Wally Amos, founder of Famous Amos Cookies, has died

KLIA: Wallace “Wally” Amos, the founder of the famous cookie brand Famous Amos, has died.

He was 88.

According to CNN, his children said the cause of death was complications from his dementia.

“He was a true black American hero,” the statement, signed “Sarah, Michael, Gregory and Shawn Amos,” was quoted as saying.

“With his Panama hat, his kazoo and his boundless optimism, Famous Amos was a great American success story and a source of black pride.”

Amos' journey to becoming a cookie connoisseur is fascinating. It was his aunt, Della Bryant, who taught Amos how to bake chocolate chip cookies.

He later dropped out of high school to join the Air Force before working as a postal clerk at the William Morris Agency, where he became a talent agent and worked with The Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel and Marvin Gaye.

He then borrowed US$25,000 (RM110,857) to boost his biscuit business.

Famous Amos was not just a business, he said in a 1991 interview with the Detroit Black Journal.

“I started baking cookies just to make a living and to be happy with what I was doing,” Amos was quoted as saying in the interview. “And I was just so dedicated and so committed and so happy doing it.”

Amos sold the cookie brand to a private equity group in 1988 after the company had been in financial trouble for years.

If you walk into most shopping malls in Malaysia, you are sure to smell the irresistible aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Interestingly, the very first Hot Baked shop was opened on 30 November 1984 in Sungei Wang Plaza and was personally managed by founder Wally Amos.