer on August 12. The New York native launched the global casting agency Winsome Sinclair and Associates in New York in 1996, where she would go on to work on several high-profile projects with leading Black directors. She worked with Malcolm D. Lee on The Best Man and Barbershop: The Next Cut and with director Dee Rees on Pariah and Bessie . She also worked on films for the Hughes brothers’ (Dead Presidents ), Forest Whitaker ( Waiting to Exhale ), Steven Spielberg ( Amistad ), Craig Brewer ( Black Snake Moan ) and Lee Daniels ( Precious ). She cast extras for John Singleton's films Higher Learning , 2 Fast 2 Furious and Abduction . Sinclair had a close professional relationship with Spike Lee and worked on 12 of his films. She relocated her business to Atlanta in 2014 to tap into the city's production boom. She produced the documentary Maynard about Maynard Jackson Jr, Atlanta's first Black mayor, along with several other projects. Sinclair adopted two blood-related sons in 2007 and wrote a book about the experience, You Are My SONshines . A GoFundMe has been set up to support her children.

EBONY extends our condolences to their families.