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Wallace "Wally" Amos, Jr. (born July 1, 1936) is an American TV personality, entrepreneur and author from Tallahassee, Florida. He is the founder of the "Famous Amos" chocolate chip cookie brand. He also was the host of the adult reading program, Learn To Read. He later co-founded Uncle Wally's muffins. He currently resides in Kailua, Hawaii, and also Long Island, New York, where he runs the Chip & Cookie gourmet cookie brand and stores. ==Biography== Amos lived in Tallahassee, Florida, until he was twelve. When his parents divorced, he moved to Manhattan, New York with his aunt, where he enrolled at the Food Trades Vocational High School. He showed his interest in cooking at a very young age, and it was from his aunt, who would bake cookies for him, that Amos would develop his chocolate chip cookie recipe. Amos would improve on his aunt's recipe, which was already uncommon because it included several ingredients not generally associated with chocolate chip cookies. Shortly before graduation, Amos dropped out of high school to join the United States Air Force. He earned his high school equivalency diploma before being honorably discharged from the military, where he had a distinguished career. Returning to New York City, Amos went to college to become a secretary, and following graduation, took a clerical job with the William Morris Agency. Eventually, he became the agency's first African American talent agent. Amos attracted clients by sending them chocolate chip cookies along with an invitation to visit him. He represented superstars, such as Diana Ross & the Supremes and Simon & Garfunkel. In 1975, a friend suggested to Amos that he set up a store to sell his cookies, and in March of that year, the first "Famous Amos" cookie store opened in Los Angeles, California. He started the business with the help of a $25,000 loan from Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy. The new company began to expand, and, eventually, "Famous Amos" chocolate chip cookies could be found on supermarket shelves across the United States. He became a well enough known figure culturally that he appeared as himself in the ''Taxi'' episode "Latka's Cookies" in 1981. Thanks in part to the success of his cookie company, he was hired to deliver speeches. He has written nine books,〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Amazon )〕 many of which have a self-help theme, including ''The Cookie Never Crumbles''〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Cookie Never Crumbles: Practical Recipes for Everyday Living: Wally Amos, Eden-Lee Murray: 9780312304980: Amazon.com: Books )〕 and ''The Power in You''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Power in You: Wally Amos: 9781556110931: Amazon.com: Books )〕 Due to financial troubles, Amos was forced to sell the Famous Amos Company, and because the name "Famous Amos" was trademarked by his former company, he had to use "The Uncle Noname's Cookie Company" as his new company's name.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Leading Authorities )〕 A Famous Amos distributor at the time, Lou Avignone, heard Amos on a local radio talk show and, inspired by Amos' story of his early business success with Famous Amos and his indomitable spirit, contacted Amos with the idea for starting a new business. In 1994, the two became partners and subsequently launched "Uncle Noname Gourmet Muffins." The company focused on fat-free, nutritious muffins at that time. Uncle Noname ultimately became Uncle Wally's Muffin Company in 1999. The muffins are sold in more than 3,500 stores nationwide. In 1979, Amos' long-time friend and publicist John Rosica introduced him to Literacy Volunteers of America. Since that time, Amos has advocated literacy and helped thousands of adults learn to read. In 1987, he also hosted a television series designed to teach others how to read, entitled ''Learn to Read'', produced by Kentucky Educational Television and WXYZ-TV.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Learn to Read )〕 In 2012, Amos appeared in the February 16 episode of ''The Office'', entitled "Tallahassee", as himself. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wally Amos」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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