Wally Amos, 88, of cookie fame, died at home in Hawaii. He lost Famous Amos but found other success

abcnews.go.com:

The creator of the Famous Amos cookie empire has died

HONOLULU — Wallace “Wally” Amos, the creator of the cookie empire that took his name and made it famous and who went on to become a children’s literacy advocate, has died. He was 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.

He died Tuesday at his home in Honolulu, with his wife, Carol, at his side, his children said. He died from complications with dementia, they said.

“With his Panama hat, kazoo, and boundless optimism, Famous Amos was a great American success story, and a source of Black pride,” said a statement from his children, Sarah, Michael, Gregory and Shawn Amos.

He was married six times to five women, son Shawn said, explaining that he and Carol had split up, reacquainted and then remarried.

“He loved love,” Sarah Amos said.

They said their dad “inspired a generation of entrepreneurs when he founded the world’s first cookie store” on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in 1975.

He had been stationed in Hawaii with the Air Force, and Famous Amos gave him the means to later make it his home.

Sarah Amos, who was born in Hawaii, remembers her dad flying back and forth to the U.S. mainland and taking business calls at 4 a.m.

“It’s hard to run a business and to work with people on the mainland when you’re in Hawaii,” she said. “But he made the sacrifice.”

While Wally Amos was a great promotor, he struggled as a businessperson and eventually lost control of the company. He walked away from it because he didn't want to just be its face, Sarah Amos