1. Wally Amos was the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and was the host of the adult reading program Learn to Read.
20 Facts About Wally Amos
1. 2.
Wally Amos was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, until he was 12 years old.
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Wally Amos showed his interest in cooking at a young age.
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Wally Amos dropped out of high school to join the United States Air Force.
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Wally Amos served at Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, from 1954 until 1957.
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Wally Amos earned his high school equivalency diploma before being honorably discharged from the military.
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Wally Amos attracted clients by sending them chocolate chip cookies along with an invitation to visit him.
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Wally Amos started the business with the help of a $25,000 loan from Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy.
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Wally Amos began to expand, and eventually, Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies could be found on supermarket shelves across the United States.
10.
Wally Amos became such a known figure culturally that he appeared as himself in the Taxi episode "Latka's Cookies", in 1981.
11.
Wally Amos wrote several books, many of which have a self-help theme, including The Cookie Never Crumbles and The Power in You.
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Wally Amos advocated literacy and helped thousands of adults learn to read.
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In 1986, Wally Amos was awarded the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award by President Ronald Reagan at the White House Conference on Small Business.
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Wally Amos appeared on the reality television show Shark Tank in October 2016, pitching Cookie Kahuna, but failed to get a deal.
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In 2019, Wally Amos was called "the king of cookies" by NBC affiliate KSNV in Las Vegas.
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Wally Amos was married four times, most recently to Carol Williams.
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Wally Amos had four children: Michael Amos, Gregory Amos, Sarah Amos, and musician Shawn Amos.
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Wally Amos lived in Hawaii from 1977 until 2018, and was again living in the state at the time of his death.
19.
Wally Amos lived in Columbia, South Carolina, where he was working on Aunt Della's Cookies until 2018.
20.
Wally Amos died due to complications from dementia at his home in Honolulu on August 13,2024, at the age of 88.