Famous Amos cookies founder Wally Amos dies at 88

HONOLULU, HI ( KXNET ) — Wallace “Wally” Amos, the founder of the renowned chocolate chip cookie brand Famous Amos, has died at the age of 88.

Amos created the Famous Amos cookie empire and eventually lost ownership of the company — as well as the rights to use the catchy Amos name. In his later years, he became a proprietor of a cookie shop called Chip & Cookie in Hawaii, where he moved in 1977.

His children said Amos, who had been battling dementia, died peacefully in his home in Honolulu, with his wife Carol at his side, The New York Times first reported.

Amos was born in Tallahassee, Florida in 1936, but it wasn’t until 1975 that his famed cookies would take shape at a bakery in Hollywood, California.

He became famous for his bite-sized cookies at a time when most other brands were going big. Amos’ son, Shawn, helped him create his first bakery. In only six years’ time, the company became worth $12 million, according to the New York Times.

His kids posted a statement saying how proud they are that he’s their father, and emphasizing how Amos was “a source of Black pride” who taught them the value of hard work, according to ABC News .

Amos won a Horatio Alger Award in 1987, an honor bestowed upon “exceptional leaders who have triumphed over adversity to achieve greatness,” and “personify the American Dream.”

Before building his cookie empire, Amos worked in several different industries.

After four years in the Air Force and a stint in the stock room at Saks Fifth Avenue, Amos joined the William Morris Talent Agency, according to the Horatio Alger Association (HAA). Starting in the mailroom, it took Amos less then a year to become the agency’s first Black agent. He would reportedly go on to book iconic names including The Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel and Marvin Gaye.

Wally Amos was also co-founder of Uncle Wally’s Muffin Co., whose products are found in stores nationwide. But Amos said the fame never really mattered much to him.

“Being famous is highly overrated anyway,” Amos told The Associated Press in 2007.

His muffin company, based in Shirley, New York, was originally founded as Uncle Noname Cookie Co. in 1992, a few years after Amos lost Famous Amos, which still widely uses his name on its products.

Amos had said the Famous Amos cookies sold today are unlike his cookies, which had lots of chocolate, real butter and pure vanilla extract.

“You can’t compare a machine-made cookie with handmade cookie,” he told the AP. “It’s like comparing a Rolls Royce with a Volkswagen.”

In recent decades, Amos built a career as an inspirational speaker and author. He was also an active literacy advocate, serving as the Literacy Volunteers of America spokesman until 2002.

Amos is survived by his wife, Carol, and four kids — Sarah, Michael, Gregory and Shawn.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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