New York –
Wally Amos, the charismatic founder of Famous Amos cookies, has died at age 88, according to reports.
The New York Times reported Amos died Tuesday in his home in Honolulu, and his children told the outlet the cause was complications of dementia.
Amos opened his bakery in 1975 on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, selling bite-sized chocolate chip cookies that were a novelty for the time, according to the company’s site. The bakery, whose cookies were developed from a family recipe, attracted Hollywood celebrities and musicians.
Amos was born in Tallahassee, Florida.
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 said in the interview. “And I just, I was so committed and so involved and so joyous about it.”
From there, he created a cookie empire.
“I …