Bob Brooks, founder of Hooters, dies at 69

The dude who invented Hooters died of natural causes and it wasn't in the news AT ALL, yet Lance Bass being gay and Mel Gibson being anti-semitic IS. You tell ME what's really the news item there!

Bob Brooks, founder of Hooters, dies at 69

By AIXA M. PASCUAL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/17/06

Robert H. Brooks, 69, founder of the Hooters restaurant chain, died Sunday morning at his home in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The cause of death was not known, said Mike McNeil, vice president of marketing for the Atlanta-based Hooters of America Inc., the operator and franchiser of Hooters.

Brooks, who formerly lived in metro Atlanta for 30 years, flew to Atlanta every week to oversee his two companies, Hooters of America and Naturally Fresh Inc.

Brooks is survived by his wife Tami; son Coby, 37; and daughter Boni Belle, 7.

"He was just a wonderful man, a very giving man," said his brother-in law Jay Springs.

Brooks founded Naturally Fresh, which makes and distributes sauces and dressings, in 1966 and bought Hooters in the mid 1980s, when it was only one store, and grew it into a multinational company with close to $1 billion in revenues, McNeil said. Hooters, the casual, beach-themed food chain known more for its waitresses clad in orange hot pants and tight tank tops than for its chicken wings, has 435 locations in 46 states and 19 countries. In 2003, Hooters launched a low-fare airline, Hooters Air. At its peak the airline served 15 cities, but the carrier was grounded earlier this year, according to the company's Web site.

Brooks, a native of Loris, S.C., was chairman of the board of Hooters of America and of Naturally Fresh. Three years ago, he appointed his son Coby as president and CEO of Hooters. Brooks would stay at a home he owned at the Whitewater Creek County Club in Fayetteville when he came to Atlanta for business every week, Springs said.

McNeil said that Brooks was a diabetic. "But there was nothing to indicate that he would pass so suddenly," McNeil said.

The first Hooters opened in 1983 in Clearwater, Fla. The company doesn't shy away from the prevalence of what it calls "female sex appeal" at its restaurants. "The company believes the Hooters Girl is as socially acceptable as a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model or a Radio City Rockette," says the Web site.

Hooters has survived legal challenges to its practice of hiring only women for its Hooters Girls. In 1997, a settlement was approved in class-action lawsuits brought in Chicago and Maryland challenging Hooters' right to hire only women in front-of-house positions, according to the Web site.

From:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0717brooks.html