A wonderful human being, Wally Amos, died on Tuesday this week.
You know him because of Famous Amos Cookies. In the early 1970s we knew him as the manager of our group in Hollywood, the People Tree (the forerunner of the Montana Logging and Ballet Company).
Wally was funny, smart, and a brilliant salesman. He heard us do a set at the Hollywood Studio Club and decided to take a chance on us. He had other clients, of whom John Amos, no relation, starred in many movies.
When we said we would sign with him, he took us to the grocery store and let us fill two shopping carts with food. It’s the quickest way into the heart of starving musicians. We loved him.
The People Tree was an acoustic folk group from Rocky Mountain College – Bob FitzGerald, Brenda Quilling, Phil Baumann, and me.
Everyone told us you can’t get on TV until you have a hit. That was completely true for groups not managed by Wally Amos. He got us on shows like Johnny Carson, Joey Bishop, Jonathan Winters, Dean Martin and Laugh-In.
Wally was the friendliest, funniest, life-long-friend-you-just-met. You know the type. He did a lot of work for national literacy campaigns and other good causes in the LA area.
Once when our group went on a short tour, we moved out of our cheap apartment. When we returned to Hollywood, we three guys were sleeping on Wally’s office floor until we could find another cheap place. That evening he served us the most delicious cookies we had ever eaten. Then he broke the bad news – he was quitting the talent management business and starting a cookie company.
We were enthused about the cookies from his aunt’s recipe, but dubious about the venture. “Wally, you don’t know anything about selling cookies,” we told him. Apparently we were wrong.
The world lost a truly amazing human being. Thanks, Wally, for being so loving and helping so many people.
