Air Force Veteran and Beloved 'Famous Amos' Founder Wally Amos Dies at 88

Wallace Amos Jr., known to the world as the founder of the Famous Amos cookie brand, didn’t really enjoy being famous.

“Being famous is highly – very, very, very highly – overrated,” he told Honolulu Magazine in 2014. “It doesn’t mean you’re a nice person. It just means your image has been shown enough times. Hitler was famous. Big deal.”
But “Famous Amos” actually was a nice person. Generations of American children are undoubtedly familiar with Amos’ cookies, which may be small in size but stand tall in our collective memory. He also advocated literacy education for children, promoting reading in the same way he promoted his cookies. Much of his work came by hosting “learn to read” shows on public television, chairing literacy commissions and using his fame to remind people of the importance of reading.